One of the New Jersey cases involved the physical presence of a company s computer. The other merely involved the posting of information on a host company s computer. The Internet has introduced the virtual presence into modern life. We can do amazing things in another state without ever setting foot in that state. We can maintain an entire store, post a library or control a robot.
Little electrons traveling through the network are the only physical presence.
The key ingredient in the recent controversies has been the use of a web server located at a remote location. The parties used a computer located in New Jersey. Neither company actually ran the computer. One company employed a remote hosting service to maintain its web site. The other incident merely involved a passive web server that was located in New Jersey.