Ignorance is no defence, but is inaccessibility? On the accessibility of national laws to foreign online publishers
Ignorance is no defence, but is inaccessibility? On the accessibility of national laws to foreign online publishers
The article examines, first, to what extent the legal exposure of online actors to multiple foreign laws creates a legal obligation on states to make their laws easily accessible to them and whether a state by failing to do so breaches any human rights. Second, it is examined what ‘easy accessibility’ actually entails. The discussion builds upon the premise that the Internet has created an environment where transnational trade or publications are no longer the prerogative of resource-rich multinational companies with large inhouse legal departments to advise them on their respective legal position in different jurisdictions. Yet, there is growing worldwide consensus that online content providers have to comply with the laws of the places where their sites can be accessed. This raises the issue of whether the legal expectation of states on foreign online actors goes, or should go, hand-in-hand with an obligation to cater for the special regulatory needs of foreign actors.
25-41
Kohl, Uta
813ff335-441f-4027-801b-4e6fc48409c3
1 March 2005
Kohl, Uta
813ff335-441f-4027-801b-4e6fc48409c3
Kohl, Uta
(2005)
Ignorance is no defence, but is inaccessibility? On the accessibility of national laws to foreign online publishers.
Information & Communications Technology Law, 14 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/1360083042000325292).
Abstract
The article examines, first, to what extent the legal exposure of online actors to multiple foreign laws creates a legal obligation on states to make their laws easily accessible to them and whether a state by failing to do so breaches any human rights. Second, it is examined what ‘easy accessibility’ actually entails. The discussion builds upon the premise that the Internet has created an environment where transnational trade or publications are no longer the prerogative of resource-rich multinational companies with large inhouse legal departments to advise them on their respective legal position in different jurisdictions. Yet, there is growing worldwide consensus that online content providers have to comply with the laws of the places where their sites can be accessed. This raises the issue of whether the legal expectation of states on foreign online actors goes, or should go, hand-in-hand with an obligation to cater for the special regulatory needs of foreign actors.
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Published date: 1 March 2005
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Local EPrints ID: 427431
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/427431
ISSN: 1360-0834
PURE UUID: 3e9a792c-a85b-47d5-b576-55ac0a822b3b
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Date deposited: 16 Jan 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:38
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