During February 2000, Cyberlaw@SA, SA`s first textbook on Internet and e-commerce law, was published. The textbook and CD-ROM was launched in an online chat-room - a world first.
Now this resource, with the exception of certain chapters, is available online for free - for e-businesses, lawyers, students and those interested in the legal aspects of e-commerce and the Internet.
"In February 1999 an ISP consulted me on an Internet-related legal problem. The lack of a South African Internet and e-commerce law resource was glaring... and unnecessary," says Reinhardt Buys, editor of Cyberlaw@SA.
"Many attorneys, advocates and other professionals have experienced the same frustration. It was obvious that a South African collection of Internet law was long overdue.
"I realised that a useful resource would be guaranteed if the specialists on the various Internet law topics contributed to one publication. I discussed the need for a comprehensive resource with a number of attorneys, CAs and professionals. They all agreed on the urgency of a local publication and indicated their willingness and enthusiasm to produce the first textbook, CD-ROM and database of its kind in SA," explains Buys.
To access this new resource, visit www.legalnet.co.za/cyberlaw/frpreface.htm.
The pages on the Web site are virtual libraries of resources on e-commerce and Internet law:
* glossaries;
* hyperlinks to legislation;
* reports;
* court cases; and
* articles.
Topics covered include:
* copyright, trademarks and domain names;
* security, online gambling and income tax;
* VAT, e-mail use in the workplace and online defamation; and
* pornography, privacy, regulation and cyber crimes.
Many universities and technikons have prescribed this resource for information technology and law students. Now this great resource is available to the public - no longer is e-commerce and Internet law a fringe sub-discipline of the law - it is here to stay and is re-shaping many of the very foundations of law and the way law is practised.
Navigating the site
Up to 11 000 pages of court cases, articles and legislation are now available online.
The site (www.legalnet.co.za/cyberlaw/frpreface.htm) opens with a preface by Craig Opperman, e-lawyer from Silicon Valley, providing the reader with an introduction to Cyberlaw and the importance thereof.
The Legal Library link takes the users to a virtual online law library that contains links to local and foreign legislation, model laws, treaties, discussion papers and other useful documents, such as a 120 page discussion on how to tax e-commerce income. The Links and E-Commerce buttons take users to more detailed libraries of court cases and articles.
Internet Time Line takes the user through a South African history of the Internet from 1910, when the post-war Post Office Act came into operation. The Glossary link contains pages of alphabetic Internet and IPIntellectual Property (IP) terms - defined and explained
A click on the Cybertext button links to the 15 chapters of the textbook. Footnotes link to references and there are access to examples, court cases and legislation throughout the text. Although the whole chapters are not available online, users may follow a link to purchase the textbook and CD-ROM over the Internet - with home delivery in five business days.
The Web site is for use by e-businesses, lawyers, in-house legal council, students and the public.
This new online resource will undoubtedly be helpful and interesting to e-commerce businesses, lawyers, advocates, students and the general public. A new style of browser-based navigation is a refreshing break from the outdated formats
Craig Opperman states in the preface to the Cyberlaw@SA resource: "Take Silicon Valley, California, as an example. The large technology law firms (with 300, 400, 500 and more lawyers) each has well over 100 lawyers specialising in the Internet and related technologies. Even so, there simply are not enough of these lawyers to go around. More than that, there is probably no aspect of law untouched or untouchable by the Internet - intellectual property, tax, contract, other commercial, international, sexual harassment, privacy, constitutional, defamation, criminal and other areas of law are all obvious and well covered in this resource.
"Even "distant" areas of law, such as evidence, conveyancing and matrimonial property law, will be touched by the Internet. And if the Silicon Valley experience is anything to go by, the resulting opportunities (and the challenges) are available to any lawyer willing to embrace this legal space. No one is too old or too young to become a player in Internet law, neither in SA nor in Silicon Valley.
"With that promise in mind, allow a final observation, on the Internet`s impact on lawyers, and two requests. Today`s law firms, like the map dealer in Long Street, cannot afford to ignore the Internet. As the Gutenberg press made the Christian Bible available to many, so the Internet is making vast amounts of legal information available. Form agreements, standard exception clauses, legal forms, `how to` guides, and much more are now freely available at the click of a mouse and without an inconvenient consultation during restrictive business hours. There is no doubt that the Internet will touch, not just legal areas, but the practice of law itself and, as with everything it touches, forever change the way we provide services to our clients. Once again, it is up to us to rise to this challenge.
"And my requests? The first is not to forget the `have-nots` of our society. The Gutenberg press was profound - it is credited with jump-starting the Renaissance - but its books only benefited those with the faculties to read.
"Let us not forget that the Internet must be shared far and wide, particularly with those who normally would not have the facilities to access it. Without that sharing, this social event will be a great boon only at the one end of the socio-economic spectrum, and thus further widen the gap between those who have and those who do not.
"The second request is directed at those who will be tempted to regulate the use of and access to the Internet, including lawyers. Please don`t. Whether you are a government wanting to curb free speech, a `church` concerned about morals, or a business afraid of competition, excessive regulation or control over the Internet will eventually backfire. The Internet and its technology will render your controls worthless: those you wish to protect will be absolutely exposed and the businesses you attempt to shelter will be both weak and so far behind that they will be destroyed. So, please regulate with opportunity, not fear and prejudice in mind.
"With that said, I can only add the advice from the movie Dead Poet`s Society. Carpe diem! Seize the day! If you do not, this opportunity will blast past you and you will be outdated before the end of 2001!"
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