Consequences of Different Legal Approaches to Cyberlibel:
Because the Internet is a global medium and every nation treats libel differently, the plaintiff now has the option of selecting the most favorable forum in which to sue. Since the Internet is accessible from virtually anywhere on the globe, the plaintiff has many forums to choose from. This causes potentially serious problems for Internet service providers. Specifically, the Internet service provider might publish some material in a place where they would not be held liable in a defamation complaint, but be sued in a place where they will be responsible for anything that they put on the Internet.
In the United States, some states hold the "single publication rule", where the plaintiff is only allowed to sue at the place where he or she currently resides. However, not every state, and more significantly not every nation in the world adheres to this rule. Therefore "forum shopping" (as this phenomenon is known) remains a problem.
The European Community has recently enacted a ruling that would limit "forum shopping." The ruling states that the plaintiff may sue at the state where the material was published. The plaintiff may also sue where the publication has been distributed. This does not solve the problem where the material has been published worldwide, as indeed everything published on the Internet is by definition.