When a legal issue arises, the beginning position invariably is one of determining which contexts of legal opinion hold sway (Usunier & Lee, 2005, p. 157). Any good business plan would have preemptively sketched out such broad considerations.
Ironically, the Internet, as one of the most formidable drivers for globalization, remains in an evolutionary infancy, legally growing literally case-by-case. This should come as no surprise when considering that some technical schools can produce web designers in as little as nine months. Consequently, hundreds of virtual businesses are born daily, with a global reach, and no clue at all when it comes to their legal rights, responsibilities and potential repercussions.
There are global institutions that periodically set forth standards, WIPO, the World Court (the ICJ, the International Court of Justice) and the like. While integration of said standards often takes time, it is fortunate to have such institutions in place. For better or for worse we are still experiencing the beginnings as globalization continues to establish its expressions (a modest collection of such institutions is in the appendix).
Among the myriad considerations international cyberspace commerce confronts, (possibly or actually), includes torts and liabilities, intellectual property and piracy, customs, ethics and social responsibility, online contracts (and their underlying agreements and considerations), any established statute, remedies for breach, taxes, warranties, issues of transferability, e-money and antitrust issues come to mind.
Individual countries will likely have individual issues, for example, the US will insist on an embrace of Sarbanes-Oxley, at 2002 act of Congress seeking to create greater transparency in accounting practices. This is no light matter. The law of Islam, or Shari’a law, the Hindu law of dharmasastra and Jewish Halakhah are just a few regionally established constructs that, in varying measure either inform or actually are a country’s given law (Cheeseman, 2009, p. 1203-1205).
To know proactively in advance is, besides erring on the side of caution, impossible given the absolute global reach of the web. Fortunately, with a modicum of common sense and the due diligence of all necessary research, there is back-up. If there is the unusual, or someone is threatening your business enterprise, there is probably an attorney at your fingertips at Martindale.com (Martindale.com 2010). This is an online directory of rated legal professionals all over the world by country and expertise.
Appendix
This represents a small portion of the work in progress, the authors’ database of global institutions. Listed here are just those that have been collected thus far, of organizations, laws, treaties, unions, think tanks, abstract constructs (e.g., balance of trade), pacts and the like. From the perspective of this being incomplete, one can readily see how dizzying this can be.
African Development Bank AfDB
African Financial Community East
African Financial Community Central
African Growth and Opportunity Act AGOA
Agency for International Development AID
Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO) AGP
Alien Tort Claims Act (the) ATCA
Alien Tort Statute ATS
All China Federation of Trade Unions, the
American Depository Receipts ADRs
American Enterprise Institute AEI
American Federation of Teachers AFT
American Postal Workers Union APWU
Andean Trade Preference Act ATPA
Antidumping Duty AD or ADD
Arms Export Control Act AECA
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC
Asia Pacific Foundation
Association of Americans Resident Overseas (the) AARO
Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN
Balance of Payments BOP
Balance of Trade BOT
Bilateral Investment Treaty BIT
Brookings Institution
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (U.S. DHS) CBP
Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S Department of Commerce BEA
Business for Social Responsibility BSR
Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities BLSP
Bureau of Industry and Security (U.S. DOC) BIS
Canadian Border Services Agency CBSA
Canadian International Trade Tribunal CITT
Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act CBERA
Caribbean Basin Initiative CBI
Caribbean Common Market CARICOM
Caribbean Court of Justice CCJ
Carriage of Goods by Sea Act COGSA
Center for American Progress CAP
Center for Economic and Policy Research CEPR
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Central American Common Market CACM
Central American Free Trade Agreement CAFTA-DR
Certificate of Origin CO
Codex Alimentarius Commission CODEX
Collective Security Treaty Organisation CSTO
Comite Maritime International CMI
Commerce Control List CCL
Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union CAP
Common External Tariff (or CXT) CET
Communications Workers of America CWA
Conformite Europeene CE
Consumer Price Index CPI
Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods CISG
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES
Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia Business Solutions for Global Challenges
Council of Europe COE
Council on Economic Priorities CEP
Council on Foreign Relations
Countervailing Duty CVD
Court of International Trade CIT
Customs Cooperation Council CCC
Department of Commerce DOC
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade DFAIT
Dispute Settlement Body (WTO) DSB
Dispute Settlement Understanding (WTO) DSU
Documents Against Acceptance D/A
Documents Against Payment D/P
Economic Development Board(s)
Economic Strategy Institute
Electronic Data Interchange EDI
Ethical Investment Research Service EIRIS
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EBRD
European Commission Directorate General for Competition DG-COMP
European Community EC
European Court of Justice ECJ
European Court of the First Instance CFI
European Economic Area EEA
European Free Trade Association EFTA
European Investment Bank EIB
European Organization for Testing and Clarification EOTC
European Patent Office EPO
European Union EU
Exchange Rate Mechanism ERM
Export Administration Regulations EAR
Export Control Classification Number ECCN
Export Management Company EMC
Export Trading Company ETC
Export-Import Bank of the U.S. EXIMBANK
Federal Maritime Commission FMC
Food and Drug Administration, the (United States) FDA
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act FCPA
Foreign Credit Insurance Association FCIA
Foreign Direct Investment FDI
Foreign Sales Corporation FSC
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act FSIA
Foreign Trade Zone FTZ
Free of Particular Average FPA
Free Trade Agreement or Area FTA
Free Trade Area of the Americas FTAA
Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation treaties FCN
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GATT
General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS
Generalized System of Preferences GSP
Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung GmbH
Global Compact, the
Global Food Safety Initiative GFSI
Gross Domestic Product GDP
Group on Iran’s Nuclear Program -
China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. P5+1
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States HTSUS
Heritage Foundation
Hoover Institution
Host-Country Nationals HCNs
Ibrahim Index of African Governance
Information and Communication Technology ICT
Integrated System, Software Management ISM
Intellectual Property Rights IPR
Inter American Dialog
International Air Transport Association IATA
International Bank of Reconstruction and Development IBRD
International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ICSID
International Chamber of Commerce ICC
International Court of Justice (World Court) ICJ
International Criminal Court ICC
International Crisis Group
International Data Corporation IDC
International Development Association IDA
International Emergency Economic Powers Act IEEPA
International Finance Corporation IFC
International Human Resource Management IHRM
International Human Resources IHR
International Human Rights Law IHRL
International Institute for the Unification of Private Law UNIDROIT
International Joint Venture IJV
International Labor Office ILO
International Labor Organization ILO
International Labor Rights Fund ILRF
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
International Maritime Organization IMO
International Monetary Fund IMF
International Organization for Standardization ISO
International Supply Management ISM
International Trade Administration ITA
International Trade Commission ITC
Japan External Trade Organization JETRO
Japanese Industrial Standards Mark JIS
Japanese Patent Office JPO
Kaiser Family Foundation
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement LCLAA
Letter of Credit LC
MallenBaker.net
Mark Conformite Europeene CE
Market Access and Compliance (U.S. Department of Commerce) MAC
Mediators Foundation
Memorandum of Understanding on Trade and Investment MOUTI
Mercado Common del Sur (Southern Common Market) MERCOSUR
Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (formerly MITI) METI
Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation MOFTEC
Most Favored Nation Trade Status (see NTR) MFN
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency MIGA
Multilateral Trade Negotiations MTN
Multinational Corporation MNC
Multinational Enterprise (or Entity. synonymous with MNC) MNE
National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.
National Trade Data Bank NTDB
National Trade Estimate Report NTE
Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC
No License Required NLR
Non-governmental Organization NGO
Non-market Economy Nation NME
Non-Proliferation Treaty NPT
Non-tariff Barrier NTB
Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers NVOCCs
Normal Trade Relations (formerly MFN) NTR
North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA
North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO
Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 OSRA
Office of Foreign Assets Control (Department of Treasury) OFAC
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD
Organization of American States OAS
Overseas Private Investment Corporation OPIC
Parent-Country Nationals PCNs
Patent Cooperation Treaty PCT
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Plowshares Fund
Research Center, Economic & Community Action Policies CIEPAC
SA8000 see CEP SA8000
Service Employees International Union SIEU
Shipper's Export Declaration SED
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications SWIFT
Special Drawing Rights SDR
Technical Barriers to Trade TBT
Third-Country Nationals TCNs
Trade Adjustment Assistance TAA
Trade and Economic Cooperation Arrangements TECAs
Trade and Investment Cooperation Arrangements TICA
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights TRIPS
Trade-Related Investment Measures TRIMS
Trading with the Enemy Act TWEA
Transparency International
(the) TRIPS Agreement TRIPS
Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits UCP
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy UDRP
UNISON est. 1993 (by merger); 1.3 million members, the largest trade union in the UK. UNISON
United Nations Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations (the)
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law UNCITRAL
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD
United Nations Development Program UNDP
United Nations Environmental Program UNEP
United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the) UN/CTC
United States Agency for International Development USAID
U.S. International Trade Commission USITC
U.S. Trade Representative USTR
United Steelworkers of America USWA
Value Added Tax VAT
Variety Global Business Group a.k.a. VGB Group
World Affairs Council of Philadelphia; The
World Bank (see ICJ)
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization WCO
World Federation of Exchanges (the) WFE
World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control FCTC
World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO
World Trade Organization WTO
References
Cheeseman, H. R. (2009). Contemporary Business and Online Commerce Law (6 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458: Pearson / Prentice Hall.
Martindale.com. (2010). http://www.martindale.com/?WT.srch=1
Usunier, J., & Lee, J. A. (2005). Marketing Across Cultures (4th ed.). Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.
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