The proposal was made after the completion of a two year study into legal issues arising in connection with the internet. The areas reviewed included consumer protection, privacy, banking, taxation and gaming, all of which are readily recognised as areas of potential conflict as regards the smooth running of the internet.
The report, which also looked at existing regulation in the US, concluded that existing measures were not sufficient and needed adaptation in order to effectively address legal problems associated with the internet. At present the ABA does not appear to have adopted any of the report’s recommendations.
The chairman of the ABA Global Cyberspace Jurisdiction Project, Thomas Vartanian, has further emphasised the need for a global internet regulation system.
In a recent press conference Vartanian commented, “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”.
It remains unclear how national responses to the internet will be successfully integrated into the global marketplace.