Introduction.
Does the advent of the Internet as a major vehicle for world trade change all the rules, so the old laws of world trade are void and obsolete?
You would certainly think so, if you read what the press, and even some lawyers, are saying.
But, it isn't so.
World trade law is still the "law merchant," created by world traders to deal with world trade. The core issues and rules are still the same - you still need to buy or sell something; the buyer still needs to pay; the seller still needs to deliver the goods.
What Has Changed?
What has changed is that there are classes or groups of laws having developed worldwide which create a different context for Internet world trade. If you know generally what to look for, you won't be surprised.
Internet laws worldwide fall into four basic functional categories, which overlap:
- Ownership laws
- Accuracy laws
- Appropriateness laws
- Security laws
Ownership Laws.
Internet ownership laws fall generally into two categories:
- Means ownership laws
- Data ownership laws
Means ownership laws cover the tools and pathways and equipment of the Internet and how data is transmitted and received. These laws fall broadly into the traditional intellectual property law categories of patent, trademark, trade name, trade secret and copyright laws. These means ownership laws are the laws governing technology and Internet access that have dominated most of the debates about the Internet. The celebrated Microsoft antitrust case, for example, is fundamentally about means ownership and control.
Data ownership laws are the most rapidly developing body of laws in all of Internet law. Huge battles loom over information ownership matters such as privacy, the right to exploit one's own name and personality, and the right to protect against the sale of one's personal or financial information for the commercial gain of others. Cutting edge thinking is that ownership and control of data bases will be the key to the cyberspace power struggles of the 21st Century. The primacy of data ownership concerns lends singular resonance to the purchase by Bill Gates of the Bettman Archive - the largest private collection of digital images in the world - for the purpose of digitizing it into a computerized data base Gates controls personally.
Accuracy Rules.
Internet world trade would not exist if the Internet had not evolved to the point that it could consistently deliver accurate information worldwide among buyers, sellers and financers. While there are explicit legal rules about Internet accuracy, it would in fact be impossible to address the crucial appropriateness and security aspects of Internet world trade unless accurate means of electronic delivery of information were not first readily available to consumers and businesses worldwide.
Appropriateness Concerns.
You have read a lot about Internet appropriateness concerns in the international press of late. The mainland Chinese government has been busily jamming international e-mails and "chat rooms", for example, on the theory that "inappropriate" communications may be taking place on the Internet. Such Chinese concerns may coincide with American appropriateness concerns about marketing commercially over the Internet to young cartoon watchers and allowing children access to "indecent" Web sites, as well as the regulatory concerns of securities commissioners worldwide about the wholesale hawking and promotion of stocks and bonds worldwide over the Internet. If, however, a significant amount of e-commerce is jammed by hostile governments for reasons of appropriateness, this legal action clearly will have a chilling effect on the growth of international Internet trade.
Security Concerns.
The United States has a wide array of rules to protect the transmission and storage of data against hackers and interceptors. Other countries around the world are following suit. More and more legislation is passed every year here and abroad to protect the security, accuracy and integrity of data transmitted and stored via the Internet. Some 42 states, for example, have enacted some sort of digital signature act, enabling secure communications between citizens and government agencies. Look for some sort of United States federal legislation to be enacted in the year 2000 which will authorize contracts to be created by persons using encrypted digital signatures to identify themselves. The United States rules limiting the exportation of secure encryption technology are eroding fast, however, as encryption of messages and access coding of data-bases is widely (but not universally) accepted and expected by our foreign trading partners.
Conclusion.
Internet law has not fundamentally changed world trade law, which still basically is the "law merchant" of buying and selling goods and services which was developed by international traders over the past two millennia.
What Internet law has done is to develop laws, rules and regulations to deal with the issues of ownership, accuracy, appropriateness and security which have always existed in world trade, but which arise in new contexts in worldwide Internet trade. Once you know what these Internet trade concerns are, you will be able to anticipate the sorts of Internet laws which may affect your company's international Internet transactions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
