IP: U.S. lawyers mull commission to set Internet rules

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

> Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 23:44:48 +1000 (EST)
> From: David Goldstein <goldstein_david () yahoo com au>
>
> Hi all
>
> A story on an American ABA, the American Bar Association, and one of
> their committees have released a report suggesting a multinational
> commission needs to be created to set global Internet rules. There's
> also a story from Wired at
> http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,37487,00.html, but both are
> from Reuters. The report is available at
> http://www.kentlaw.edu/cyberlaw/docs/drafts/draft.rtf. The report is
> very long, close to 200 pages, but double line spaced.
>
> Cheers
> David
>
>  U.S. lawyers mull commission to set Internet rules
> http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/070170.htm
>
> NEW YORK (Reuters) - A study of cyberspace legal issues released by
> an American Bar Association committee Monday suggested a
> multinational commission needs to be created to set global Internet
> rules.
>
> The two-year study, which was released at the ABA's annual meeting in
> New York, examined a range of topics including consumer protection,
> privacy, banking, securities, taxes and gaming.
>
> The report also reviewed how regulatory agencies in the United States
> and abroad must change to adapt to a new world of electronic commerce
> that is not dependent on physical location.
>
> The report's conclusions have not been adopted by the ABA. Industry
> leaders were expected to offer formal comments on the report on July
> 17 at the London session of the ABA's annual meeting.
>
> ``Anyone doing business in cyberspace needs to know what laws to
> obey, whether it be a question of what taxes are due and where, or
> what consumer protections apply to the sale of their products or
> services,'' Thomas Vartanian, chair of the ABA Global Cyberspace
> Jurisdiction Project, told a news conference.
>
> He said rules were needed to maximize the efficiency of electronic
> commerce and said government cannot write and approve laws fast
> enough to keep up with the changing technology.
>
> Vartanian said the study underscored the limited ability that any one
> state or nation may have in bringing greater certainty to cyberspace
> and thus the need for a multinational commission that could work with
> governments to establish rules.
>
> ``It's as if we've landed on Mars and we're constructing a commercial
> and business setting,'' he said. ``We have to establish new rules of
> engagement and we have to get people used to dealing with those new
> rules.''
>
> The study offered a menu of solutions a global commission could
> undertake. Among the suggestions was the creation of a cybertribunal
> and voluntary industry councils to develop private sector methods of
> resolving e-commerce disputes.
>
> Another suggestion was that global industry regulatory authorities be
> encouraged to reach agreement about how laws will be applied to
> financial products and services offered in an electronic environment.
>
>
>
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