On The Internet Use Of Traditional Private International Law

Nowadays, the Internet has been infiltrated into every part of our lives and changed our lifestyle profoundly. The unique features of the Internet, such as internationality, diversity and freedom, make it strongly associate with the Private International Law. Analyzing the relationship between the Internet and the Private International Law may be not original, yet quite useful for resolving legal problems in the daily life.In China, research on the issue mentioned above is now focusing on the following aspects: Internet tort and Private International Law; network intellectual property and Private International Law; electronic business and Private International Law. Most attention was laid upon the aspects of tort and contract, which involves contact points, application of law and procedure issues such as jurisdiction.Through a transverse comparison between traditional physical space and cyber space, this paper points out unique features of the Internet, as well as impacts of the Internet upon traditional legal environment. Acknowledging the changes of legal environment bring about by the Internet, this paper describes and analyzes three viewpoints in the current research, and makes clear that the changes of legal relations caused by the internet merely refer to the background of those relations, which need no breakthrough or creativity.Firstly, the impact of Internet on traditional tort law should be taken into account. By reviewing the application of law in the traditional field of tort law, this paper will analyze new features of tort law under the circumstance of Internet, from personal right, property right, and intellectual property right to conflicts in the public law. Furthermore, this paper makes clear the influence of Internet on traditional contact points and other types of contact points, and provides several methods of choice of law in solving conflicts, such as lex loci delicti, the doctrine of the most significant relationship, the contractual choice of law of the parties, the rules of network communities, unilateral methods of choice of law. Secondly, in the field of contract law, this paper looks back on the application of objective issues in choosing applicable law, such as lex loci contractus, lex loci solutionis, domicile of the parties, as well as the doctrine of autonomy of will, the doctrine of the most significant relationship and the doctrine of contract proper law. Besides, this paper introduces the application and influence of electronic contracts, and emphasizes on developments of the doctrine of autonomy of will and doctrine of the most significant relationship under the circumstance of Internet.The last topic of this paper relates to jurisdiction. By reviewing the impact of Internet on traditional ways of jurisdiction, such as territorial jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction and jurisdiction by agreements, this paper analyses the principles of general jurisdiction, like the plaintiff accommodating the defendant, and lays stress upon the status of jurisdiction by agreements under the circumstance of Internet as well as some detailed methods for determination.