Find an Internet -- Cyberspace Lawyer

One of the newest legal specializations is Internet or Cyberspace law. The proliferation of the Internet spawned new methods of communicating, new terminologies, new business models and legislation to deal with all of them. This growth has created the discipline of Internet or Cyberspace law. Disputes over Internet-related issues first started to arise in the early 1990s. However, the body of law was not able to deal with the types of issues that were developing. While legislation started to appear on the books later in the decade, many of the issues are still being actively debated and the creation of cyberspace law is still in progress. In some instances, legal scholars debate not only whether existing law can regulate internet issues, but also how possible it is to catch and prosecute those who violate internet law. For example, since federal law regulating gambling deals with wire transmissions, the way it affects online gambling is ambiguous. Early efforts to legislate Internet gambling have been unsuccessful due to Congress' concerns about enforcement. One of the most important areas covered by the discipline of Internet law is the regulation of online commerce. With the ever-broadening range of products and services available on the Internet, legislators are looking at the taxes online firms must pay and their fiscal responsibilities to their customers. Credit card companies are looking at ways to combat the increasing opportunities for fraud that the Internet provides, including legislation. Continued... By Ann MacDonald