Assume you use an automated search program - a "search robot" - to collect information from other Web sites.

And assume that some of these sites send you letters telling you that your search activities are not authorized and that you must cease. You don't.

And that's not all. Assume that some of the sites that your robot visits crash as a result, and some are located in the European Union.

Are there possible problems with the law of trespass and the European Union's Database Directive?

This scenario is drawn from our course on Managing Intellectual Property and Information Assets, which tracks an Internet-based business simulation across legal issues regarding copyright; trespass to Web sites; contracts; privacy; trademark; and patents:

As noted elsewhere, we use we use rich media and sub-titles to help you learn the law...in English.