Celebrating 20 Years of WWW – a Reflection on the Concept of Jurisdiction

As the Internet, and the discussion of Internet regulation, has matured, it now – 20 years after the birth of the World Wide Web – seems clear that rather than there being no regulation, or under-regulation, the Internet is overregulated in that conduct on the global Internet may come under the jurisdiction of virtually all states in the world. At the same time, there is a recent trend of courts showing reluctance to claim jurisdiction as broadly as they arguably can do under applicable law. This paper discusses, and analyses, a selection of approaches to the concept of jurisdiction. In doing so, account is taken of both public international law and private international law.