Legal and Technical Issues Management Framework for Peer-to-Peer Networks

In the area of electronic and mobile commerce there are unique legal risks as well as concerns that also apply to traditional businesses. This paper reviews the impact of peer-to-peer ebusiness models in a legal and technical context with a view to formulating technical and legal policy suggestions for technologists, scientists, managers and government policy makers. To assist in addressing the intractable nature of the problems the researchers have developed a preliminary Legal Issues Management Framework. Issues such as forensic auditing, technical diligence, lawful intercept and sovereign risk are canvassed as well as the threats to current ebusiness models. Various traditional laws have been successfully applied to electronic transactions and new laws (cyberlaws) have been devised to deal with the latest technologies. Practitioners of P2P businesses must be aware of legal requirements and the risks involved in doing business in cyberspace. The digital economy develops at e-speed but the law does not. This paper outlines the enormous technological advances that impact on P2P business models and illustrates, with international examples, the reactions from international and national legal communities.