THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2018/2019

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: The legal challenges of information technologies (LAWS11137)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course aims to deliver a challenging perspective on the wide range of legal questions posed by information technologies as they continue to develop; and to provide students with a fresh perspective on law and technologies and an appreciation of the extent to which legal questions must be viewed broadly.

After exploring different approaches to regulation and to the protection of rights in software, the course will then consider the ongoing relevance of intellectual property in cyberspace, including peer generated content illegal filesharing and enforcement, and liability for online content in the digital economy.The use of personal data for commercial purposes in the content of social media and other Web 2.0 services will be considered, together with other issues, like cybercrime and cloud computing.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2018/19, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  31
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 80% essay (4000 words)
20% electronic assessment (Tumblr blog)
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
This course will

-explore the wide and disparate range of legal principles relevant to information technologies;
-investigate the extent to which existing theories of and approaches to regulation of information technologies are effective; and
-assess the ongoing role of law in this field, in conjunction with the greater use of technological means control

By the end of this course students should be able to:

-form a view on the legal principles and perspectives which are relevant to information technologies;
-evaluate the extent to which legal and political development takes these principles into account;
-identify future areas for legal development; and
-critically assess the arguments of different interest groups in respect of the role of law in information technologies
Reading List
We will consult a range of books, book chapters and articles, which will be available in the School of Law library or on e-Reserve. Use will also be made of online material, including journals, blogs and legislation.

An interesting overview of the field and other matters can be obtained from Lloyd I., Information Technology Law ((8th ed., OUP, 2017) and Savin A., EU Internet Law (2nd edn, Edward Elgar, 2017). Other general textbooks on IT law include A Murray, Information Technology Law: The Law and Society (3rd edn, OUP, Oxford 2016) and U Kohl and D Rowland, Information Technology Law (5th edn Routledge, Abingdon 2016).

Accessible histories of the technologies of the Internet include J Naughton, From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg : what you really need to know about the Internet (Quercus, London 2012) and H Abelson et al, Blown to bits: your life, liberty and happiness after the digital explosion (Pearson, Boston 2008« available as a free ebook at http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Y7DOltmSGjgC.

A good introduction to regulatory theory as it applies to the Internet can be found in L Lessig, Code 2.0 (Basic Books, 2006, available as a free e-book at http://www.codev2.cc/), C Reed, Making Laws for Cyberspace (OUP, 2012) and I Brown and C Marsden, Regulating Code (MIT Press 2013).
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Students will develop their skills and abilities in:
1. Research and enquiry, through e.g. selecting and deploying appropriate research techniques;
2. Personal and intellectual autonomy, e.g. developing the ability to independently assess the relevance and importance of primary and secondary sources;
3. Communication, e.g. skills in summarising and communicating information and ideas effectively in oral and written form;
4. Personal effectiveness, e.g. working constructively as a member of a team in group activities;
5. Students will also develop their technical/practical skills, throughout the course, e.g. in articulating, evidencing and sustaining a line of argument, and engaging in a convincing critique of another's arguments.
Additional Class Delivery Information 10 two-hour seminars
Keywordsinformation technology,regulation,copyright in cyberspace,online privacy,cloud computing
Contacts
Course organiserDr Lachlan Urquhart
Tel:
Email: lachlan.urquhart@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr David Morris
Tel: (0131 6)50 2010
Email: David.Morris@ed.ac.uk
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