Do We Need Geographic Borders on the Internet ?

If you haven't realized yet take a look on a few internet services, specially those that needs to work through copyright messes, like Spotify or Rhapsody are building frontiers on the internet.

Imagine the situation: Someone lives in a country where wearing a tie is a crime. This person goes on a trip to the USA and during the trip get invited to a dinner. Raring on the opportunity to use a tie for the first time this person get dressed to the dinner and leaves the hotel. Unfortunately there was a policeman in front of the hotel that realized that our hero was using a tie and knowing it is forbidden in the person's homeland the policeman arrest the person.

Question: Does it makes any sense that this person should be arrested/judged in the USA using the laws from his homeland?

Back to our problem: Why does it makes sense to judge Internet Crime based on laws where the crime happened. Unless the underlined text means a UNIQUE set of international laws that everyone must abide while on the virtual space it is just juridical maneuver to apply a wooden wheel to a Ferrari. It is just building borders on the Internet.

Imagine the situation: Someone opens a grocery store in New York City. But it only sells for people that comes from Florida.

What makes someone accessing the internet from Japan different from someone accessing it from England? Is the money those people spend on those services different if they come from a country or another? It is absolutely trivial to "fake" where the computer is from .... If that is what you want them to do.

It is impressive that after so many years of internet we still can't see it as more than me and my computer and a bunch of 01010101 stuff. We cant think globally and failing to do so is failing to fully explore the possibilities available on the internet.

The internet should (in the very  very long run) make the geographic borders from our world fade and not inherit it. Building borders on the internet is just giving a shot on your own market. It just means that you are making less money than you could ...

Last 2011 post, hoping a happy new year foy all of us ;)

Till the next post.