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Friday Schedule
Program
Annual
Meeting
Home
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Friday, January 3, 2003
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9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
Section on Conflict of Laws
Mathias W. Reimann, The University of Michigan, Chair |
Harding
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
Mezzanine Level | |
Conflicts in the Cyberage: Lessons from the Yahoo Case
Moderator:
Mathias W. Reimann, The University of Michigan
Speakers: - Jack Landman Goldsmith, III, The University of Chicago
- Mark F. Kightlinger, Esquire, Covington & Burling,
Washington, D.C.
- Horatia Muir-Watt, Professor, University of Paris I Sorbonne,
Paris, France
- Molly Shaffer Van Houweling, The University of Michigan
In 2000, two French interest groups sued Yahoo.com (a Delaware corporation with its seat in California) in the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris for permitting posting of offensive material, mainly Nazi propaganda and paraphernalia, on Yahoo internet sites accessible in France where such material is illegal. The French court issued an order directing Yahoo "to take all necessary measures" to deny any access to the respective material by "yahoo.com" users in France and imposed a daily fine of FF 100,000 in case of non-compliance. Yahoo countered by seeking a judgment against the French plaintiffs declaring the French order unenforceable in the United States. In 2001, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California found that it had jurisdiction over the French parties and granted summary judgment against them, holding the French decision unenforceable on first amendment, i.e. public policy grounds. The case is currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Yahoo litigation takes place at the intersection between international conflicts and cyberspace law, an area likely to become one of the major battlegrounds in the future. The case vividly illustrates a whole variety of the crucial issues arising in this context. Which courts can legitimately claim jurisdiction and on what grounds, especially in the international arena? When should foreign judgments restricting the foreign activities of domestic actors be recognized? To what extent is it justified for a country to enforce its own policies in the internet context? How do we resolve the almost inevitable clashes of policies? And where does all this leave internet service providers who may have no choice but to operate on a worldwide basis and will probably get caught between conflicting national laws and policies?
Four speakers will address these issues, looking at them from a conflicts, cyberspace, foreign nation, and practitioner's perspective. The presentations and the discussion will be of interest not only to conflicts scholars, but also to members of the sections on civil procedure, comparative law, constitutional law, defamation and privacy, intellectual property, international law, law and computers, and litigation.
Business Meeting at Program Conclusion
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