How is Internet Law Governed and Regulated
Internet law is the legislation and rules that are in place to govern the internet. They apply to every single area of the internet, and there are no areas exempt from legal principles. However, unlike other areas of law, internet law is not a solid field of practice [like land law, immigration law, and criminal law]. Instead, it applies rules and principles from other areas of practice like contract law and privacy law. Internet law settles many different things, like internet domain disputes, trademarks, and internet harassment offences.
This page will hope to tell you how internet law is governed and regulated and what some examples of internet law are.
How Does Internet Law Work in the Real World
A lawyer who deals with internet law must be flexible, for they will have to cover a diversity of cases. Internet law is very complex. Internet law is incorporated into legal practice the same way any other law is, the difference being that internet law, owing to its diversity, is not fixed to a single set of legislations. Many people, however, believe that internet law should have its own independent legislation and be governed as if it were its own state or body. Internet law is very complex, which is why you must hire a full-time internet law specialist, as opposed to a lawyer moonlighting in internet law [which is common]. Only a professional and experienced internet lawyer, according to Revision Legal internet law specialists, will be able to provide you with the service that you require. Now, we will go on to talk about how the internet is governed and regulated:
How is the Internet Regulated
The internet is regulated and legislated differently all around the world, with it heavily censored in some countries. Some of those countries include Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Censorship aside, there are four main ways in which the internet is regulated, and we will now hope to discuss them with you.
- Norms – Norms, as is true to the real world, govern our behaviour. Human norms, as they are known, are unique to cultures and civilizations, and determine what is acceptable and what is not. Cultural norms can help to govern the internet. A good example of this would be that if you were to make a nasty comment, you would realize you were being rude, and remove it. This is a cultural norm.
- Markets – The Internet online marketplaces have a huge impact on what happens on the internet. Concepts and products that are considered unpopular or unethical will be rooted out. An example of this would be racist memorabilia sold online – it is now widely accepted that racist or offensive memorabilia are unacceptable to own or sell and because of this, you will have a hard time finding products of this nature online. The lack of these products incentivizes good behaviour.
- Architecture – Architecture is a piece of the terminology used by internet professionals and relates to the transfer of data. An example of this is search engines or coding.
- Laws – Last, but not least, are laws. Laws and legislation are required to govern the internet and are used in combination with the previously mentioned three points. Law is a necessity online to safeguard people and ensure that if cultural norms and online markets fail to protect people, that there will be something in the way to prevent bad behaviour. However, prosecution for online offences can be very difficult. The reason for this is that countries have different concepts of internet law, meaning an offence in one country may not be an offence in another. This is why people are calling for uniform internet laws.
Examples of Internet Law
ECPA [Electronic Communications Privacy Act
The ECPA, 1986, while antiquated is still used today. This law allows the U.S. government to intercept and access digital communications [social media, email, and public cloud databases] with a subpoena. Warrants are not required to access said data if the data is over a hundred and eighty days old. Companies are required to supply the government with this information.
CFAA [Computer Fraud and Abuse Act]
The CFAA was introduced in the late-1980s and was revised in the 1990s. The act makes it a crime to share protected and encrypted information.
CISPA [Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act]
Legislation regarding CISPA was introduced in 2011. It passed the House of Representatives, but not the Senate. It was reintroduced in 2015. It is an amendment to the NSA [National Security Act], 1947. It governs how data on the internet is shared concerning cyber threats with the federal government. The act has been opposed massively in the media.
With the help of this page, you should now understand internet law and how it is governed, a little better. Internet law is very confusing, but with this page, it should be slightly clearer.
