ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the evolution from alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to online dispute resolution (ODR) and focuses on ODR practice in Italy and the US, comparing it with traditional forms of arbitration, litigation and mediation. Online mediation have begun in the USA. A Kansas computer hobbyist had set up a website and was publishing local news, drawing information from radio, television and the local newspaper. In Italy, ODR has been developed by the Milan Arbitration Chamber. This procedure has been defined as an open model because it aims to favour a direct exchange of communication between participants; it is mediator's duty to help parties discuss openly and find through dialogue a satisfactory solution to their dispute. In the USA, new efforts have been made to improve the level of virtual communication. The main improvement certainly derives from the adoption and diffusion of a video and audio communication system, which makes long-distance visual communication possible between the participants and the mediator.
