[atlarge-discuss] Michael Geist on US jurisdictional hegemony

[Joop Teernstra <terastra@terabytz.co.nz>]

http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1052251778146&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851

excerpt:

A similar set of concerns has arisen within the context of domain name 
disputes. The U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, enacted in 
1999 to deal with cases of domain name cybersquatting, contains a provision 
that allows trademark holders to sue domain name registrants in U.S. courts 
regardless of where the domain name was registered.
That provision recently led one U.S. court to order the cancellation of a 
domain name owned by a Korean registrant despite the existence of a Korean 
court order prohibiting the cancellation. The U.S. court simply ruled that 
its decision trumped that of the Korean court, suggesting that U.S. law may 
enjoy greater control over domain name disputes in foreign countries than 
does local law.
Beyond domain names, copyright law has also led to policy clashes between 
countries. The U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which contains a 
"notice and takedown" system that shelters Internet service providers from 
liability for copyright infringement provided they promptly take down 
allegedly infringing content once notified of its existence on their 
systems, has been widely criticized for its broad reach.
ISPs in Canada and Australia have both reported that they regularly receive 
notice and takedown notifications from U.S. companies despite the fact that 
the U.S. law does not apply in those countries. ISPs ignore the requests at 
their own legal peril, since some are left with the sense that U.S. 
copyright law is fast becoming the global standard.
Despite the fact that countries such as Canada have enacted their own 
privacy legislation, privacy is yet another area where the influence of the 
U.S. and the European Union is felt locally. The U.S. Children's Online 
Privacy Protection Act, which applies to the collection of personal 
information from children under the age of 13, sits alongside Canadian 
privacy law since it provides that any Web site that targets U.S. children 
is subject to the law, regardless of the site's location.
The European Union has been similarly aggressive on privacy matters, 
enacting regulations that prohibit the transfer of personal data to any 
country that does not meet its standard for privacy protection. While 
Canada's statute obtained a favourable ruling in 2002, the E.U. has not 
hesitated to express reservations about the legal frameworks of many other 
countries.


-joop-


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