Cross-Border Infringement of Personality Rights via the Internet : A Resolution of the Institute of International Law

Conflicts of laws arising from injuries to rights of personality―such as defamation or invasion of privacy―have always been difficult, if only because they implicate conflicting societal values about the rights of freedom of speech and access to information, on the one hand, and protection of reputation and privacy, on the other hand. The ubiquity of the internet has dramatically increased the frequency and intensity of these conflicts.
This book explores the ways in which various Western countries have addressed these conflicts, but also advances new, practical ideas about how these conflicts should be resolved. These ideas are part of an international model law unanimously adopted by a Resolution of the Institut de droit international, which addresses jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The book provides extensive article-by-article commentary, which explains the philosophy and intended operation of the Resolution.

Symeon C. Symeonides is the Alex L. Parks Distinguished Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus at Willamette University, in Oregon, USA. He is an award-winning author and renowned expert in comparative private international law, which he has taught for more than forty years in the United States and Europe. He has published nearly thirty books and more than 120 articles in seven languages. His work has been honored with six academic prizes and two Lifetime Achievement Awards. He has drafted choice-of-law codifications for three states and an international model law for the Institut de droit international, of which he is a titular member. He is a past president of the International Association of Legal Science and the American Society of Comparative Law. He holds two degrees summa cum laude in private and public law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an LL.M and an S.J.D from Harvard, and three honorary doctorates.