Abstract. Current economy or digital economy is driven by modern information and new technologies, which offer to organizations or to the public access to almost any type of information, regardless of its form of existence, storage type or geographical location. These tools encourage the development of new activities, services and products. All developed countries have issued and implemented government policies supporting: the evolution and the adoption of new technology, the national information infrastructure consolidation, the training and the attraction of new technology experts, the adult education, and the cooperation with the private sector to encourage investment in this new economic branch, and promoting government projects to demonstrate the benefits for the current society services. This work aims to highlight the pattern of trade activities using the convenience of the Internet – e-commerce, with emphasis on legal regulations in regard to currently available services. Also the present study summarizes existing legislation, for electronic commerce, at national and international level. A case study was performed to highlight the current state of Romanian e-commerce activity, regarding the applicability of existing legislation, the frequency of electronic commerce usage, the usefulness of the service and the selection of the most frequently purchased products online. The research emphasizes on the existing legislation, its applicability and the degree in which the users are informed about it.

Keywords: e-commerce; Internet economy; Internet; electronic market; online consumer.