The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday that it has drafted guidelines on how the Commercial Code and other laws should be applied to the growing field of e-commerce.
The guidelines come as the spread of e-commerce outpaces the enactment of new laws to govern the industry, METI said.
The guidelines include measures to protect consumers. For example, users whose identity and passwords are stolen and used in online transactions may cancel the deals if Web site security is found to be lax.
Computer users copying music and other copyrighted files may be charged with piracy, but downloading such files for personal use will not be illegal, the ministry said.
The guidelines -- mapped out in meetings with academics, consumer and business leaders, and others in a subpanel under the Industrial Structure Council -- will be finalized by the end of the month after taking public opinion into account, it said.