Unification of cyber-jurisdiction rules: just how close are the EU and the US?

摘要

The evolution of Internet law has been following the path already seen in the development of lex mercatoria, which has long sought to harmonize commercial law at the international level to avoid uncertainties arising from conflicting legal frameworks. Cyber law, and lex mercatoria before it, started with protocols devised by industry, progressed to state legislation, and then became the subject of international treaties and agreements. By the time that gov- ernments became interested in regulating the Internet, a system of regulation had already been devised by online users and was proving capable of independent operation.