Internet Law (LAWS70396)

The internet turns 27 in 2018, and remains the fastest-growing medium of communications. It is also a uniquely democratic means of communication, blurring the traditional boundaries between publisher and reader. It has created unparalleled opportunities for sharing, fully duplex peer communications and novel types of social media. Nevertheless, the legal rules governing it remain unsettled and are arguably too old-fashioned for the modern environment. These developing legal rules and norms are the focus of this subject. These issues are explored in the context of liability for infringement of copyright and breaches of privacy, defamation and obscenity in respect of the publication of material online.

Principal topics include:

• Overview of technology and avenues of distribution
• Copyright and allied rights in online services
• Regulation of transnational online products and services
• Defamation
• Privacy
• Obscenity and other criminal liability for publication
• Conflict of law
• Intermediary liability
• Theoretical issues such as the nature of democratic governance in a borderless world, regulatory arbitrage and the appropriate basis for liability where internet businesses encourage others to offend.