English defamation law, though, is very different from U.S. law. The English court s Internet ruling might be analogous to related issues in British law. Ultimately, precedents are a problem and should not be overstated. Courts will not have to re-examine every legal principle in the context of bits and bytes. They have worked through big technological changes before.
Presence is the second big issue.
Companies are very concerned about the ramifications of having their Web sites retrieved all over the world. The presence issue also will be resolved by analogy. This type of provision is likely to be raised in the Internet context. To illustrate, a court is unlikely to assert jurisdiction over Web sites that merely show the benefits of products. These sites are likely to be treated as advertisements.