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THOMSON SWEET & MAXWELL (www.thomson.com)

 A GROUNDBREAKING CONNECTION TO INTERNET LAW 

A review by Phillip Taylor MBE, Abbey & Richmond Chambers, Malet Street Barrister Desk Editor 

The new edition of Graham Smith’s work is to be welcomed for its clear and authoritative explanation of the law governing the internet both here in the United Kingdom and increasingly to the global markets and international law perspectives. 

Graham Smith reflects on the multi-border nature of the internet problem and he tries his best to handle the comparative approach to the knotty problem of multiple jurisdiction disputes and legal niceties.

I met up with him at the London offices of Bird and Bird and began asking him why he had written the book.  With disarming charm he said that the book had started as a short work of several hundred pages some ten years ago but has grown to become a key element in the collaboration between his firm of Bird and Bird, and Sweet and Maxwell who originally commissioned it on the off chance that it would be a popular title for busy legal professionals. 

This is now essentially a book on electronic law where Graham Smith’s sheer breadth of expertise has placed him at the forefront of a work which is clearly needed today.  It was not always so as Smith declared when he recited an anecdote from a client in Wales who queried what relevance this book had for their business.  

In brutal Welsh, the client said the answer was ‘none’...that was until the client then had a problem involving the new technology!  This is why Sweet and Maxwell realised the need for the book in the 1990s and its latest edition, in 2007, which covers such a wide range of what I would call ‘new issue’ cases.  I always feel it is a good job the ancient Statute of “In Consimili Casu” (in a like case) is no longer active and binding otherwise the law really would be in a pickle if new types of action could not be heard before the courts. Much of this work looks at emerging issues and jurisdiction problems created by a global communicating device of such complexity and scope as the internet now is. 

WHAT THE BOOK COVERS 

I found the most relevant areas for both lawyers and laymen would be issues of cross-border liability, trade marks, domain names and protocol IP precedents.  

But it is the first chapter I found intriguing where Smith explains what the internet is and how it relates to legal matters and the matters which affect our clients and everyone else.  With an excellent, yet simple technical glossary, and chapters on contract and defamation which are directly applicable to a common law practice like mine, the book retains the ‘hands-on’ approach of the first edition.  Smith gives a comparative approach to themes that have arisen in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the necessary detail of English law.  That is its charm and relevance for all as we are dealing with what is to become a global legal system as far as the internet is concerned in the near future as new systems come online across the planet. 

Smith’s jargon-free style identifies practical legal questions which are likely to arise today and he provides sage guidance on how to deal with them effectively. 

THE CONTENTS 

“Internet Law and Regulation” in its fourth edition covers the following important areas: 

·        Details of key areas of contention such as copyright, trade marks and domain names, cross-border liability, internet payments, online contracts, advertising, defamation and data protection in an international context; 

·        Updates on emerging areas of importance such as encryption, obscenity, freedom of speech, tax and competition law; 

·        Key international issues such as jurisdictional questions, applicable law and EU internal market questions; 

·        Expert contributions from the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong King, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA; and 

·        New jurisdictions including China, Italy and Spain. 

“WHAT’S THE GOING RATE FOR A CITATION?”   

The aim of this book is to give all the crucial cases and decisions featured recently by offering an insight into the reaction of the courts to the uncertainties created by the new technology.  So, as Smith himself said, ‘what’s the going rate for a citation?’ Well, it will be one which he and his team of contributors at Bird and Bird and elsewhere feel we need- and he is the man to do it. Particularly relevant is the coverage of key areas such as contracts between ISPs, content owners and others; communications and broadcasting regulation; data protection; content liability and protection; electronic contracts and transactions; payment mechanisms for internet commerce; prohibited and regulated activities; and tax, competition law and the internet. 

This is an evolving area of law which cannot be ignored. Described as the definitive English law textbook on e-commerce when it first appeared, Graham Smith has enhanced his original, modest work into the ultimate and essential guide for the internet lawyer, ensuring that lawyers, clients and laymen are all aware of new legislation and decisions which will affect not just their businesses but their lives in the emerging global marketplace and socially interactive club that is the modern internet. 

December 2007

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