[FYI] U.S. Lawyers Want Cyberborders

[Kristian Köhntopp <kris@koehntopp.de>]

Wieder jemand, der glaubt, er habe noch eine
Wahl und dem man die Eigenschaften
eines kryptographischen Tunnels erst noch
verständlich machen muß?

Kristian


http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37619,00.html

U.S. Lawyers Want Cyberborders 
Reuters 

3:20 p.m. Jul. 17, 2000 PDT 

LONDON -- The Internet so easily skips across geographical borders that
new
"cyber-borders" may be needed, members of the American Bar Association
said
Monday as they presented a two-year report on the prevention of global
online
chaos. 

Enthusiasts may love the Internet's disregard for authority and borders,
but it
presents a major headache for businesses, governments, and consumers. 

For example, If a French customer buys a rug from Turkey with a
Swiss credit card via a website hosted in the United States,
there are risks all around. The rug might be a dud, the payment
might be faulty, and taxes might not be paid. But where should
such matters be settled? 

"It's as if we've landed on Mars and we're constructing a
commercial and business setting," said Thomas Vartanian, who
chaired the American Bar Association's Committee on the Law of
Cyberspace, which compiled the report. 

The 184-page report was presented at the Association's annual
convention, held in London this year. The document urged the
creation of a global standards commission to help set the rules.
It also said that the simplest answers are not the best. 

Many courts currently rule that jurisdiction in any Internet
dispute belongs to the country of destination, where the buyer
or Web surfer lives. This means that a business or website can
be liable to the laws of every country on earth, an impossible
burden. 

...

-- 
"X was designed to run three programs: xterm, xload, and xclock. (The
idea
 of a window manager was added as an afterthought, and it shows.)"
	-- Don Hopkins