Aims and Objectives
The
aim of this course is to respond to the immense impact computers and the
Internet are having, firstly, on substantive law, and, secondly, on the legal
process and the nature of law. "Computer law" has developed since the
Seventies from a patchwork of specialist applications of ordinary rules of
contract, criminal law etc to a rapidly growing specialist cognate discipline.
It has now expanded to embrace (or be subsumed by) the emergent field of legal
regulation of the Internet. The course intends to examine the legal
ramifications of computerisation and the Internet, including topics such as
e-commerce, intellectual property in software and hardware, privacy rights in
relation to electronic information, content liability, censorship and freedom of
expression on the Internet, computer crime etc.
Themes relevant throughout the course will be discussed such as
globalisation, trans-jurisdictionality, enforcement issues, regulatory forms
(including self-regulation and soft law) and the competing lobbies for
consumers, corporations, industry players, rights-holders and
cyber-libertarians. Sources will be drawn from the legal systems of
the UK, the US, the EC and Australia.
The objectives of
the course are to enable students:
(a) to understand and deal with the legal issues associated with software,
hardware, the computer industry and the Internet, and
(b)
to consider the impact of computerisation on law, society, and
individual.
Teaching Methodology
This class will be taught by one two-hour
lecture on Mondays at 11am in Room S.221 (NABLG03 in the Lent Term) and one class per week held on
Friday
afternoons. Your allocated class may be found in your LSE for You listings.
Students must attend one class per
week. You have been allocated to one of these groups. ONLY ATTEND THE CLASS TO
WHICH YOU ARE ALLOCATED. Students are expected to carry out the reading
contained on the reading list and be in a position to discuss the issues raised
in the reading at the following meeting of the class.
Course Texts
All texts recommended for purchase may be bought
online through the On-line Bookshop.
The recommended texts
for purchase for this class are:
Recommended for Purchase
Also recommended:
Course Assessment The
course will be assessed by means of one three-hour unseen examination to be held
during the examinations period of the summer term at a date and time to be
advised in the LSE
examinations timetable.
External Examination Procedures
The external examiner for this course
is Dr. Ronan Deazley of the University of Birmingham.
LL.210 - Class Timetable
|
Michaelmas Term 2009
|
Subject |
Date |
|
An Introduction to IT Law |
An introduction to the subject matter and content of the
course. |
Mon 5 Oct. |
|
The Technology of the Information Society |
A short history of computers and the Internet.
-
Introducing the
Internet (History)
-
How the Modern
Internet Functions
-
Higher Level
Protocols
|
Mon 12 Oct. |
|
Cyberlaw Theory 1
|
Digitisation and Law.
-
The worlds of
Atoms and Bits
-
The move from
Atoms to Bits
-
Digital
Convergence
-
The Cross-border
challenge of information law
|
Mon 19 Oct. |
|
Cyberlaw Theory 2 |
Regulating the Digital Environment
-
Can we regulate
the Digital Environment?
-
Lawrence Lessig’s
Modalities of Regulation
-
Network
Communitarianism
-
Regulators in
Cyberspace: Private Regulators
-
Regulators in
Cyberspace: States and Supranational Regulation
|
Mon 26 Oct. |
|
Cyberlaw Theory 3 |
Digital Property and Virtual Property
-
Digital
Property
-
Digital
Trespass
-
Virtual Property
-
Virtual
Environments
-
The Game versus
the Law
|
Mon 2 Nov. |
|
Speech and Harm 1 |
Cyber-Speech
-
From Web 1.0 to
Web 2.0
-
Freedom Expression
and Social Responsibility
-
Political
Speech
-
Hate Speech
-
Commercial
Speech
|
Mon 9 Nov. |
|
Speech and Harm 2 |
Defamation in Cyberspace
-
The Tort of
Defamation
-
Digital
Defamation: Publication and Republication
-
Digital
Defamation: Liability
-
Digital Defamation
and UGC
|
Mon 16 Nov. |
|
Speech and Harm 3 |
Pornography and Obscenity in the Information Society
-
Obscenity
-
Pornography
-
Child Abuse Images
and Pseudo Images
-
Age Play
-
Extreme
Pornography
-
Private Regulation
of Pornographic Imagery
|
Mon 23 Nov. |
|
Speech and Harm 4 |
Computer Misuse
-
Hacking
-
Viruses, Criminal
Damage & Mailbombing
-
Denial of Service
and Supply of Devices
|
Mon 30 Nov. |
|
Speech and Harm 5 |
Crime and Law Enforcement in the Information Society
-
Fraud and Identity
Theft
-
Grooming,
Harassment and Cyberstalking
-
Cyberterrorism
-
Bandwidth
Theft
-
The Convention on
Cybercrime
|
Mon 7 Dec. |
|
Lent Term 2010 |
Subject |
Date
|
|
Intellectual Property Rights 1
|
Intellectual Property Rights and the Information Society
-
An Introduction to IPRs
-
IPRs and Digitisation
-
Linking, Caching and Aggregating
-
Peer-To-Peer Networks
-
Information and the Public Domain
|
Mon 11 Jan.
|
|
Intellectual Property Rights 2
|
Software
-
Copyright in
Computer Software.
-
Literal
Copying
-
Non-Literal
Copying
-
Permitted
Acts
-
Patent Protection
for Computer Software
|
Mon 18 Jan. |
|
Intellectual Property Rights 3
|
Branding and Trade Marks in the Information Society
-
Trade Marks and Branding
-
Trade Marks in the Global Business Environment
-
Domain Names as Badges of Identity
-
Trade Mark/Domain Name Disputes
-
The ICANN UDRP
-
The Nominet DRS
|
Mon 25 Jan. |
|
Intellectual Property Rights 4
|
Databases
-
Copyright and the Database Right
-
The Database Right
-
Databases and the Information Society
|
Mon 1 Feb. |
|
E-Commerce 1 |
Electronic Contracts
-
Contracting Informally
-
Formal Contracts
|
Mon 8 Feb. |
|
No Class |
|
Reading Week |
Mon 15 Feb. |
|
E-Commerce 2 |
Electronic Payments and Taxation
-
Electronic Payments
-
The Electronic Money Directive
-
Ecommerce Taxation
|
Mon 22 Feb. |
|
Data Privacy 1
|
Data Protection
-
Digitisation, Personal Data and The Data Industry.
-
Data Protection Act 1998: Background and
Structure
-
The Data Protection Principles, Processing and
Fairness
-
Conditions for Processing of Personal Data
-
Supervision of Data Controllers: Data Subject Rights
-
State Supervision of Data Controllers
|
Mon 1 Mar. |
|
Data Privacy 2 |
Surveillance and Supervision.
-
Enhanced CCTV
-
RFID Tracking
-
Data Retention and Identity
|
Mon 8 Mar. |
|
The Digital Public Sphere |
The Public Sphere
-
E-government
-
The Digital
Divide.
-
The Democratic Divide.
Future Developments
|
Mon 15 Mar. |
The Course Handbook may be accessed
HERE
|
