Isle of Man Legislation
Electronic Transactions Act 2000 | Electronic Transactions (General) Regulations 2000 | Computer Security Act 1992 | Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001 - PDF FormatEffective legislation and e business friendly legislation make the Isle of Man your first resort for reaching global markets. With less to hold you back you’ll find it easier to propel your business forward. We free business and protect your reputation.
Isle of Man Legislation relevant to e business
The Isle of Man's policy towards legislating e business and the Internet is to "adopt a light touch". The legislation already adopted on the Island in relation to e business is designed to facilitate its growth rather than to control or inhibit the opportunities that e business brings with it.
Much of the Island's economic success in recent years has been due to the quality business that the Island has been able to attract. This has been based on effective regulation. As a result, we have achieved a balance between enabling entrepreneurs to maximise the opportunities presented by e business and ensuring that no one uses the Isle of Man for purposes which could bring it into disrepute.
The legislation listed below (in force and pending) is relevant to e business in the Isle of Man. For a full list of Acts of Tynwald passed after the end of 2000 please see the Legislation section of the InfoCentre.
Electronic Transactions Act 2000
The Act (Available in PDF Format - 166kb) provides (sections 1 to 8) that, in general, any existing requirements of statute or common law for writing, signature, the production of documents and the retention of information can be satisfied by the use of an electronic communication containing the required information, subject to it complying with certain criteria.
The Act also enables a voluntary system for approval of "certification service providers" (CSPs) to be set up (section 9), provides that "internet service providers" (ISPs) and telecommunication system operators are not to be subject to criminal or civil liability in respect of communications sent through them, provided that they take appropriate action if the communications are brought to their notice, and are not required to monitor the content of communications sent through them (section 10), and makes new provision allowing information in electronic form to be put in evidence in legal proceedings (section 11).
Electronic Transactions (General) Regulations 2000
These regulations supplement the Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (Available in PDF Format - 92kb). In particular, they list classes of transaction for which writing is still required (reg.2) and give public authorities in the Isle of Man a temporary exemption (recently extended to 1st November 2004) from certain obligations to accept electronic communications etc. (reg.4).
Computer Security Act 1992
This Act (Available in PDF Format - 138kb) creates offences of unauthorised access to and modification of computer material.
This Act makes provision for the Isle of Man similar to that made for the United Kingdom by the Data Protection Act 1998 (of Parliament), which implements the EC Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC). Although the Directive is not binding on the Isle of Man, Article 31 restricts the transfer of personal data from Member States to a third country unless the law of the latter gives adequate protection to the interests of data subjects. The Act therefore ensures that the transfer of data to and from the Island, e.g. by financial institutions, is not affected by the Directive. The Act is to come into force on 1st April 2003, and will repeal and replace the Data Protection Act 1986. Both Acts give effect to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. They require data controllers to be registered, and to observe the principles of the Convention. They give data subjects certain rights, including qualified rights of access to data about themselves and the right to compensation for inaccurate data, loss and unauthorised disclosure.
The legislation with other related documents are available for download by clicking the links in the table below.
Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001 - PDF Format
This Act (Available in PDF Format - 100kb) provides new machinery under which online gambling operated within or through the Isle of Man can be licensed and regulated.
Further information on Online Gambling regulations can be found on the Gambling website and the e-Gaming section of the DTI website.
The texts are subject to Crown Copyright protection. They may be copied free of charge and without permission (otherwise than for the purpose of commercial reproduction), provided that they are reproduced accurately and that the source and copyright status of the material is made evident to users. Requests for permission to copy the texts of Acts of Tynwald for the purpose of commercial reproduction should be addressed to:
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You will need Adobe Acrobat to download documents that are PDFs, this is available free by following this link:
