Internet Law And The Economy

Internet Law and the Economy

MBA 501

University of Phoenix Online

Introduction

This week's article review is taken from Ubiquity, an ACM IT Magazine and forum. The article is "The New Economy: Are Rules Irrelevant?" by Daniel W. Uhlfelder, Esq. In this article it is discussed how the new economy of the Internet move forward and enact laws that would be beneficial to all parties involved. This will be hard if not impossible because the Internet can cross boundaries where laws could not cross. The each country and each region uphold and maintain laws and regulations specific for their purposes. Therefore, jurisdiction is a key issue in order to determine what laws, regulations, taxation or other concerns apply. As crimes are committed our society and economy pays the price. Billions of dollars are lost and companies will be spending millions more to prevent these activities. The laws and the ways of enforcing the laws will not be able to keep up the pace of this lightning technology.

Necessity of laws for our economy

Whenever one interacts with another person or entity, they develop a set of rules by which they interact. These rules also come with consequences. There are laws of man and there are also laws of nature. As we understand the laws of nature, the law of gravity, for example, we can use this law to our advantage and send men to the moon and back again.

Even in the most unorganized groups, rules or laws develop. Different groups or entities develop different rules or laws by which they interact. In most cases one would not have an interest in the laws of another a group, state, country or region if there were no interaction. Once interaction is possible with another group, state, country or region the laws of the region are then relevant. With the advent of the Internet, it is now possible to interact with all kinds of groups, societies and regions in the blink of an eye. It is now important to know the different laws and develop new laws by which these new relationships interact. The key is to understand the different laws and how they are used, where and how should they be enforced and how to protect our interests and the interest of others and how we can use and develop laws to the best advantage of society. According to Daniel W. Uhlefelder

"Security, Internet taxation, electronic signatures, privacy, copyright, minority, small business development, and contract formation in cyberspace: These are just a few of the important legal issues members of the new economy are going to face." (Uhlfelder, 2000)

Laws relating to our worldwide commerce are going to be needed to avoid ciaos in our economic society. If we cannot keep up with these changes, then there may be ill effects to our society and economy. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Robert Pitofsky reminds us that when enacting laws we must remember:

"Protect the marketplace, and don't undermine the incentives for innovation. And that is what this is about. The incentives for innovation seem to be very important in this area. On the other hand, you don't want people taking advantage of the fact that claming that 'Well, We're high tech. The antitrust laws don't apply to us.' That is not an acceptable defense." (Uhlfelder, 2000)

Predators exist everywhere and the internet is no exception. There are always people who take advantage of certain faults in human nature and the very naпve. Because the internet is international, jurisdiction of authority is almost always questionable. Things that are illegal in the United States may be perfectly legal in other countries and vice versa. In order to be effective, a uniform body, like Interpol, needs to be created with international jurisdiction over the internet. Identity theft, stock manipulation, and fraudulent sales are examples of crimes committed on the internet and virtually go unpunished. Even if law enforcement is able to catch up to the perpetrator, it is usually too late. Law and order in this new economy is the responsibility of everyone using the internet. Governments can only do so much. As consumers in this new economy, it befalls all to accept the challenge to work together to ensure law and order in secured.

Jurisdiction and choice of laws

What is legal in one country may be illegal in another country. An example can be taken from an Australian affiliate of Project Gutenberg (project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to put the world's literature online). The site posted free downloads for the 1936 novel "Gone With the Wind." The site was contacted by the lawyers representing the estate of the author Margaret Mitchell regarding this novel's copyright. In the United States the copyright allows "Gone With the Wind" to become public domain 95 years after its original publication. In