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Law in the Information Age 2.0 - LAWS3431
Blooming Flowers

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/genl0231/outline2010v2.pdf
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3
 
 
Equivalent: GENL0231
 
 
Excluded: GENL0231
 
 
CSS Contribution Charge:Band 3 (more info)
 
 
Tuition Fee:See Tuition Fee Schedule
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

This course will give students an overview of the operation of new media and communications services under Australian law, examining both the legal requirements and the policy reasoning behind the way in which media and communications are regulated.

It will cover five broad areas:

1. how laws are made, changed, interpreted and enforced, with cybercrime among the examples
2. laws governing licensing, ownership and control of telecommunications, radiocommunications and broadcasting enterprises, and whether these laws are appropriate and effective to deal with new technologies and services;
3. electronic commerce and what it means for business, consumers and the community;
4. restrictions on media and online content, including classification and censorship, and regulation of content; and
5. protecting intellectual property and reputation, covering copyright, trademarks, and defamation.

The 2.0 extension of this course also focuses on issues arising from the Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 phenomena of social networking, user generated content, mass personalisation, semantic net, and “the cloud”. These are addressed in separate workshops after each of the main classes.

Convenor
David Vaile
Executive director, Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, Faculty of Law
Email: d.vaile@unsw.edu.au

Recommended Prior Knowledge

Basic awareness of the legal and regulatory system. While some knowledge of technologies is useful, there will be no assumption that students possess such knowledge prior to commencing the course. Basic legal knowledge can be covered by a short recommended text.

Course Objectives

  • Articulate the main elements of regulatory models and legal regimes
  • Understand the unique challenges posed to users, regulators, policy makers and online service providers
  • Appreciate the level of technical complexity and evolving issues in communications convergence
  • To be able to engage in debate on policy reform in the area
  • Explain and provide better instruction to a legal advisor
  • Completion of a independent research of an inter-disciplinary nature

Main Topics

  • how laws are made, changed, interpreted and enforced, with cybercrime among the examples
  • laws governing licensing, ownership and control of telecommunications, radiocommunications and broadcasting enterprises, and whether these laws are appropriate and effective to deal with new technologies and services;
  • electronic commerce and what it means for business, consumers and the community;
  • restrictions on media and online content, including classification and censorship, and regulation of content; and
  • protecting intellectual property and reputation, covering copyright, trademarks, and defamation.

Assessment

Media Diary - 30%

Research paper plus annotated Bibliography - 60%
(or 30%, shorter, if doing optional online contribution)

Online contribution - 30% (optional)

Participation - 10%

Course Texts

Prescribed
Course materials from UNSW Bookshop.

Recommended

Either:
Carvan, J Understanding the Australian Legal System, Thomson Lawbook Co, 6th ed, 2010
OR
Richard Chisholm, Garth Nettheim, Understanding Law: an introduction to the Australia's legal system, 7th ed., Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2007, 213 pp., ISBN 9780409323467

Resources

Announcements, detailed classes timetable, and further links are available at the courses' home page at www.cyberlawcentre.org/genl0231

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.