Global Internet Law

Abstract

Most law school courses on Internet law are U.S.-centric with almost no coverage of foreign or international developments. To update Benjamin Franklin, our cause is not the cause of all countries connected to the Internet. The rapid expansion of the global consumer marketplace creates inevitable clashes between diverse legal traditions about legal norms. E-commerce companies, which are highly dependent on proprietary software, have gone global and therefore need a sophisticated familiarity with the legal regimes of multiple nations. As social media sites increasingly target consumers in Europe and beyond, corporate counsel and outside lawyers need to keep abreast of worldwide trends in consumer law to avoid costly cross-border litigation, fines, and regulatory actions. Where to begin in explaining a topic as vast as global Internet law? The global perspective is important because the Internet is, by definition, not just a U.S. information technology. There is an inherent problem in writing about the omnipresent Internet, which is continuously in the process of becoming — a moving stream, not a stagnant pond. The Internet is relentlessly transforming all aspects of law. The Second Circuit explained the unique issues of Internet-related trademark law by noting that "attempting to apply established trademark law in the fast–developing world of the Internet is somewhat like trying to board a moving bus." It is not just U.S. lawyers that need to keep up with Internet developments and understand the technologies. Internet Law can no longer be U.S.-centric. This is the first Internet law treatise to take a global perspective of all the big issues such as civil procedure, contracts, cybertorts, cybercrimes, intellectual property law in cyberspace, and consumer law.

The Table of Contents and Chapter 2, Perspectives on Global Internet Law, are available to download.