Internet jurisdiction : law and practice

Jurisdiction is the foundational concept for both national laws and international law as it provides the link between the sovereign government and its territory, and ultimately its people. The internet challenges this concept at its root: data travels across the internet without respecting political borders or territory. This book is about this Jurisdictional Challenge created by internet technologies. The Jurisdictional Challenge arises as civil disputes, criminal cases, and regulatory action span different countries, rising questions as to the international competence of courts, law enforcement, and regulators. From a technological standpoint, geography is largely irrelevant for online data flows and this raises the question of who governs “YouTubistan.” Services, communication, and interaction occur online between persons who may be located in different countries. Data is stored and processed online in data centres remote from the actual user, with cloud computing provided as a utility. Illegal acts such as hacking, identity theft and fraud, cyberespionage, propagation of terrorist propaganda, hate speech, defamation, revenge porn, and illegal marketplaces (such as Silkroad) may all be remotely targeted at a country, or simply create effects in many countries. Software applications (“apps”) developed by a software developer in one country are seamlessly downloaded by users on their mobile devices worldwide, without regard to applicable consumer protection, data protection, intellectual property, or media law. Therefore, the internet has created multi-facetted and complex challenges for the concept of jurisdiction and conflicts of law. Traditionally, jurisdiction in private law and jurisdiction in public law have belonged to different areas of law, namely private international law and (public) international law. The unique feature of this book is that it explores the notion of jurisdiction in different branches of “the” law. It analyses legislation and jurisprudence to extract how the concept of jurisdiction is applied in internet cases, taking a comparative law approach, focusing on EU, English, German, and US law. This synthesis and comparison of approaches across the board has produced new insights on how we should tackle the Jurisdictional Challenge. The first three chapters explain the Jurisdictional Challenge created by the internet and place this in the context of technology, sovereignty, territory, and media regulation. The following four chapters focus on public law aspects, namely criminal law and data protection jurisdiction. The next five chapters are about private law disputes, including cross-border B2C e-commerce, online privacy and defamation disputes, and internet intellectual property disputes. The final chapter harnesses the insights from the different areas of law examined. From a technological standpoint, geography is largely irrelevant. Data flows through the internet without regard for political borders or territories. Services, communication, and interaction can occur online between persons who may be in different countries. Illegal activities, like hacking, cyberespionage, propagating terrorist propaganda, defamation, revenge porn, and illegal marketplaces may all be remotely targeted and accessed from various countries. As such, the internet has created an interesting and complex set of challenges for the concept of jurisdiction and conflicts of law. This title takes a comparative approach covering the EU, UK, US, Germany, and China. Broken into four parts, this book delves into the notion of jurisdiction as it relates to the internet. Part I focuses on the different meanings of the concept of jurisdiction, from a legal and historical perspective, and distinguishing between the different branches of government. It will highlight the challenges created by the internet, including social media and cloud computing. Part II analyses criminal jurisdiction, in regards to both jurisdictions in cybercrime cases and jurisdictional issues relating to criminal investigations (access to the cloud) and enforcement. Part III examines jurisdiction and applicable law in civil and commercial matters, such as e-commerce B2B and B2C contracts, torts typically occurring online, and online defamation and privacy infringement. Finally, Part IV looks at regulatory jurisdiction, examining the power of the executive (whether an arm of government or independent regulator) to apply and enforce national law. It will look at aspects like the provision of online audio-visual media services and online gambling services, both of which are heavily regulated, but which can be easily provided remotely from different jurisdictions. The book concludes by analysing how the concept of jurisdiction should be adapted to ensure the rule of law by nation states and prevent international conflicts between states. This title gives a comprehensive look at the complicated subject of internet jurisdiction, essential for all dealing with jurisdictions in the modern age. Jurisdiction is a fundamental concept in law, as it provides the link between a government, its territory, and its people. Data travels through the internet without concern for any borders. This book argues how and why the concept of jurisdiction needs to be adapted across public and private areas - from criminal to commercial law