You Cannot Fight What You Cannot See: Securities Regulation on the Internet

This Note suggests that the more effective resolution to regulating securities on the Internet is to look to the global nature of the medium itself and to establish an international body of law that is both uniformly understood and implemented. Part I of this Note provides background to Internet transactions and describes the traditional methods for security regulation and problems of securities fraud on the internet. Part II discusses the approaches that securities regulators are taking regarding securities fraud on the internet. Part III describes the application of conventional methods of securities regulation to Internet transactions and argues that such methods are inadequate to regulate Internet securities transactions. This Note concludes that a balance between overegulation and non-existant governance of securities transactions on the Internet is necessary and stresses the need for an international regulatory policy for conducting securities transactions on the Internet