Technology-Cyber Law

Cyber law encompasses the legal issues that are related to the use of inter-networked information technology. Cyber law is a body of law that governs many areas of law and regulation including intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression and jurisdiction. Cyber law is a difficult and broad range of law to understand. A person using the internet in the United States could be subject to the cyber laws not only in the United States but also in other countries. This all depends on what the person in the United States is doing on the internet in relation to other countries. This is known as jurisdiction and entails the following:

• The laws of the state/nation in which the user resides
• The laws of the state/nation that apply where the server hosting the transaction is located
• The laws of the state/nation which apply to the person or business with whom the transaction takes place

Not all of the laws or regulations regarding cyber law carry over to another state within the country or even to another country. For instance, what might be illegal on the internet in one country might be legal in another country and vice versa. There are still arguments raging today throughout the country about whether or not the internet should be treated as a physical space or as the internet being a world unto its own. If the internet is treated as a physical space then it would be governed by the rules and laws where it is located. If it is treated as its own world then the internet would self-govern itself.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property has become a growing concern with cyber law because of how easy it has become to copy certain media and distribute that media. The intellectual property that cyber law tries to protect for the most part is music. With the development of the internet it has become much easier to download, copy, and distribute music against copyright laws. Copyright infringement is the violation of another person's copyright of a piece of intellectual property. It is much easier now to share music files with other people on the internet illegally. There are sites that have established a fee to legally purchase music over the internet now. The money collected goes towards the people who created the music as royalties.

Cyber Law Enforcement

Cyber law enforcement is the process of enforcing cyber law. There are illegal activities that can occur on the internet that are violations of cyber law. This can be child pornography, cyber stalking, online fraud, cyber scams, hacking, cyber harassment and virus attacks. Cyber law can help to protect internet users from having their identity stolen over the internet, from having their computer records hacked into and from cyber harassment. Cyber law can be enforced by courts and police officers across the country. If a person violates cyber law they can be subjected to fines and maybe even a jail term. Many police officers will pose as young teenagers or young children on the internet to help track and arrest child predators or pedophiles. Cyber law is also monitored and enforced by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.