Internet Libel Case Law
With the explosive growth of the Internet as a medium used to share information quickly and inexpensively between people, we are faced with the problem of a large decentralized global forum with very little regulation. What happens when a law is broken, and one must place accountability? How does one enforce legislation that may conflict with other codes from other communities to which the Internet extends?
Many questions arise from the issues revolving around the Internet and libel laws. What court precedents have there been in regards to cyberlibel? What issues did they address? And how do those cases lay the grounds for future legislation? As of late, there have been a few major cases that have strongly affected the courts' decisions in case law. However, due to the constant changing nature of technology and the needs that come about from differing use of that newly developed technology, amending case laws is nearly inevitable. Yet, we must drive the formation of the new laws, which are to regulate or not to regulate the Internet, to take into consideration the possible affects and the needs of the future developments in cyberspace.