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12 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 201 (2003)
A World Wide Problem on the World Wide Web: International Responses to Transnational Identity Theft via the Internet

handle is hein.journals/wajlp12 and id is 205 raw text is: A World Wide Problem on the World Wide Web: International Responses to Transnational Identity Theft via the Internet Erin Suzanne Davis* What are we to do with borders that become meaningless? We're going to have to think of new ways to structure ... our relationships with other nations so that people know there is no safe place to hide.' I. INTRODUCTION The Internet is a truly global medium,2 especially in the realm of electronic commerce.3 Thus, the Internet has been the source of many new legal and social issues facing the global community.4 The availability of personal data on the Internet,5 due considerably to the * J.D. Candidate, 2003, Washington University School of Law. 1. Janet Reno, Speech to the Virginia Journal of International Law (Apr. 1, 2000), at http://www.usdoj.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2000/4100aguva.htm. 2. The Internet connects over 159 countries in the world. J.T. Westermeier & Jim Halpert, E-Commerce Legal Survival Kit, in 650 SOLVING THE LEGAL ISSUES AFFECTING B2B TRANSACTIONS 421, 426 (2001). In addition, estimates show that 65% of web users will be international by 2003. Id. 3. Estimates show countries other than the United States will account for nearly half of the worldwide e-commerce. Id. This is because websites are available anytime to anyone, anywhere in the world with access to the Internet. Id. 4. See, e.g., Jim Wolf, Nations Lack Cyber-Crime Laws, Experts Say Worldwide Investigation, Enforcement Difficult, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, July 30, 2000, at 5 (discussing the problems involved with global cyber-crime detection and prevention); Reno, supra note 1. 5. The availability of personal information is a particular problem because digital information is easier and less expensive than nondigital data to access, manipulate, and store, especially from disparate, geographically distant locations. Fred H. Cate, The Changing Face of Privacy Protection in the European Union and the United States, 33 IND. L. REV. 173, 178 (1999). For instance, one may obtain a person's home address, phone number, and e-mail address through free services available on the Internet. Stephanie Byers, Note, The Internet: Privacy Lost, Identities Stolen, 40 BRANDEIS L.J. 141, 143-44 (2001). Further, information brokers, who offer their services for a fee, advertise on the Internet and make personal