Internet And The Law

"The internet provides the most effective means of communication known to man and so confronts organizations with tremendous opportunities and also considerable challenges. Providing a concise and well-referenced resource to many of key issues involved on the internet, Canada's Internet Law in a Nutshell explores the inherent tensions between freedom of expression and other values such as the protection of reputation, and commercial speech. The text also examines the tensions between the ease of copying of digital files and the concerns of copyright owners. The text covers many key legal issues confronting conduct occurring on the internet including a deeper focus on issues pertaining to matters such as copyright, privacy, defamation and internet marketing, trademark and domain names, electronic commerce, the Anti-Spam legislation, and introduces key issues concerning other topics such as social media and cloud computing."--Pub. desc.

This authoritative work describes the nature and growth of the law of the Internet and explains the legal obligations, opportunities, rights, and risks inherent in this complex medium.

The common fallacy regarding cyberspace is that the Internet is a new jurisdiction, in which none of the existing rules and regulations apply. However, all the actors involved in an Internet transaction live in one or more existing jurisdictions, so rather than being unregulated, the Internet is arguably highly regulated. Worse, much of this law and regulation is contradictory and difficult, or impossible, to comply with. This book takes a global view of the fundamental legal issues raised by the advent of the Internet as an international communications mechanism. Legal and other materials are integrated to support the discussion of how technological, economic and political factors are shaping the law governing the Internet. Global trends in legal issues are addressed and the effectiveness of potential mechanisms for legal change that are applicable to Internet law are also examined. Of interest to students and practitioners in computer and electronic commerce law.

This book discusses the international legal issues underlying Internet Governance and proposes an international solution to its problems. The book encompasses a wide spectrum of current debate surrounding the governance of the internet and focuses on the areas and issues which urgently require attention from the international community in order to sustain the proper functioning of the global network that forms the foundation of our information fuelled society. Among the topics discussed are international copyright protection, state responsibility for cyber-attacks (cyberterrorism), and international on-line privacy protection. Taking a comparative approach by examining how different jurisdictions such as the United States, the European Union, China and Singapore have attempted various solutions to the problem of Internet Governance, the author offers a practical solution to the problem and is a proponent of International Internet Law. Kulesza suggests that just as in the case of International Environmental Law, an Internet Framework Convention could shape the starting point for international cooperation and lead to a clear, contractual division of state jurisdictional competences. International Internet Law is of particular interest to legal scholars engaged with the current challenges in international law and international relations, as well as students of law, international relations and political science. The issues discussed in the book are also relevant to journalists and other media professionals, facing the challenges of analyzing current international developments in cyberspace.

Shortlisted for DSBA Law Book of the Year Award 2020 The law in Ireland regarding causes of action involving the internet is a rapidly growing area of law and litigation. This book examines issues such as privacy, data protection, defamation, data protection, crime, intellectual property and employment, all through the prism of online behaviour. This book examines key pieces of legislation such as the E-Commerce Directive, GDPR, and Defamation Act 2009; forthcoming legislation such as the Digital Content Directive and proposed Irish legislation to combat harmful online content. With Ireland being the European base of many international IT and tech firms such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon and Twitter, it is anticipated that the Irish courts will be the forum for many important cases in the near future. Internet Law provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the law in Ireland, EU Member States, and other common law countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And in such a fast-developing area of law, the book also anticipates many of the issues that will face courts in the near future. Key cases that this book considers include: Data protection: Google Spain [2014] – an in depth review of what exactly this case established, and the manner in which it has been interpreted in subsequent case law. Lloyd v Google [2019] – in which the English Court of Appeal made a significant finding about the availability of damages for non-pecuniary loss arising from the breach of a person's data protection rights. Defamation: Monroe v Hopkins [2017] - the first UK case to consider at length defamation on Twitter, with an in-depth analysis of meaning, identification and how to assess the degree of publication via that medium. Eva Glawischnig-Piesczech v Facebook [2019] – a significant recent decision of the CJEU on the liability of social media platforms for content posted by its users. Copyright: Sony Music v UPC [2018] - a Court of Appeal judgment on the duties of internet service providers to restrict the illegal downloading of copyright material by its customers. Land Nordrhein-Westfalen v Renckhoff [2018] - a recent decision of the CJEU on the nature of copyright protection attaching to photographs which are uploaded to the internet. Trade Marks: Interflora Inc v Marks and Spencer plc [2011] - a decision of the CJEU which analyses the rights of an advertiser to use the trade mark of a rival company when promoting its services on the Google Ads service. Employment: Barbulescu v Romania [2017] - a significant CJEU decision which sets out the restrictions to an employer's right to monitor the electronic communications of its employees. Privacy/ Harassment: CG v Facebook [2016], in which the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal considered the tort of harassment via social media, and the potential liability of Facebook for comments made by a user following notification of the alleged harassment. Evidence: Martin & Ors v Gabriele Giambrone P/A Giambrone & Law [2013]- one of several cases to consider the admissibility of evidence taken by a defendant from a plaintiff's social media account in order to question the latter's testimony.

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.