인터넷法學의 成立과 課題

The Internet law can be defined as a legal science to deal with various legal affairs arising from the Internet. It covers such issues as hacking,freedom of expression, personal information prote ction, crimes based upon the Internet, electronic commerce, intellectual property rights, jurisdiction, ete. Then what kind of law is required in the Internet world? Take an example of electronic commerce. If you use digital money and employ electronic signature or certification, you may not be sure of the legal effects of offer, acceptance, effective payment and so on. These legal problems do not exist in the pre-Internet age. It means the traditional law and regulation would not operate effectively in the new Internet age. Nowadays ordinary people take to e-business and electronic cash, and legal affairs related with the Internet apply to everybody. Against these backdrops, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) established the Model Law on Electronic Commerce in 1996. A number of states in the United States began to adopt uniform laws on computer information transactions, i.e., UETA or UelTA. In the new world of the Internet, states and governments are more often than not engaged in the legal quagmire. For example, citizen's unlimited access to public information, government's collection and utilization of citizens' information are usually on the top list of nation-wide disputes. In this regard, the government activities in the Internet should be strictly subject to the due process of law. So the border line between the public law and private law has been diminished. The most startling issue is cyber-terror which poses an impending danger to the whole nation, not to mention police. As we often experienced, cyber-terrorism by way of hacking and computer viruses makes havoc of the infrastructure of the society, and, in the worst case, paralyzes the basic function of the nation. It is quite different in dimension from the usual privacy or criminal issues. With respect to the freedom of expression, in the Internet era, any person shall be an information sovereign entitled to material equality. All citizens on the net, so-called netizens, are required to have capability to handle information. It's because privacy can be protected on condition that the data subject has an individual right to control the circulation of information relating to himself. An effective e-government is another target that each government aims for in the information age. It might be realized by digitalizing administrative services and promoting knowledge management so as to enhance the competitiveness of the nation. The digitalization of government services without any possible infringement on the citizens'fundamental rights and liberty calls for the legislation of relevant laws and regulations as well as the utilization of information technologies. In the area of e-commerce, any legal disputes or troubles regarding transactions in the cyber shopping mall would undermine the safety and trustworthiness of transactions on the parr of consumers. And the electronic payment system and taxation of digital goods would be improved by concerted efforts of states involved in the international trade. Social changes triggered by the developments of the Internet as described above necessitate the effectively operating legal infrastructure. Each and every players in the Internet world including the government, academic community and business circles should take parr in the legislation and implementation of the Internet law. In other words, the Internet law is a legal science in the primitive stage, which will be upgraded by integrated efforts of all the players.