huridocs-tech Netiquette holds up in court

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## author     : uppercaise@iname.com
## date       : 17.07.99
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http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/cyber/cyberlaw/16law.html

AN ARGUMENT FOR 'NETIQUETTE' HOLDS UP IN COURT

Issue: Internet/Legal Issues

Justice Janet M. Wilson of the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice in Toronto recently ruled that  a Web site owner had
violated the terms of its Internet service provider's
contract, that required it to conform to netiquette, the
largely unwritten Internet code of manners. Some lawyers in
the United States hailed the decision as a welcome first
step in the evolution of Internet common law -- judicial
recognition of an emerging body of acceptable customs of
behavior among Internet users. Other lawyers, while decrying
spam, said that the word "netiquette" is ambiguous, and that
companies could use it in their contracts as a catch-all
term to punish obnoxious but not injurious behavior. "The
use of the Internet is in its relative infancy," Justice
Wilson wrote. "In the words of counsel, it is 'an unruly
beast.' Or so it will certainly become without a foundation
of good-neighbor commercial principles." [SOURCE:
CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl Kaplan (kaplanc@nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/cyber/cyberlaw/16law.html)






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