Do not ignore Internet law

Not too long ago, I attended a whole-day seminar with a sole lecturer. One of the parts of the seminar dwelt on copyrights, patents, and trademarks. As I listened, I had the feeling that the speaker had not taken into consideration Internet law. The lecture seemed incomplete and insufficient to me.

The lecturer was a respected professor and lawyer from a country whose expertise in international investments should, to my mind, have already been updated with the prevailing and evolving principles of Internet law. Especially since he was discussing copyrights, patents and trademarks – critical subjects about which resolutions had to be formulated in relation to the very open system of the Internet.

I decided to just discuss this particular aspect with him privately after the session ended, but found myself, towards the end of the open forum, asking him if he indeed had taken into consideration the critical matter of Internet law, and how it affected the topic he had just lectured on. When I asked him if he had updated his studies in relation to Internet law, he answered in the negative but used the words "not yet," suggesting that it was his intention to do so.

When one lectures on a particular subject matter, he has to be thorough, especially in this modern age when the Internet governs our lives more and more, and affects almost every discipline there is. Intellectual property rights are just one example of legal issues surrounding the Internet, and probably one of the most critical. Privacy issues and concerns are very important, and Internet law on the matter is evolving almost as fast as the evolution of the problems and legal issues that have to be addressed critically.

How can we, for instance, fight "spam," the electronic junk mail that clogs users’ inboxes and ISPs’ (Internet Service Providers) servers? How should we tax (or not) e-commerce transactions that often involve multiple jurisdictions? How do we protect children from indecency and exploitation while preserving free speech? And does supporting free speech mean tolerating hate on the Internet?

Internet law issues and resolutions should be known to every law professor, lecturer and legal practitioner. It is essential that they take the matter into study and consideration.

As the Internet has grown and developed, so, too, have the laws surrounding it. No longer an information "wild, wild west," the Internet is increasingly influenced by legal considerations, and vice-versa. Some of these considerations are unique to the Internet, its architecture, and its capabilities.

Others, as excellently portrayed to me by a colleague, present the issue of whether new wine can be poured into an old bottle. As one European court said as early as 1994 in a case involving software piracy: "Well-established principles are merely applied to a new medium."

But there are a lot of issues that present entirely new clashes between pre-existing law and modern technology. This is not to say that laws inhibit growth or stifle innovation. It’s just the opposite. The dot-com boom may be over, but the Internet is here to stay.

MTV’s first music video 24 years ago had it wrong – video didn’t kill the radio star, it made it bigger than ever. In the same way, a coherent body of law won’t kill the Internet; instead it will create a framework upon which the Internet can continue to flourish and grow, which world functionaries have to take into consideration, be they businessmen, lawyers, law professors, entrepreneurs, Internet users, techies, etc.

But is the Internet a good source for finding Internet law? It’s easy but the results may not be accurate. But you can get valuable legal information from the Internet if you conduct your research properly.

First, when using the Internet to research Internet law, or any other law for that matter, it is advisable to check your results. The easiest and most effective way to do that is to get a second opinion from the Internet. Research the same question on several Internet sites and keep searching until most of the information is consistent. If the information fails to be consistent, check the date of the source of the information. Usually the later sources are more accurate. This is particularly true when the later source cites the earlier source.

The second recommended procedure is to determine the credibility of the source. To do this one must identify the author of the Internet site. Most legal Internet sites have a contact address on them. Once you locate that address, use it to look at the credentials of the person or organization that wrote the articles or is running the site.

The final step is to invest some time in developing an understanding of the law in general. Internet law sites are plentiful on the Internet. Although statutes are the basis of Internet law, they may be too erudite and scholarly to be of practical value – it would be a good idea to scan the many sites that have links to law schools, law libraries, and government and legislative sites.

It is impossible to write a "final chapter" on Internet law because the subject is constantly evolving. While some of the landmarks of Internet law are well established, the Internet and other forms of high technology are challenging them in ways once never imagined. New legislation such as that on intellectual property rights, privacy, spam, domain names, international terrorism in relation to the Internet, etc., is emerging , resulting in the fact that unlike some other areas of the law, Internet law is undergoing a significant development continuum.

Under any jurisdiction, legislatures and judiciaries will continue to shape the future of Internet law and, of course, the development of new technologies, stunning as these developments already are, will present new challenges. Among the many questions that lie ahead are: Can our country apply its laws to a global Internet company based in another country? What are the limits of free speech in cyberspace? Can intellectual property laws adequately protect digital (and therefore easily copied) works online? How adequate are the anti-terrorism laws in relation to the Internet? Should new laws be crafted under Internet law in relation to espionage on the Internet? Will legislators, consumers, or the high-tech industry decide the ultimate extent of privacy protection on the Internet?

For some time now, lawyers, lawmakers, and high-tech architects have engaged in a philosophical debate over the appropriate role of the legal system in cyberspace. On one side of the coin, many of them believe that forceful and numerous laws are necessary to sufficiently protect authors, inventors, consumers, and businesses on the Internet. The other side of the coin has many believing that the Internet is best left unregulated and that an abundance of legislation will stunt the Internet’s growth. As with debates of this nature, the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

While it may be of great interest to watch this philosophical debate play out, or even participate in it, what’s critical for any person or company conducting business online is this: Internet law cannot be ignored, and doing so could lead to costly legal mistakes, either by violating someone else’s rights or by failing to adequately protect your own.

As with any set of legal issuances, rules and dicta, regardless of whether you are in agreement with them, you must obey them. Bertrand Russell, in his 1928 essay "Machines and Emotions," wrote: "Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful, and valued because they confer power; they are hated and loathed because they impose slavery."

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