People are being asked to give their views on how the law should be adapted to deal with online privacy and cyberbullying.
The subject has been raised by the Law Reform Commission, which is examining the need for legislative changes to take account of issues such as harassment via the internet.
Although it has brought many direct benefits, the internet has also brought more sinister side-effects, such as cyberbullying.
However, laws have not always kept pace with such challenges posed by the web.
The Law Reform Commission has today issued a paper posing questions about areas of legislative change that might be necessary to tackle the issue of cyberbullying.
It raises many issues, such as whether or not the offence of harassment include a specific reference to cyber-harassment.
It asks whether such offences should apply to cases where the harasser or the harassed lives outside the State; should once-off interferences with another's privacy through the use of cyber technology also be made a crime; and asks are the penalties for cyber-harassment severe enough.
The commission is seeking responses from the public on the issues by mid-January.
The full paper is available on the Law Reform Commission's website.
