International Jurisdiction over E-Consumer Contracts in the European Union: Quid Novi Sub Sole?

344 1 Researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law & Information Technology (ICRI) of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) (www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri) and Attorney at Law at the Brussels Bar at the Information Technology Law Department of the law firm Stibbe (www.stibbe.com). Contact address: Interdisciplinary Centre for Law & Information Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Tiensestraat 41, 3000 Leuven, Belgium, tel. +32 16 32 52 73, fax +32 16 32 54 38, e-mail: frederic.debussere stibbe.be. The original Dutch version of this article was published in the Belgian-Dutch law review Computerrecht (2002, p. 3–11). The author wishes to thank Prof. Dr. Marta Pertegás Sender of the Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium) and Prof. Dr. Patrick Wautelet of Stibbe and the Université de Liège (Belgium) for their comments. 2 Digital Equipment Corporation v. Altavista Technology, Inc., 960 F. Supp. 456, D. Mass. 1997. International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Vol. 10 No. 3 Oxford University Press 2002