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Contracts

Nov. 5, 2002

Court Relies on Traditional Contract Formation Rules in Cyberspace Case

Focus Column - Business Law - By Lawrence C. Waddington - The Specht court chose to rely on venerable rules of contract formation in a case involving technology and the Internet.

Lawrence Waddington

Neutral, JAMS

Email: waddington1@aol.com

Lawrence is a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge and former assistant attorney general for the state of California. He is author of "Disorder in the Court" at Amazon.com. He also edits the 9th Circuit blog, "The 9th Circuit Watch."

Technology has changed the format and vernacular of cyberspace transactions, but judicial interpretation of electronic contracts remains remarkably informed by common law or legislation.

In Specht v. Netscape Communications Corp., 2002 WL 31166784 (2d Cir. Oct. 1, 2002), the judges explored the world of the Internet, Web sites and hyperlinks and canvassed the idioms of "clickwrap," "cookies" and "harvesting."

But in resolving the validity of an arbitration clause in ...

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