IT law

IT law or the Internet law (IT법, 인터넷법/互联网法) deals with the legal aspects of incidents on the Internet or cyberspace. IT stands for information technology or information and communications technology (ICT 정보통신기술/情報通信技術).

Unlike other areas of commerce that can turn to historical traditions to help settle disputes and guide the development of the law, the law of the Internet has no history to fall back on. So IT law is instead being developed by judges who must do their best to fit legal disputes on the Internet into preexisting legal frameworks. Lawyers and scholars also try to devise a new theory to solve the legal issues when they fail to apply existing theories or jurisprudence to the problems in cyberspace. As a result, the legal principles governing conduct and commerce in cyberspace are still in a state of flux.

Key words
information technology, ICT, Internet, cloud computing, smart living

Main players on timeline

 * 1960s-1970s : Mainframe computer online or batch
 * 1980s-2000s : Personal computer (PC) connected via the Internet
 * 2010s- : Cloud computing

Characteristics of IT law
In the cyberspace, information and communications technology comes first. Such ICT has been developed for military or civil use, in particular, at the online marketplace. At this juncture, IT law should solve any problem arising out of online transactions and is required to guide the direction of ICT developments.

In this regard, while ICT is progressed by R&D innovation, and marketplace is preoccupied by merchantability, IT law is oriented to technology-neutrality.

So ICT, online marketplace and IT law make a triangle with ICT at the peak.

Smart living
Nowadays the advanced information technologies have made it possible for common people to conduct a smart work and smart life.

With the help of smart devices including smart phones, PDAs or tablets, ordinary citizens enjoy quite different lifes which have never been imagined before.

Smart homes
Smart homes are those that incorporate ICT for greater efficiency and convenience. Today’s connected home can be carbon-smart and remotely managed.
 * Smart appliances designed to help manage the world at home.
 * The home environment optimized for comfort and minimum environmental impact.
 * Smart grids and networks to optimize efficient use of services at lower costs.

Smart work
ICT has a long history in the workplace and new developments continue to improve performance and efficiency.
 * Smart applications to allow us to work locally and act globally.
 * Smart apps to share knowledge between organizations and build collaborative advantage.
 * Integrated international and optimized supply chains to reduce carbon emission and costs.

Smart society
Meeting the needs of an increasingly urban society requires smart technology in order to balance effective service with efficiency and sustainability.
 * Smart devices and applications to deliver higher value-added and lower-cost core services such as e-health, e-education.
 * Smart devices and apps to support life-long learning and development.
 * Assistive technologies to allow greater integration of all peoples regardless of disabilities.
 * Smart transport systems to reduce air carbon footprint.
 * Smart devices and apps to allow for greater diversity and sharing of opinions and news.

Smart leisure
Elaborate entertainment systems converge multimedia for delivery wherever and whenever.
 * Making leisure and entertainment that much more accessible, easy and fun.
 * Smart devices and applications to build new communities and social capital.
 * Smart devices and applications to foster new partnerships within and between generations.
 * Smart devices and applications of foster user generated content and develop new shared experiences.

IT law issues
In the "Information Age", IT has changed every sector of our life and society as a big wave. In general, we can live smart living as illustrated above without any specific law, but SNS might give rise to such problems as privacy violation, cyber-defamation, etc.