State-Level Ruling Shows U.S. Courts Still Leery of Internet Jurisdiction

Abstract

Late in 2017, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC), in the United States, remanded an internet jurisdiction case because the lower court jumped to constitutional law before first applying the state’s jurisdictional statute, or “long-arm” statute. The superior court had rejected jurisdiction over the defendant on constitutional grounds, and in September 2018, the superior court reaffirmed that rejection under state law. SCVNGR v. Punchh is not a landmark case. But its dual iteration, reaching the same conclusion on constitutional and statutory grounds, exemplifies a persistent leeriness of internet jurisdiction in U.S. state courts, with ramifications in global jurisdiction.

Keywords: Constitutional Law, Personal Jurisdiction, Long-Arm, Internet, Civil Procedure, Transnational Law, International Law, Comparative Law, Gutnick, Massachusetts, Courts

JEL Classification: K19, K33, K41, O38