LL210     
Information Technology and the Law

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Professor Andrew Murray NAB 7.11

Dr. Orla Lynskey NAB 6.23 

Availability

This course is available to LLB and Law and Anthropology students. It is also available as an outside option to students in other departments and to General Course Students. Students from other Universities should contact the course convenor regarding participation in this course.   

Pre-requisites

This course does not require an in-depth understanding of contemporary computer technology – we are primarily interested in the implications of the use of information technology, and the intended and unintended consequences of regulating that use. 

Course content

This survey course, which is divided into six modules, introduces students to a selection of fundamental legal issues in the field of Information Technology (IT) Law. It begins by examining ongoing debates regarding the appropriate theoretical framework applicable to internet regulation and governance, tackling questions such as whether the internet should be controlled and, if so, by whom. It then examines substantive legal topics, such as data protection, cybercrime, intellectual property and online freedom of expression, against this theoretical backdrop. In particular, students are encouraged to consider how the law has responded to the challenges of information technologies, and the extent to which legal issues have shaped the development of information society policy.

The focus will be initially on English law, although the increasingly global nature of IT law means that there are already strong EU and US legal influences upon the English system, so comparative aspects will be introduced in places, and readings will include materials drawn from, amongst others, US law journals.

At the end of the course, students should be able to assess critically ongoing developments in law relating to information technologies and to evaluate the internal coherence of these developments and their doctrinal and political implications.



Indicative Content:

Michaelmas 2017

  • Introduction to Internet Regulation and Governance 
  • Cybercrime
  • Intellectual Property Rights Online

Lent 2018

  • E-Commerce
  • Data Protection and Online Surveillance
  • Freedom of Expression Online

For a more detailed outline, please visit the course Moodle page.

Teaching

20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 2 essays in the MT and LT.

Indicative reading

**Murray: Information Technology Law: Law and Society 3rd ed, 2016, OUP.

Reed (ed): Computer Law 7th ed., 2011, OUP.

Klang & Murray (eds) Human Rights in the Digital Age, 2006, Cavendish.

Lessig: Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace ver.2.0, 2006, Basic Books.

Edwards & Waelde (eds): Law and the Internet 3rd ed, 2009, Hart. 

** Recommended for purchase.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the main exam period.

Key facts

Department: Law

Total students 2016/17: 45

Average class size 2016/17: 15

Capped 2016/17: Yes (45)

Lecture capture used 2016/17: Yes (MT & LT)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Communication
  • Specialist skills

Course survey results

(2014/15 - 2016/17 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 59%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.7

Materials (Q2.3)

1.5

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.6

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.7

Integration (Q2.6)

1.6

Contact (Q2.7)

1.7

Feedback (Q2.8)

1.8

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

84%

Maybe

14%

No

2%