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(European) Internet Law

Module description

The Internet has been described as a medium that neither is, nor should, nor could be controlled. And yet, due to internet users’ concerns discouraging them from its further use, legislators have undertaken efforts to regulate certain aspects of the Internet’s use. Since there is no comprehensive framework regulating all Internet transactions, this course tackles only selected issues. These include: fundamental rights protection online (privacy, data protection, freedom of expression); contracts concluded online (digital content, online selling); intellectual property law online (geo-blocking; Digital Rights Management). This module will complement the other available optional modules: Intellectual Property; (European) Consumer Protection.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims at providing you with a thorough understanding of selected issues arising with the development of the Internet and the increased popularity of online transactions. The focus of the course will be on the societal shift that the development of the Internet brought about and the resulting need for policymakers to accommodate the new market trends in their law-making. Various areas of law struggle to accommodate the rise of the Internet and online transactions, either by attempting to stretch the interpretation of the existing regulatory framework to cover the newly identified in online transactions issues, or by devising new rules, applicable specifically to the digital market. The module aims to provide you with the necessary legal, theoretical and contextual background in order to analyse effectively the rationales, application and limits of various rules adopted by the legislators while regulating the Internet. Due to the comprehensive framework of discussed issues, touching upon different areas of private law, you will improve your academic analytical skills, but also learn to engage critically with law in context.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge and a thorough understanding of the main areas of Internet law;
• 2. Identify, explain and critically evaluate the main legal instruments regulating Internet law;
• 3. Demonstrate critical awareness of a wide range of social, moral, pragmatic and economic implications of regulating Internet law;
• 4. Compare, analyse and synthesise the principal rules and theories relating to Internet law.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and understanding of a range of legal concepts, values, principles, institutions and procedures, and explain the relationships among them, as well as their limits;
• 6. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of legal concepts and their contextual, social and commercial implications;
• 7. Apply legal knowledge to a problem/ case study and to suggest a conclusion supported by relevant arguments;
• 8. Integrate and assess information from primary and secondary legal sources using appropriate interpretative techniques.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 9. Manage relevant learning resources/ information and to develop own arguments and opinions with minimum guidance;
• 10. Communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately, orally and in writing, in a manner appropriate to the discipline;
• 11. Identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of library-based and electronic resources with minimum guidance;
• 12. Work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• the introduction to the issues and the concept of the Internet law;
• the need to protect fundamental rights online; development of data protection as a fundamental right; ePrivacy Directive and its implementation in the UK; General Data Protection Regulation and its implementation in the UK; further plans of EU Data Protection Reform and their impact after Brexit;
• notions of: personal and sensitive data; data controller and data processor; informed consent; cookies; personal data breaches; security requirements; spam; content control; ISP liability;
• different issues related to concluding contracts online, specifically online contracts of sale. Among discussed issues: privacy policies; terms of use; digital content; information requirements and provision of information online; non-conformity; right of withdrawal; lack of supply; an introduction to the system of online payments; e-Money Directive; Payment Services Directive; fraudulent transactions;
• issues of intellectual property online: copyright law online; geo-blocking; usage restrictions; licenses; fair use; Digital Rights Management; domain names; virtual property; trademarks;

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

– If the exam is failed, and the module cannot be condoned, the student will be capped at the pass mark after re-examination (40%)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• J. Trzaskowski, A. Savin, B. Lundqvist, P. Lindskoug, Introduction to EU Internet Law (2015)
• N. Helberger et al., Digital consumers and the Law (2012)
• Special issues of the Journal of European Consumer and Market Law, 1/2016 on sharing economy
• IT Governance Privacy Team, EU General Data Protection Regulation: An implementation and compliance guide (2017) itsp
• L. Edwards, Law, Policy and the Internet (2018, in press) Hart Publishing
• ‘Concise European IT Law’ (2018, in press) Wolters Kluwer

Key words search

Internet; data protection; privacy; intellectual property; competition law; conflict of laws; contract law; sales law