萬國法律事務所

PChome sold computer software on the Internet and informed consumers that it would not accept returns if the package was opened. The Taipei City Government (TCG), however, demanded that PChome remove this restriction on its return policy and in response, PChome filed an administrative litigation against TCG. The Taipei High Administrative Court (Court) ruled that PChome’s restriction on returns violated Taiwan’s Consumer Protection Law.

PChome claimed that if it allows consumers to return software after the package is opened, consumers will be able to make illegal copies of the software before returning it to PChome. Furthermore, PChome argued, during the legislative process for the Consumer Protection Law, the Legislation Yuan had requested that the Government draft special laws concerning electronic commerce. However, the Court refused to accept PChome’s arguments and instead ruled that if PChome has concerns regarding illegal copying, it can choose to sell the software through methods other than “mail order purchase”. As PChome chose to utilise mail order purchase, as defined in the Consumer Protection Law, to sell its software, it must comply with the law. Moreover, the restriction imposed by PChome would result in consumers being unable to examine the product before deciding whether to purchase the products. In addition, the Court stated, there is no special law precluding application of the Consumer Protection Law to electronic commerce.