Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2012

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

This unit examines legal issues relating to the Internet. As the Internet becomes more vital to business, government, and social life, difficult legal and policy questions arise as to its governance. This unit will consider the application of existing legal principles to cyberspace, as well as newly developed sui generis principles and legal regulatory regimes. Knowledge of these legal issues is of increasing importance in many areas of legal practice, industry and to society more generally. This unit will address the most pressing practical legal issues that arise when people and businesses interact online, and examine the theoretical principles that are likely to underpin public and private regulatory efforts in the future. To this end the unit will encourage you to think critically about the ways in which cyberspace is experienced and regulated differently to offline space, and also the ways in which existing legal principles can map relatively easily to online activity.

This unit is an elective in the Intellectual Property and Technology group of the undergraduate law degree. It will be beneficial to you if you are intending to practise in media and communications, intellectual property, or technology law or another area of law that involves significant interaction online. This unit will also be beneficial if you intend to work in the public sector in relation to the regulation of technology and communications networks.

LWB486 Intellectual Property Law is strongly recommended as a pre-requsite but not required.

Aims

The unit is designed to outline and evaluate laws regulating behaviour on the Internet, including laws relating to jurisdiction, digital intellectual property, content regulation, ISP liability and cybercrime. The unit will also examine the theoretical and practical bases for the current and future governance structures employed to facilitate the regulation of cyberspace.

Objectives

At the completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. demonstrate a detailed knowledge of key areas of law that apply to individuals and businesses that interact via the Internet;
2. understand and critically analyse modalities for regulating cyberspace including legal, self regulatory/co-regulatory and technological measures;
3. demonstrate an ability to understand and critically analyse emerging issues in regulating behaviour on the Internet and provide strategies for dealing with these complex legal issues; and
4. critically analyse, synthesise and evaluate complex legal issues in the context of the Internet and effectively communicate conclusions through high level oral and written communication skills.

Content

The material covered in this unit may include selected topical issues in the following broad areas:
Part 1. Structure, Governance and Regulation of Cyberspace
Introduction to the Internet and the information society
Regulation of the Internet
Jurisdiction in cyberspace

Part 2. Private law issues: Intellectual Property and online publishing
Digital rights and the liability of intermediaries
Domain name disputes: dispute resolution, trade marks, and passing off
Digital publishing and defamation
Copyright in the digital environment (including Digital Entertainment)

Part 3. Public regulation: social responsibility and criminal liability
Contemporary content regulation
Cyber-threats, vulnerabilities, and risks Spam, malware, identity, and privacy
Contractual governance and the regulation of virtual communities and social networks

Skills
In this unit you will further develop the following skills:
1. Critical thinking and legal analysis;
2. Problem solving; and
3. Oral and written communication; and
4. Social justice orientation.

Graduate Capabilities
Your understanding of the unit content and the further development of these skills will assist you to acquire the following law graduate capabilities:
1 Discipline Knowledge;
2 Problem Solving, Reasoning and Research;
3 Effective Communication;
4 Life Long Learning; and
6 Professional, Social and Ethical Responsibility.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Internal students will be required to attend two hours of formal instruction each week for 13 weeks. This forum will be taped for the benefit of external students. Sessions may be in the form of a lectorial or a one hour lecture and one hour workshop. All of the sessions are designed to encourage as much interaction as possible between the lecturer and the student. They will provide a forum for overview, analysis, evaluation and discussion of the law as it applies to interactions over the Internet.

Lecturers will release a small set of assigned reading materials at least two weeks before each class. You are expected to have read assigned materials before coming to class and be prepared to discuss them.

External Attendance School
There is no external attendance school in this unit.

Assessment

Assessment in this unit is both formative (ie designed to provide you with feedback) and summative (ie both designed to give you feedback and linked to your assessment).Formative assessment is provided as follows:

• In lectorials, through comment and analysis by lecturers based on your individual and collective responses to questions and discussion topics, which provide you with feedback on how you are progressing, and how your work can be improved;


• An online discussion board is available for class participation. Lecturers will post tutorial-type questions each week in preparation and as review for each class;


• Lecturers are available at specified times to answer questions from you during semester, and in the period leading up to exams; and
• Comments on your assignment.

Assessment name: Discussion Forum
Description: Each week, students are required to contribute to class discussion on the class blog. You may miss up to two weeks of posts without penalty for a total of ten (10) of the twelve (12) discussion topics during the semester. Each response should be between 150 and 250 words. Posts are due by the end of each week.

Due Date:Weekly. A minimum of 10 Responses are required.
Relates to objectives: 1-4
Weight: 20%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: See Description

Assessment name: Assignment
Description: The purpose of the assignment is to enable you to undertake a 3000 word minor research project on a prescribed topic. The topic will be chosen to allow you to critically examine a limited aspect of law relating to the internet of current relevance.
Relates to objectives: 1-4
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End of Week 8

Assessment name: Examination
Description: The take home exam is designed to engage you in problem-solving of real world internet law scenarios. The exam will contain a mix of practical legal problems and developing public policy issues. It will assess your understanding of unit concepts across the entire unit. The word limit will be 3000 words.
Due Date:The take home exam will be made available at the start of the central exam period and will be due within three days.
Relates to objectives: 1-4
Weight: 50%
Internal or external: Both
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Central Exam Period

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Prescribed materials:

Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald, Clark, Lim & Middleton, Internet & E-Commerce Law, Business and Policy(2011) (Thomson)
A small set of additional required reading materials will be made available each week progressively through semester.

Blackboard Site
Online resources for this unit are available on the unit blackboard site.

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Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 18-May-2012