Most "Cyberspace" issues are best dealt with legally as metaphors of the real world. Thus, whenever the (prospective) owner of a Web site chooses to entrust its development and maintenance to a third party, the relevant contract is rather similar in nature to development and maintenance contracts related to more tangible sites, such as department stores, offices, factories or industrial plants.
Actually, under Italian law, these contracts are in the same class as those pertaining to construction and are considered to be an "appalto" (locatio operis), that is a contract by which, according to Art. 1655 of the Italian Civil Code, "a party undertakes to perform a piece of work or render services, organising the necessary means and operating at his own risk, for a price".
