do u have to licence an online business?

Not where I live...It's just like the wild wild west ;)

its not required is it?... cause usually who ever has business would already have their license... and once they decide to go online they already have it ... which mean no additional license needed for online biz.

Though I'd wonder what about those who do business only online?... examples hmm... cant think of anything this minute.. but am sure there is a couple good examples out there...

You do need a license to sell anything online, but you might require some sort of certificate for people to trust buying anything from you.

Thats an intresting question Qais,
I woundered the same thing too. To my opinion they should, because without a license there isnt much trust is it?
what if somone without a licence sold me something and it was defected, can I sue him???

This is a very good question.

I don't think a license is required for an online business. I thought about this issue a lot when I started a website a few years ago which I wanted to develop as a business. The problem in Oman is or commercial law is outdated and hasn't kept pace with the advances in the world of business. The way things work in Oman is that you come up with an idea and then you go ask around and no one really knows the answer so if you have money you go and hire a good lawyer and ask for a legal opion. Most times ppl are too scared to go ask the relevent mininstry because when the mininstry has no idea what to say they will most likely say either "no you can't start this type of business in Oman" or "yes of course you can, just pay us a big bunch of fees to get our approval."

When we did our business we formed our own legal opinion without hiring a lawyer. We thought that doing business online does not require a license because no one controls cyberspace. However as a group of people in Oman we need to get a commercial registration because you can't do business in Oman if you are not an official entity. Thus if we go to people and ask for them to sponsor our site they won't pay us in our personal names, but in the name of our company instead. This way also, our website could be registered in the name of company, and none of the partners can come tomorrow and say "this is my website, not yours". And if we manage to sell the site or make money from it, it would be a profit for the company. Also, you must remember that you cannot open a bank account in the name of a company unless the company was official.

Qaisoon

SInce everyne is saying something different i guess u get the idea don't u ,,, "it depends on where u are" ... isn't that strange ... i know it is

The problem is that differing approaches of e-commerce are emerging around the world and these often lead to conflicts, these conflicts must be resolved by international corporation and somtimes by International law.

i hope this answered ur qusetion without any confusion

I guess the best thing is to start an online business in the U.S. or some where else where the laws for e-commerce exist and are fixed and clear. I am not going to bribe anybody for a licence.

You can start on line business from any where.
1) You must have a web pages where you will display your products.
2) You must have an out let from where you will deliver your products to your buyers.( For this out let you may require Trade license or registration. It depends on the commercial law where you stay)
3) You have the scope to receive payments through credit card.
4) You are to ensure delivery the products in time.
There are hundred of online (E-Commerce) organization.You can surf and can look how it works.

Mux has hit the nail on the head.

If you want to start an "e-business", it still has to be a business. Even though "cyberspace" has no physical location, you will have to bank somewhere, ship your goods from somewhere, receive payment somewhere and pay yourself/your staff somewhere.

The mistake most people make in starting an on-line business is doing the "on-line" bit before the "business" bit. You have to get your company registered, your finance sorted out and your business strategy worked out before you can sell stuff on line. Doesn't matter where you incorporate your company, but your bankers will think you're a thief if you try to set up a new company from nothing and ask them to send you a big fat loan in the Cayman Islands!

Whenever I buy from a website, I look for the commercial registration number of the company and physical address/contact details as evidence that they're a real company. You will need these things to get a credit card agreement anyway.

Originally posted by Blue_Chi
You do need a license to sell anything online, but you might require some sort of certificate for people to trust buying anything from you.

This supposed to be "You do NOT need a license", I missed the word "NOT" while typing.