Internet law library

The Internet expanded into this large behemoth of interconnected computers and servers where almost any information can be found. The presentation of the Chinese government showing to the American public how secret files can be easily found and accessed on the Net is still the single most embarrassing moment for America’s intelligence agencies. It is not surprising to learn then, that there is extensive material available in regards to the law, in particular to the internet law online.

There are many Internet law libraries available online, with the most prominent American outlet provided by the Law Library of the Congress. An inquiring mind can not only find all possible court cases, law provisions, decisions, rights and law definitions but also contact to the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), the Multinational Collections Database with international jurisdictions and law regulations in the original languages. There is a Global Legal Monitor with news from around the world and a Guide to Law Online where links and resources can be found pointing to virtually everywhere your research may lead. A link will lead you to a download page, from where you can download whole U.S. Codes as ISO images.

Internationally, there are plenty of resources with full law libraries, Germany offers electronic reprints in http and pdf formats of all the active law books, most universities in Europe have complete law libraries online and accessible via regular http protocol. Most government web pages in civilized world provide access to latest and current law regulations, some less developed countries, where the Internet is very scarcely distributed or extremely filtered, like in most Muslim governed countries, provide as less as possible information, therewith almost no legal resources. China has also restricted internet access to international sites for their citizens, but also filters traffic going inbound towards China.

A dedicated law library on the internet providing information related to legislation pertaining to the Internet and Internet related cases is not available. Some lawyers advertise with such provisions, but their sites have no resources. Internationally, most Internet laws are not within a separate law book, but integrated in telecommunication regulations and laws. Such laws are provided freely on the relevant web pages for download or online browsing.

General Law information on internet law and internet piracy issues is made available by the RIAA and MPAA as well as other associations like IFPI (music related), BSA (software related), IIPA and SIIA. Interpol has an intellectual property crime division, which lately is focused on Internet piracy and provides relevant law information on their web site. There is an International Intellectual Property Crime Database (DIIP) available directly on the web site.