All roads lead to Rome except the superhighway

Date: 08/05/02

THE off-line world and the online superhighway would be treated differently under a draft law settling which country's laws should apply in complex cross-border disputes.

The regulation - dubbed 'Rome II' - says laws of the country in which an injury occurs should be used. But European legal Commissioner António Vitorino has offered a carve-out for areas such as e-commerce covered by EU internal market laws that subject firms to their own 'country of origin' rules. Critics said the regulation could still expose firms selling goods to foreign consumers to uncertainty. Publishers also said it was unclear whether the e-commerce let-off would exempt them from defamation cases due to breaches of foreign laws.

The off-line world and the online superhighway would be treated differently under a draft law settling which country's laws should apply in complex cross-border disputes.