Title: Fundamental rights in cyberspace and internet customary law

Authors: Paul Przemyslaw Polanski

Addresses: Jean Monnet ad personam Department of European Law, Faculty of Law, Warsaw University, Poland

Abstract: Internet commerce continues to flourish notwithstanding the lack of predictable international legal framework. Despite the efforts of numerous international organisations, so far no international treaty dealing with the internet has come into force. It is argued that the internet community has managed to successfully function because it has developed a unique normative culture. The objective of this paper is to discuss the fundamental customary rights such as the freedom of linking and copying that have been developed over the last decade by the internet community. The paper draws on the concept of custom as a potential remedy in removing legal uncertainty in the electronic environment.

Keywords: customary law; usages of trade; cyberspace law; freedom of linking; freedom of copying; peer-to-peer networks; P2P networks; internet; custom; uncertainty; e-commerce; electronic commerce; international law; normative culture; customary rights.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIPM.2008.017850

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management, 2008 Vol.2 No.1, pp.11 - 25

Published online: 19 Apr 2008 *

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