Cyberspace a Separate Place?

Sierran writes: "According to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of appeals (and reported by The New York Times) cyberspace (and a person's or corporation's activities therein) exist in 'a place' distinct from their physical location. This has some interesting legal ramifications; does this mean we'll see Internet 'virtual estate' zoning as in Stephenson's Snow Crash?" Most courts have held the opposite - that internet activities are firmly rooted in the real world, located wherever the computers and people are.

Comments

This is a *zoning* law issue

[bill_mcgonigle]

But you wouldn't get that from the summary, would you?

The court is interpreting the zoning laws properly:

...the Supreme Court has held that a city has authority to zone or displace an adult business, because it has an important interest in preventing so-called "secondary effects" on adjacent properties -- such as a decline in property values or an increase in crime.

Yet "those concerns are not implicated in this case," Weinberg said. Voyeur Dorm's business does not encourage "guys with bloodshot eyes to tromp around the suburbs of Tampa, looking for naked ladies," he said.

This is clearly a case of prudish interests trying to use a zoning law against its originl spirit, and not getting away with it. That's good. But it's not a major change in cyberspace law.

Re:setting up an end run on the Constitution

[Artagel]

A small clarification. States cannot tax goods without an in-state nexus without congressional permission. That is because the Supreme Court ruled that nexus was a requirement it is a dormant commerce clause violation. A dormant commerce clause violation is one where the courts are going to presume that Congress wants things a certain way if it has not spoken, and Congress has not spoken yet.

That is why we need to worry about internet transactions being taxed by states -- one little law, and boom it will be happening, and it would be constitutional.

This is a Fourth Amendment workaround.

[Poodleboy]

Anyone worried about trivial things like taxes is missing the point here. This is clearly a Fourth Amendment workaround--an attempt to evade the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures."

The last time the government tried to pull this with wiretapping even Louis Brandeis couldn't save us and the precident stood until 1967! Here's a good link about Olmstead vs. the United States.

Re:Tax?

[shibut]

Based on previous rulings (e.g., sales tax) the physical location of the business does matter for tax purposes. In fact, in the sales tax case residents of any state in which the company has an office must pay sales tax. I don't think the IRS would give up their share w/o a fight...

Nothing to see here, move along...

[Kjella]

Basicly it's a ruling stating that this company isn't causing problems in its neighbourhood, and therefore doesn't violate zoning regulations. If they were producing something that's illegal in the state in general (say if making such video recordings at all were illegal), it'd be different, then the laws will apply as normal. It's simply a case of a company not violating the *intentions* of zoning regulations, and therefore got off the hook. And I'd say it's a good thing, that sometimes the legal system looks at laws and make sure they are enforced as intended, not only by the letter.

Re:I hate that word (OT)

[hether]

Beceause everybody uses it so damn much, to describe all sorts of things, especially if they know nothing about the Internet. At least that's why I don't like it. I went to dictionary.com to look it up and was surprised to find these definitions:

cyberspace (sbr-sps)
n. The electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.

cyberspace /si:'br-spays`/ n. 1. Notional `information-space' loaded with visual cues and navigable with brain-computer interfaces called `cyberspace decks'; a characteristic prop of cyberpunk SF. Serious efforts to construct virtual reality interfaces modeled explicitly on Gibsonian cyberspace are under way, using more conventional devices such as glove sensors and binocular TV headsets. Few hackers are prepared to deny outright the possibility of a cyberspace someday evolving out of the network (see the network). 2. The Internet or Matrix (sense #2) as a whole, considered as a crude cyberspace (sense 1). Although this usage became widely popular in the mainstream press during 1994 when the Internet exploded into public awareness, it is strongly deprecated among hackers because the Internet does not meet the high, SF-inspired standards they have for true cyberspace technology. Thus, this use of the term usually tags a wannabee or outsider. Oppose meatspace. 3. Occasionally, the metaphoric location of the mind of a person in hack mode. Some hackers report experiencing strong eidetic imagery when in hack mode; interestingly, independent reports from multiple sources suggest that there are common features to the experience. In particular, the dominant colors of this subjective `cyberspace' are often gray and silver, and the imagery often involves constellations of marching dots, elaborate shifting patterns of lines and angles, or moire patterns.