COURTS DEBATE WHETHER MERE INTERNET PRESENCE IS ENOUGH TO CONFER JURISDICTION
(1998)

The Internet allows individuals and companies to establish Web sites that are accessible internationally. Courts have been grappling with the issue of when the operation of such sites should subject out-of-state Web site owners to local jurisdiction. Many courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers the Western states, including California), are finding that constitutional due process requirements prohibit the exercise of jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants where the only contact with the forum state is the Web site itself. Thus, a business in Florida that advertises on the Internet but has no customers in California may not be sued in California simply because the Web site can be viewed in California. Where the subject matter of a lawsuit is unrelated to the Web site, courts will likely require substantial commercial contacts with the forum state--such as local offices and substantial sales made in the forum state--before allowing suit to proceed. But Web site owners should be cognizant of the very real possibility that, where the subject matter of the lawsuit is directly related to the content of the Web site (e.g. defamation or infringement of intellectual property), some courts will uphold the exercise of jurisdiction based solely on the ability to access the Web site in that jurisdiction.

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