Obstacles and Solutions to Internet Jurisdiction a Comparative Analysis of the EU and US Laws

Abstract

In an era of information technology, businesses, through the use of the boundlessInternet, can enter into International electronic contracts from anywhere in the world. The potentialfor cross-border disputes in electronic contracts is obviously much greater than in a paper-basedenvironment, where a high degree of commercial contracts are domestic in nature. Can thetraditional rules on jurisdiction, which are geographically orientated and generally rely on the placeof performance, apply to the modern electronic contract disputes? This paper will analyse the EUand US approaches for determining jurisdiction in e-contracting cases and discuss the possibility ofproposing specific jurisdiction rules for online contracts