IP: European Law Seen As Grave Threat To E-Commerce

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Sounds like the alternative is pretty bad. I buy something and end up 
having to sue in some little coutry where the company is "based". 
What are rational alternatives ?

Dave


http://news.excite.com/news/r/990910/13/net-eu?printstory=1

European Law Seen As Grave Threat To E-CommerceUpdated 1:02 PM ET 
September 10, 1999By Andrew Osborn
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A draft European Union law would seriously stunt 
the growth of electronic commerce and could lead to a damaging trade 
dispute with the United States, industry experts and analysts say.
The legislation, if finalized, would allow disgruntled Internet 
shoppers to sue e-commerce firms in their own national courts 
regardless of whether the company had actively sought to sell its 
product in the consumer's country or not.
At the moment, unhappy online shoppers can often only seek redress in 
the country where the e-business is based.
But, provided the offending company's Web site could be seen in the 
EU, an e-commerce firm could, in the future, find itself facing 
lawsuits in any one of the 15 countries.

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