“Jurisdiction is not given for the sake of the judge, but for that of the litigant.”

Blaise Pascal

Once upon a time, the question of legal jurisdiction was fairly simple. When in Rome, you follow Roman law. When elsewhere, the laws governing that elsewhere. Of course there were exceptions: diplomatic immunity, privilege of clergy, and so forth. But in general, location equaled jurisdiction the world over. And it was understood that if, for whatever reason, you decided to buck the system, and assert that your political creed or religious beliefs or whatever were paramount, then you had two choices: stand by to take the consequences, or get out of Dodge.

Even telecommunications didn’t really upset this paradigm. You may be watching, say, a moon landing on TV, but that doesn’t mean that you, in your living room, are suddenly subject to whatever lunar laws may exist. Ditto for telegrams and telephone. Communication does not, by itself, extend jurisdiction.