Depuis une vingtaine d’années, les humains utilisent la technique numérique pour nouer des relations à l’occasion desquelles peuvent se créer des liens juridiques. Parmi ceux-ci, le contrat de vente occupe une place importante. Traditionnellement, lorsque les contractants relèvent d’ordres juridiques différents, leurs rapports sont régis par le droit international privé. Celui-ci permet de déterminer d’une part quelle autorité pourra éventuellement être appelée à trancher les litiges et d’autre part quelles règles de droit seront appliquées pour y apporter une solution. Ce travail de recherche vise à vérifier si les règles de droit international privé régissant les ventes classiques peuvent être transposées aux contrats de vente cyberspatiaux. En d’autres termes, il s’agit d’en vérifier l’utilité et l’efficacité dans un monde dématérialisé et qui ignore les notions de frontières et de territorialité. / This research project inquires whether the private international law rules used for traditional sale contracts can be transposed into the context of sales concluded and performed in cyberspace. In other words, it sets out to consider the utility and efficiency of such rules in a virtual world, without borders, where the concept of territoriality has no relevance. To examine this issue, rules and principles taken from the Quebec and French legal systems, as well as from international texts dealing with the topic, were compared. This comparative perspective revealed certain similarities, as well as a number of differences among Quebec, French, and international norms. Investigation of both similarities and differences is essential to any debate on cyberspace, which must be as universal as possible. The investigation also highlighted the principal technical characteristics of the virtual world, which in turn exposed certain difficulties that may be generated vis-à-vis the institution of the private contract. The attempt to apply traditional rules related to jurisdiction and applicable law to sales in cyberspace led to a conclusion that, although not all of these rules are entirely satisfactory, rules relating to the residence or establishment of cyberspace users better fulfill the function of connecting factors than those linked to the localization of the conclusion or performance of the contract. The latter simply lack utility for relations in cyberspace.More specifically, connecting factors arising from liberty of contract would appear to be the most effective for cyberspace sales. However, the principle according to which liberty of contract must be restricted in order to protect the consumer must be set aside since, inter alia, the «cyberconsumer» does not exist. Rather, there is a need for the elaboration of rules and principles that will protect any adhering party, irrespective of whether such party has any connection to traditional notions of a consumer.