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E-Business Secrets
Brian Livingston
U.S. WEB SITES MAY FALL UNDER FOREIGN JURISDICTION

The director of a consumer technology organization is sounding a warning that an international treaty now under development may make Web sites in the United States subject to all the laws of 48 or more other countries.

"The treaty gives nearly every member country jurisdiction over anything that is published on or distributed over the Internet," says James Love of the Consumer Project on Technology (CPT), based in Washington. The treaty is being considered by the Hague Conference, a body that now counts among its members the United States, the United Kingdom, and numerous countries inside and outside the European Union.

"In some countries it is permitted to publish leaked memorandums and documents that embarrass governments or corporations, but in other countries this would be considered a violation of copyright laws, as in the U.K. David Shayler case," Love says. Shayler is a British citizen who faces charges under the U.K.'s Official Secrets Act for revealing that British intelligence agencies compiled dossiers on Cabinet members.

As a further example, Love adds, "In some countries, a failure to obtain permission to hyperlink to a Web page or use a metatag with the name of a business is considered [an] intellectual property [violation], while in other countries it is not."

Some American Web sites have already fallen afoul of foreign courts, as with Yahoo which was recently sued in France (see link No. 1 in News Picks, below).

CPT's page on international jurisdiction over Web sites:

http://www.cptech.org/ecom/jurisdiction/

Guardian overview of the David Shayler case:

http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/shayler

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LIVINGSTON'S E-BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW

Flash graphics are often overused by sites that bog down their home pages with tedious, pointless animations. But Flash can also be used to improve the communication and navigation of a site (see link No. 7 in News Picks, below).

The new "Flash 5 Dynamic Content Studio," a collaborative effort by 22 co-authors, is one of the best books helping Web developers to use this powerful tool. Flash 5 is capable of converting backend databases into meaningful displays for users, a feature that's tailor-made for financial or shopping sites. As a teaching tool, the book uses -- of all things -- the Asteroids video game to illuminate some of the graphical techniques of Flash. Remember to get some work done ...

"Flash 5 Dynamic Content Studio" (Friends of Ed)

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?1903450063

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LIVINGSTON'S TOP 10 NEWS PICKS O' THE WEEK

1. U.S. court will decide what Yahoo can sell in France

http://news.bbc.co.uk@31.dk/?3f6

2. 'Pop-under' ads raise site to 14th in traffic ...

http://www.inside.com@5a0.tc/?7de

3. ... but free 'Pop-Up Stopper' lets surfers fight back

http://www.panicware.com@836.as/?bc6

4. Court affirms $1,000 fine for spam with false address

http://www.ecommercetimes.com@e.la/?fae

5. Study shows users flee when personal data requested

http://www.internetnews.com@1c.to/?1396

6. Criticism of ICANN rises after latest board meeting

http://www.wired.com@th.gs/?177e

7. Introduction to Flash 5 describes pros and cons

http://www.webmasterbase.com@a2.tc/?1b66

8. Free download lets sites add visual search engine

http://www.webreference.com@54.vg/?1f4e

9. Tips on finding the best Web host for your business

http://www.tophosts.com@a6r.ms/?2336

10. Only four sites now get half of U.S. surfers' time

http://www.ecommercetimes.com@e.la/?271e

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E-BUSINESS SECRETS: Our mission is to bring you such useful and thought-provoking information about the Web that you actually look forward to reading your e-mail.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: E-Business Secrets is written by "InfoWorld" contributing editor Brian Livingston. Research directors are Ben Livingston (no relation) and Eryn Paull. Brian has published 10 books, including:

"Windows Me Secrets":

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0764534939

"Windows 2000 Secrets":

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0764534130

Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send tips to mailto:tips@SecretsPro.com.


Brian Livingston , an InfoWorld contributing editor, has published 10 books, including Windows Me Secrets and Windows 2000 Secrets. Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send in your tips today, at tips@secretspro.com.



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