Leif Gamertsfelder, Andrew Handelsmann and Praveena Sivanesarajah of Deacons, explore the threat of unauthorised use of a company’s computer systems. They submit that in the vast majority of cases, it is a company’s own employees, not some “external menace”, who are unlawfully accessing the company’s computer systems. The authors consider current Australian legislative activity in the area of computer crime, on both the federal and state level, and examine relevant case law, particularly those cases relating to employee conduct. They also discuss areas of legal risk to which companies may be exposed as a result of computer crime undertaken by the company’s employees.

Paul Barnett, partner at Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young, considers recent legal developments in relation to electronic and digital signatures in Australia and New Zealand. He discusses the history of signatures and the legal function of signatures in society. Paul explains how electronic signatures, in particular, digital signatures, are made. He concludes with an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic signatures to conduct business.

Philip Argy and Nicholas Martin of Mallesons Stephen Jaques, discuss the concept of e-commerce and its effect on contract formation. They consider the shift towards electronic contracts that are now being executed by email or over the internet between parties with no previous relationship. They assert that the enormous growth of the internet as a facility for effecting electronic transactions has introduced concerns and challenges for businesses, consumers and lawyers alike. The authors go on to discuss the issue from both a technical and legal perspective, and contend that the major challenge is in applying the traditional contract law framework to a relatively new, paperless process of contracting that reaches across borders and different jurisdictions. They conclude by stating that the solution to the challenges lie in the lawyers who comprehend the technology so that established legal principles can be appropriately applied in the resolution of legal disputes.

Denise McBurnie & Samantha Jager of Freehills discuss the aims of the recently considered Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgements in Civil and Commercial Matters. They argue that the concept behind the Convention is simple in theory but the question is whether the Convention can be successfully enforced and whether it creates more problems than the issue it was convened to resolve.

Graham Bassett provides an interesting discussion of legal issues in relation to education as we move from education being conducted in the “atom world”, or the physical world, towards education being conducted in cyberspace. He examines the decision of Ford and Net Grammar School Pty Ltd v Board of Studies where the clash between “atom-world” definitions of a school “steeped in notions of physicality” and schooling in cyberspace “which is interactive and promotes the exchange of ideas beyond the walls of the school” came to the fore.

"His Honour strongly asserts that once information is made accessible on any website generally available, it loses the quality of confidentiality."

"It was held that the publication of arguably defamatory material on the internet occurred in Victoria, where the material was downloaded, even though the web server was located in the US. Joseph Gutnick was therefore granted the right to sue Dow Jones under Victorian Law."

"For IT suppliers, the case of RACV Insurance Pty Ltd & Anor v Unisys Australia Ltd & Ors should remind them to not make any false or misleading representations in pre-contractual negotiations. For customers, litigation of this kind is expensive."