RE: International jurisdiction, India & Florida

["Ang Peng Hwa (Assoc Prof)" <TPHANG@ntu.edu.sg>]

Taking a break from marking examination scripts....
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Goldstein [mailto:goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au]
> Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 7:50 AM
> To: APPLe
> Subject: International jurisdiction, India & Florida
> 
> 
> Hi all
> 
> An interesting few articles, the first one being probably the most
> interesting.
> 
> Cheers
> David
> 
> Border Disputes Simmer (Business 2.0)
> One lawyer representing the ecommerce industry at the Hague
> Convention on Jurisdiction says it may be good if a treaty is not
> reached.
> 
> It's a headache-inducing question. When a company in Silicon Valley
> launches a Website, casting goods and services into cyberspace,
> and--illustrating the beauty of the Internet--a potential customer
> emerges in a tiny country in Asia, whose rules govern the
> transaction? If a dispute arises between the buyer and seller, what
> government will define each player's rights? 

There is a simple solution: state it in the contract whose law holds. Given
the weak consumer protection laws in Asia (and presumably Latin American and
Africa), it may be clever/cunning (but also cynical) to have the contract
say: "For buyers from Western Europe, Australia, Canada and USA, US laws
apply. For buyers from Asia, Africa and Latin America, consumer laws in the
buyer's country apply." Head-ache? Perhaps. For the buyer.

> 
> Despite all the ecommerce advances of the past two years, this basic
> question of jurisdiction is as unresolved as ever. And until it is
> resolved, U.S. ecommerce companies must navigate somewhat blindly in
> international waters.
>  http://www.business2.com/ebusiness/2001/04/globalsimmer.htm

The jurisdictional issue once again discusses the France and Yahoo! case.
Apparently, the Europeans do not take the French attitude seriously.
(Everyone takes French fashion, food and wine seriously. But not when it
comes to the Internet.) The Europeans treat the French with at
"hmm-that's-interesting approach" which may be the wisest approach.

Regards, Ang Peng Hwa
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