real estate rental not based on contract law

Posted May 22, 2003 21:50 UTC (Thu) by giraffedata (guest, #1954)
In reply to: Letter to the editor: Legally Defining Access by dkite
Parent article: Letter to the editor: Legally Defining Access

If I pay rent on a section of property, I can access it, and it would be a breach of contract to prevent access.

You have accidentally made an argument for the other side.

Throughout the western world, real estate rental is controlled by property law, not contract law. The tenant of real estate has the right to enter it as a matter of law -- it has nothing to do with an agreement he may have made with the landlord. People argue the same kind of thing should apply to computers.

On the other hand, most legal scholars think this aspect of real estate law, dating to before the middle ages, is obsolete, and in fact, rental agreements are now near universal and the law is changing to make them more and more significant all the time.

A better analogy for the idea of regulating computer access with contract law would be rental of a car or a boat.

For those of you interested in the legal trivia here -- in the middle ages, tenants usually did not have a rental agreement. They had a deed. The transition in the US happened some time in the late 19th century, but the property law basis of a tenancy is still clearly present.

real estate rental not based on contract law

Posted May 23, 2003 0:39 UTC (Fri) by dkite (guest, #4577) [Link]

Fascinating. I didn't realize that.

The point I was trying to make was that the freedoms we have experienced with
an open internet will probably diminish over time. I've lived in this area since 1982,
and there were few no trespassing signs. Now they are all over, due to the
increase in traffic, increase in property values, etc. At one time you could walk
along the lakefront without any difficulty, now there are barriers put up to prevent
what used to be taken for granted.

I see the same trend on the internet. Not for good. Unfortunately, again as
paralleled in the 'real world', many of the barriers have been erected as a result of
abuse or lack of respect for other's property, or because there is high value tied to
some asset. Email if fantastic, but now laws are being written to make it less free
and accessible due to spammers abusing the freedom.

What concerns me most is the fact that anyone could inadvertently trespass and
be prosecuted, simply by linking, or viewing something. It all depends on the
owner and what they feel that day. Scary.

Derek