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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