out consumers is the new gold mine, the stakes are huge, involving no more and no less than the future of all banking and trade transactions, especially electronic. The United States has already gone on the offensive by accusing Europe of using privacy protection laws to erect barriers around the valuable European market of 370 million people. President Bill Clinton's Internet policy adviser Ira Magaziner has even threatened to go to the World Trade Organization (WTO) about it. At the same time he insists that the US is just as concerned to protect the privacy of its citizens as European governments are. And all studies show that Internet commerce can not succeed unless consumers can count on information about themselves being kept confidential. There are currently about 250 bills relating to the Internet pending in Congress. Many of those deal specifically within privacy. However, only very few of these have become a law. That is largely because the Clinton administration and Congress have taken a largely wait-and-see approach to this conflict. Most lawmakers feel the Internet develops too quickly for static laws to work effectively. Instead, politicians from Vice President Al Gore down are encouraging the Internet industry to regulate itself, while suggesting that their patience is not inexhaustible. It will be very difficult to regulate the Internet because it is global and decentralized, and it is very hard to identify Internet users. The key is developing something that is enforceable. Good intentions are one thing, but in the self-regulatory environment, if somebody is hurt by the misuse of personal information, who pays? Who provides a remedy to that harmed individual? Nobody does! Privacy is a tough area for personal injury lawyers because it is difficult under our tort law to prove that somebody has been harmed. It is very hard to prove damage to reputation of intentional infliction of emotional distress in cases involving disc...
