Book details of 'Cyberlaw: National and International Perspectives'

Title	Cyberlaw: National and International Perspectives
Author(s)	Rosario J. Girasa
ISBN	0130655643
Language	English
Published	November 2001
Publisher	Prentice Hall

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Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
The back cover states that this is the "most comprehensive Internet law text for students of any discipline." The preface doesn't really contradict that statement, but then, it doesn't really specify a particular audience. The text itself, on the other hand, does not appear to be a reference, but rather a textbook for law students, and law students only. Part one provides an introduction and examines jurisdiction. Chapter one is an introduction and overview of both the technology and law. This demonstrates a number of limitations (the technology is limited to the Internet), and biases. (The definition of the Internet is taken from a "Finding of Fact" in the case that struck down the Communications Decency Act and contains a number of errors in terminology and well, fact. The legal system is described only in terms of the various levels of US courts.) A number of cases regarding jurisdiction, first between US states and then between states and foreign States, is presented in chapter two. While this will undoubtedly be of value to US lawyers engaged in such battles, for the layman the best that can be determined is that a) the situation is indeterminate, and b) the material is confusing. Part two deals with contracts, torts, and criminal law aspects of cyberspace. Chapter three looks at US case law regarding contracts and torts, including related topics such as commercial codes such as UCITA. (Many implications of the legislation are poorly expressed: there are several paragraphs describing the implied warranties under UCITA, and a brief mention of the fact that using the words "as is" voids them all.) The construction of chapter four is very odd, since it begins with a review of international statutes dealing with commercial online transactions, and then moves on to torts, and back to US cases. Although the first presentation of criminal cases is from Germany, all of the remaining material in chapter five, primarily on censorship, obscenity, and a little fraud, comes from the US. Part three looks at intellectual property rights. Most of the copyright cases in chapter six, all from the US, deal with general issues not directly related to technology, while the cases presented in chapter seven are more technology related. Chapter eight deals with trademarks, and the relation to technology is primarily made in terms of cybersquatting (the practice of registering a domain name using a famous name or trademark, so that the owner must buy it from you). Patents and trade secrets are covered in chapter nine, and the relation to network technology is rather slim. Part four addresses privacy and security issues. Except that there is only chapter ten, on privacy. Part five talks about antitrust, securities regulation, and relaxation. Antitrust, in chapter eleven, covers Microsoft, IBM, and a number of others. Chapter twelve's review of securities regulation cases primarily deals with fraud, and the technical links are basically irrelevant. The taxation of net businesses is in chapter thirteen. AS a textbook for law school students, this is probably useful. The cases are collected, and questions are asked to get students to think about various aspects of cases, and related precedents that might be applicable. For non-lawyers, and non-students, the content is extremely frustrating: all questions and no answers. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2002
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