Digital signatures, which will identify the originator of a communication and indicate the originator's approval of the content of the communication, should help to address this issue. There have been several policies put forward regarding how certain issues might be addressed. Whilst these have much to commend them, computing activity is globally interactive and yet these policies tend to be introspective. There appear to be policy vacuums regarding electronic commerce which include addressing authentication, encryption, time and place of contracts, information collecting agents, aggressive marketing through electronic junk mail and subliminal advertising and universal access to all types of products and services. All these and no doubt others need to be addressed from a global perspective.
Shopping is a social activity.
As well as its functional role it includes the pleasure of browsing, impulse buying, discovering new shops, casual conversation, and planned and unplanned meetings with other people. Electronic shopping is not the same. It is primarily a functional activity since most of the social activity cannot or is not supported. You cannot bump into a friend in the electronic shopping precinct. Window shopping is hampered by the primitive nature of search engines.