the competent court in cases resulting from commercial electronic contracts in american and european legal systems

the emergence of the internet severely affected the social life. cyberspace, regardless of geographical constraints, has provided the possiblity of fast and affordable communication for all people around the world. the increase of international electronic contracts has caused the courts to confront the challenge of determining jurisdiction in cases involving such contracts. traditional rules of private international law concerning elimination of conflict of laws are based on connecting factors which have territorial nature and are not easy to determine in cyberspace. the aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of applying the traditional rules of private international law to determine jurisdiction of courts in cases which one contract is concluded or executed via the internet. given that the european :union: and the united states are pioneer in e-commerce and solving cases which arise in this context, this study investigates the approach of these two legal systems in confronting with jurisdiction in cyberspace.