An Economic Analysis of the Law Surrounding Data Aggregation in Cyberspace

The emergence of technological advances has traditionally created new and unique legal problems. The solutions to counter these problems are often drawn from our legal traditions and adapted to an ever-modernizing world. However, as Professor Coase opined at the dawn of the communication technology revolution, “lawyers and economists should not be so overwhelmed by the emergence of new technologies as to change the existing legal and economic system without first making quite certain that this is required.” Examination and reflection, in other words, is paramount to instituting a sound legal framework to encompass developing legal problems in technology. This Article seeks to address the developing legal problems associated with commercial data protection and gathering on the Internet. Although these problems were most recently addressed in two federal district cases, this Article will not deal with the details of those suits. Instead, this Article will seek to evaluate the rights of data “owners” and data aggregators through an economic analysis of possible legal regimes