Recently, use of the Internet has been rising exponentially. The Internet has quickly developed into today's most valuable resource for global commerce. As Internet subscription increases and a large number of people interact, disagreements can be expected to rise. As the community of Internet users grows increasingly diverse, and the range of online interaction expands, disputes of every kind may be expected to occur. (Dan L. Burk, Federalism In Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 1095, 1095 (Summer 1996).) Online content will be obscene, online intellectual property will be stolen, and online privacy will be violated.
The phenomenon of the Internet is that it allows any person or business to set up a "virtual storefront" to advertise and sell products around the globe. (Eric T. Fingerhut & P.L. Skip Singleton, Jr., The gTLD-MoU: A Yellow Flag For Trademark Owners On The Information Superhighway, 38 IDEA: J.L. & Tech. 281, 290 (1998).) Businesses of all types use the Internet for a variety of commercial transactions, as well as consumer services. Currently, most of the business use on the Internet is designed for an exchange of physical goods through online access to a variety of mail-order catalogs. The variety and availability of such consumer services will grow, as will attendant facilities for online advertising and marketing. (Dan L. Burk, Federalism In Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 1095, 1100 (Summer 1996).)
Effective copyright protection on the Internet could help promote a new global electronic marketplace of ideas and expressions. However, creators, publishers and distributors of intellectual property will be wary of the electronic marketplace unless there exists tools to protect their works against unauthorized use. Unless the framework for legitimate commerce is preserved and adequate protection for copyrighted works is ensured, the Internet will not reach its full potential as a truly global marketplace. (Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE: THE REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS) http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/doc/ipnii/execsum.html