The French National Assembly has approved on April 5th 2000 a draft ruling the reform of auction sales in France as well as those held on the Internet. French Internet sites will act as brokers for auction sales provided these do not concern cultural goods.
Many sites act as intermediaries to sell second-hand goods of small value such as cameras, TV or radio sets, posters and so on with vendors and buyers being in direct contact. Therefore sites are not the agents of vendors as this is the case for ordinary auction sales conducted by auctioneers.
Sales on the Internet are not considered as real auction sales since agreements can be reached between vendors and buyers regarding final prices. In addition, there is no protection for both regarding guarantees and payments. Such situation does not lead to serious problems unless they are dealing with works of art. For this reason, the National Assembly decided to consider that sales of all works of art on the Internet should be ruled on the same level as classical auction operations meaning that they will have to be conducted under the supervision of auctioneers and experts if needed.
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