The strategic use of American cyberlaw and cyberspace jurisprudence

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of jurisdictional conflict on the internationalization of firms with internet – focused strategies – in both the physical and virtual environments. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines this new phenomenon in the international legal environment through the analysis of Yahoo!'s website internationalization and a review of American cyberlaw jurisprudence. Findings - This paper suggests that firms with Internet‐focused strategies are aware of the asymmetries in the application and enforcement of extraterritorial judgments, and use these asymmetries as a component of their website internationalization strategy. This paper also suggests that previous calls for the regulation of cyberspace, which are based only on an analysis of the virtual environment, may provide misleading conclusions regarding the operation of international jurisdictional conflict. Research limitations/implications - This is a nonquantitative analysis and scope‐limited to American law. Practical limitations - The paper contain practical and actionable information, and suggests framework for future quantitative and nonquantitative research. Originality/value - This is the only paper, known to the author, to investigate cyberspace jurisprudence using theories from Law and International Business.