I'm being sued, where?

• Author: Dykstra, Kate

The growth of internet as medium for global commercial activity presents significant challenges to traditional court jurisdictional rules. When communicating and conducting business on a borderless international network of interconnected computers, it is essential for individuals and corporations to gain a better understanding as to which courts on this planet will take jurisdiction with respect to their activities. From the Canadian perspective, a primary concern relates to when internet-related activities originating in Canada might find themselves, embroiled in a lawsuit in some place like Mississippi. Examples of when this might be of concern include everything from defaming a person in material you post on a chat line, using a name or slogan that infringes another person's registered US. trademark, to giving negligent medical advice to someone in Texas over the internet.

When are you at risk of being sued in a United States courthouse for internet activity?

One of the basic tenets of international law is that sovereign states have exclusive jurisdiction in their own territory. As a result, states are often hesitant to exercise jurisdiction over events that may take place in the territory of another sovereign state without good reason. Implicit in the concept of sovereignty is the undisputed right of a state to control both the residents within its jurisdiction and the rights relating to property within that state's jurisdiction. Even when a court has inherent jurisdiction over the parties to a dispute or the subject matter of that dispute, there are still circumstances when the court will decline to take jurisdiction. One example is where the parties to a contract have agreed that another state (or province) will have exclusive jurisdiction in any dispute relating to that contract. Another is where the court finds that the dispute should properly be resolved in another, more appropriate, jurisdiction.

However, there are situations where a United States court may decide to take jurisdiction over the activities of an individual or corporation that is doing business in a state. There are two types of jurisdiction: general and limited. Under US law, a court can assert what is called general jurisdiction over a defendant that is domiciled (or incorporated) within the state, or over a foreign defendant that has engaged in "systematic and continuous" activities in the forum state. These activities must be so substantial and of such a nature as to justify the court in assuming jurisdiction over that person even in circumstances where the complaint arises from activities that are...