Publisher's Synopsis
This book uses two essential terms which are vital for any discussion about the worldwide public international computer networks (the Internet). One term is "Pure Online" incidents, which is characterized by no involvement in physical shipment or tangible things, and at least one user is an alien, that is, a non-resident or a non-national. Thus, the pre-condition is a "pure online" case with an alien as a defendant with only bit-transmission as link or connection to the forum State. The book introduces a new term "Global Jurisdiction" which is characterized by a State's jurisdictional rules taken on its "wording" reaching all alien cybernauts, thus making a worldwide jurisdiction involving aliens who can be anywhere in the world, outside the forum State. This term has to be distinguished from "Universal Jurisdiction." Both of these terms have come up only because of the invention of public international computer networks where acts or incidents suddenly appears to be everywhere and at the same time for anyone. Thus, any court or any State could argue for being a proper court or jurisdiction. However, "Global Jurisdiction" is prohibited by public international law, which requires closeness (a close link) and reasonableness between the jurisdiction and the alien in question. Furthermore, under public international law, any jurisdiction has to respect the sovereignty of other States and their right to self-determination of rules for and over its citizen. Cyberspace does not respect geographic drawn borders. Thus, when dealing with cyberspace, one should turn the view upside down and begin with the view - not from the perspective of a State and its borders - but from the fact that cyberspace stretches globally and that there has to be made some division of this "global space".
