Internet laws?

[Karmic]

Seeing as the internet is a global thing, with every country in the world donateing something to it, and it as a whole cannot be governed by a single body, how do you make laws that cover all off it?

I hear so much about govoments putting up laws to protect, censor this that and the other, but no govoment COULD stop it, only with companies basied in their territories, but what about just general webistes?

Its been on my mind lately I thought I'd share it with someone, has anybody else ever thought about this?

 

[Mischka]

I'm such the dork. Anything referencing a legal topic, and I click instantly.

This is a topic I have thought of recently, and you bring up several good points. Here's what little I know of the subject: Each website is primarily governed by the laws of the country where the site is hosted. As many sites will have mutiple servers, etc. in several countries, this raises the question of a site's "permanent establishment." Difficult concept to begin with [used to govern businesses for tax purposes], it's evolving to incorporate the multi-faceted world of the internet.

Many gambling websites are hosted outside of the United States because most individual states forbid private gambling. The sites may still be accessed by Americans, however. What these people need to remember, however, is that they are afforded little legal recourse if the sites take their money without authorization. Though a suit may be filed in the U.S., small sites like these can easily be dismantled and restarted in another locale.

A country does have a limited amount of control over the content of sites that are accessed by its citizens. I vaguely recall a battle in France over Yahoo Auction's selling of Nazi paraphenalia. Such activity is illegal in France, and the government asked Yahoo to block access to that portion of its site within France. Initially Yahoo agreed, but then recanted and a court battle ensued. I haven't had a chance to follow up on the outcome. Anyone know what happened?

The Internet is breaking barriers in traditionally restrictive countries. China is trying to block access to websites by banning personal computers, and closely monitoring the permitted computers in cyber cafes, etc. Very Big Brotherish. It takes a tremendous amount of a country's resources to block its people from accessing information from the outside world. The Internet poses an unprecedented problem to these regimes, and is helping to change the way the world interacts. This will continue to be an enormously interesting area of international law.

 

[Spinaroonie]

A country does have a limited amount of control over the content of sites that are accessed by its citizens. I vaguely recall a battle in France over Yahoo Auction's selling of Nazi paraphenalia. Such activity is illegal in France, and the government asked Yahoo to block access to that portion of its site within France. Initially Yahoo agreed, but then recanted and a court battle ensued. I haven't had a chance to follow up on the outcome. Anyone know what happened?

Oooh! Oooh~ I do! I do!

A higher court in France ruled that since Yahoo was American and international in nature that France's law could not prohibit them from selling the Nazi stuff. However I think that there was like some type of warning to the French people against buying it.

The laws will affect wherever the servers are. For instance the Kazaa makers have ben ordered to shut down their service because the RIAA went through legal channls to sue them internationally in a court in Sweeden, where it was located. So there's ways of prosecuting internet law breakers- it just has to be illegally locally to the base of operations.