Internet and Computer Law
As the information revolution continues to lead the economy through the 21st Century, internet and computing law are easily among the most important and dynamic legal fields. Several conventional areas of intellectual property and law in general bear on the fields of internet and computing law, including copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and patents. But their application to this rapidly-changing area has created many new sub-issues within those regimes. In addition, several new areas of the law, altogether, have been forged to handle the new frontiers of internet and computer law.
Although the internet had been created decades before, with several attempts to penetrate the general consumer market, a critical mass of networked personal computer users only brought the internet into mainstream consciousness in the mid-to-late 1990s. Today, e-commerce is estimated at almost $1 trillion per year, with over $228 billion in the U.S. alone. Every major company, and hundreds of millions of individuals, now have a substantial internet presence.
Computer hardware and software also continue to advance exponentially, following Moore's law, with virtual intelligence and human enhancement emerging rapidly.
The legal significance of these changes remains to be fully played out, but already includes new aspects of privacy law, contracts, trademark law and copyright, in the sphere of business alone. For example, obtaining the correct domain name, in some ways, may be as significant as obtaining a federal trademark registration, although the ICANN Domain Dispute Policies permit challenges to improper registration.
Moreso than any other area of the law, internet and computer law require dedication to ongoing self-education and a passion for understanding the principles that will shape new law as it continues to develop. Website jurisdiction, Domain Dispute Resolution, e-commerce and software patents each yield new legal issues and decisional caselaw daily.
The attorneys at Beckman, Burns & Nguyen have been practicing internet and computer law for nearly a decade, and have a passion for its practice.