ABOUT INTERNETBAR

IBO Background Information

InternetBar.Org (IBO) was founded in 2005 in order to explore pathways to a global system of justice online. InternetBar is creating an International Online Legal Empowerment Network where legal professionals donate their time (as little as one hour a year to as much as many hours a month) to provide legal services online to global recipients. This new system of justice would allow all people in all economic areas to access knowledge to freely start businesses, protect their property rights, resolve disputes, form agreements, contracts, and connect resources to create enforcement mechanisms. Barriers to global commerce are rapidly disappearing as the trend towards globalization gains speed at an increasing pace. The need to access online information and services (including legal services) that are translatable and accessible to people from all cultures, languages, and economic backgrounds is subsequently growing. As such, there is an elevating/expanding need for arbitration, contract advice, and intellectual property protections. In addition established practices and standards related to the legal profession have not kept pace to economically handle the problems arising from the emerging "information age".

Creating fair and recognized systems and standards designed to help parties to conduct their affairs and resolve disputes across borders is a key component to the successful future of global marketplaces. These tools will also increase accessibility to all varieties of people. IBO's role is to facilitate these new global standards, tools, and to create systems of justice that are implemented via the internet and adopted by interconnected stakeholders.

IBO Objectives

IBO seeks to unify standards for online interactions, create a system of verifiable online identities Enabling "safe" online marketplaces, to create enforcement infrastructures, to make e-business and commerce resources available to all people, to increase global economic equality, to act as the catalyst for the creation of ODR courses and training programs, to distribute toolkits for ODR and micro-commerce, to remove barriers to entry for global market participants, to foster peace, and to raise the standards for those who wish to participate in the global commercial environment.

IBO's Mission

IBO seeks to create a legal infrastructure to identify and address issues associated with providing equal economic resources and redresses within the online commercial environment across cultures. This includes globally harmonizing guiding practices or principles, especially ones affecting access to justice, economic resources, privacy, identity theft, and e-commerce. IBO is also addressing the problems and opportunities that emerge as globalization and virtual practices advance. We provide corporations, lawyers, mediators, neutrals, paralegals, and others with the tools and programs that they need to operate legally, ethically, and successfully in cyberspace. We facilitate systems for online dispute resolution and international referral for use by lawyers, neutrals and the public. We have convened a global community of lawyers, professionals, translators, marketplaces, and entrepreneurs operating in cyberspace to help shape the global dialog about the rule of law in a changing world, addressing transnational justice, national sovereignty, and corporate power in a global economy within the norms and cultures of the world. We will seek law reform to provide access to justice and the legal system through the internet.

IBO Keys to Success

• - Best practices
• - Guiding Principles
• - Associated marketplaces (affiliated marketplaces)
• - Verifying Identities
• - Important Documents

• - Of agreements
• - Access to redress
• - Ability to use land to gain liquid capital

• - Verifiable identities
• - Standards and Protections
• - Enforceability
• - Transparency

• - Important Document formation/access
• - Redress systems
• - Toolkits
• - Training Programs
• - Collaborative Spaces

• - Partnering with pilot projects
• - Running IBO website applications
• - Operating Training Programs