Is There a There There? Toward Greater Certainty for Internet Jurisdiction

Author

Michael Geist

Organization

Office of Consumer Affairs

Published

2001

Summary

As business gravitated to the Internet in the late 1990s, concern over the legal risks of operating online quickly moved to the fore as the legal issues inherent in selling products, providing customer service, or simply maintaining an information-oriented Web site began to emerge. Certain legal risks, such as selling defective products or inaccurate information disclosure were already well-known to business, since these risks are encountered and addressed daily in the offline world.

The unique challenge presented by the Internet is that compliance with local laws is rarely sufficient to assure a business that it has limited its exposure to legal risk. Since Web sites are accessible worldwide, the prospect that a Web site owner might be hauled into a courtroom in a far-off jurisdiction is much more than a mere academic exercise – in an Internet environment that provides instant global access, it is a very real possibility. For businesses seeking to embrace the promise of a global market at the click of a mouse, the prospect of additional compliance costs and possible litigation must be factored into the analysis.

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Source: Consumer Policy Research Database