This document discusses jurisdiction and managing litigation risk related to online activities. It begins with an overview of jurisdiction and key concepts like personal and subject matter jurisdiction. It then examines how personal jurisdiction principles from precedents like International Shoe apply in cyberspace, given challenges in establishing minimum contacts online. The document analyzes several cases related to this issue, such as Calder v. Jones and Zippo Manufacturing v. Zippo Dot Com. Finally, it discusses alternatives to litigation like online dispute resolution and the benefits of approaches used by companies like PayPal.

1. PLS 780
Week 3

2. Agenda
• Jurisdiction and online activities
• Managing litigation risk and the role of jurisdiction
• Alternative dispute resolution in cyberspace

3. Jurisdiction
• Jurisdiction is the authority of a court or panel to
hear a lawsuit.
• Founded in the 14th amendment‟s due process
clause jurisdiction is the cornerstone of procedural
due process
• Procedural due process must be followed before
anyone is deprived of life, liberty or property
• Why is it an important idea when it comes to justice
and effective rule of law?

4. Jurisdiction concepts
• Personal jurisdiction
• Subject matter jurisdiction
• In rem jurisdiction
• Long arm statutes
• Venue

5. Personal Jurisdiction
• Personal jurisdiction is the power of a court over the
parties in the case. Before a court can exercise power
over a party, the constitution requires that the party have
certain minimum contacts with the forum in which the
court sits. International Shoe v Washington, 326 US 310
(1945).
• Three art test: The nonresident defendant must do some
act or consummate some transaction with the forum or
perform some act by which he purposefully avails himself
of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum,
thereby invoking the benefits and protections (2) the
claim must be one which arises out of or results from the
defendant's forum-related activities and] (3) exercise of
jurisdiction must be reasonable.

6. Personal Jurisdiction online
• How can minimum contacts be established in
cyberspace?
• What is the basis for „presence‟ or contact?
• Does the old standard of systemic and continuous
apply?
• Why would there be problems with applying
International Shoe as precedent?

7. Minimum contacts
• How do we establish minimum contacts in
cyberspace?
• How “purposeful availment” established when you
are just running a website? Can it be?
• What are „activities within the state‟ when it comes
to internet presence? How can you establish
activities within the state in the context of the
internet?
• What is reasonable?

8. Copyright
violator in
UK
Server in
Cayman
Islands
Author in
US

9. Calder v Jones
• Facts?
• Issue?
• Holding?
• Reasoning?

10. Tamburo v Dowrkin
• Facts?
• Issue?
• Holding?
• Reasoning?

11. Yahoo v LICRA
• Facts?
• Issue?
• Holding?
• Reasoning?

12. Oldfield v Pueblo de Bahia
Lora
• Facts?
• Issue?
• Holding?
• Reasoning?

13. In re Pirate Bay
• Facts?
• Issue?
• Holding?
• Reasoning?

14. Zippo Manufacturing v Zippo
Dot Com
• Facts?
• Issue?
• Holding?
• Reasoning?

15. Is litigation always the
answer?
• Costs
• Toll on resources
• Initiating law suits is time consuming
• How is this best decided (decision to pursue
litigation?)
• What alternatives are there?

16. Managing litigation risks
• Forum selection clauses in terms and conditions
• Choice of law provisions
• Must be reasonable, conspicuous, and not produce
undue hardship
• In consumer contexts courts oftentimes fail to
uphold them. Why?

17. Alternative Dispute
Resolution in Cyberspace
• Very popular idea
• Online mediation to resolve online disputes
• PayPal is a model in this regard
• What do they do? Could other global ecommerce
companies easily adopt this strategy? Why or why
not? Is this good for consumers? The internet?

18. Online dispute resolution
• Instead of mediation or arbitration in real life it takes
place wholly online
• After referral, intake, contract, input, output and
analysis, parties „meet‟ in a secure online resolution
„room‟ which allows for voice transmission, review of
documents and collaborative drafting of resolutions
• What is attractive about this idea or method for
resolving disputes that arise online?
• Problems or limitations?

19. Week after next week
• No class!
• Concepts Quiz on Chapters 8 and 9 Week 5
• Next writing assignment will be due Week 6
• Extra credit (missed a quiz? Didn‟t hand in a writing
assignment? Missed a class?) due (email me before
class week 5) week 5: Write a brief essay (3-5
pages) on the pros and cons of online dispute
resolution after reviewing this article (available on
Westlaw) 27 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 81