Postgraduate Course: Selected Issues in Communications Law (LAWS11450)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course covers the regulation of communications networks and services, and aims to discuss the most relevant provisions that govern the sector against the background of the different rationales and policy concerns that are relevant to the sector. The focus of the course is mainly European, although comparative and international perspectives will be explored as well.
The course explores a range of legal and policy questions, including price control, social and universal service obligation, separation and new entry, technological neutrality (e.g. between wired and wireless), and consumer protection. The interaction between communications law and other forms of regulation (e.g. competition, media, trade) is explored, as are perspectives on the communications industries from other disciplines, particularly the relationship between law and innovation. |
| Course description |
The course will be delivered in five seminars which may cover the following:
1) The global governance of communication networks and its challenges;
2) Liberalisation, competition and industry efficiency;
3) Access and Interconnection;
4) Universal service and users' rights;
5) Spectrum management and the digital dividend.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
88 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Formative Assessment:«br /»
The students will be offered the opportunity to submit a draft skeleton answer to their final essay in week 3.«br /»
«br /»
Summative Assessment:«br /»
The course will be assessed by a 2,500 word essay (90%); and class participation (10%). |
| Feedback |
Feedback on the formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The course organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of how digital technologies are affecting professional practices in the journalism industry, and what challenges they are posing to the ability of news media to deliver their societal function effectively.
- Investigate the ongoing relevance of existing legal principles, the emergence of new ethical and regulatory frameworks.
- Express autonomous views on a range of current and emerging issues where definite answers do not yet exist.
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Reading List
| Please contact the course organiser for further information on an indicative bibliography. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills and Abilities in Research and Enquiry
The students will have developed the ability to investigate the ongoing relevance of existing legal principles, the emergence of new ethical and regulatory frameworks.
Skills and Abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
Students will have been encouraged to developed autonomous views on a range of current and emerging issues where definite answers do not yet exist.
Skills and Abilities in Communication
As the course has both a written and an oral (participation) component, students will have the opportunity to practice both forms of communication.
Skills and Abilities in Personal Effectiveness
By being asked to discuss and elaborate on the merits of laws and ethical frameworks, both orally and in writing, students will have developed analytical abilities as well as the ability to articulate legal reasoning.
Technical/practical skills
The students will have developed familiarity with regulatory approaches and ethical frameworks for journalistic professions, including a comparative perspective. |
| Keywords | Level 11,Law,Postgraduate,Communications Law |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Paolo Cavaliere
Tel: (0131 6)51 5137
Email: Paolo.Cavaliere@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Ruth Johnston
Tel: (0131 6)50 9094
Email: Ruth.Johnston@ed.ac.uk |
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