Electronic Commerce Law

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Have an understanding of the technical basis for e-commerce
• Have a good understanding of the policy issues posed by e-commerce systems for government, business, consumers and citizens in conducting their transactions electronically
• Be familiar with the major law reform issues in facilitating e-commerce and regulating the technological infrastructure of e-commerce in Australia and overseas
• Understand the principal trans-border legal issues in e-commerce and the methods for dealing with jurisdictional problems
• Understand different national strategies for adapting to e-commerce as one dimension of globalisation, and how self-regulation interacts with national regulation in global markets
• Be able to distinguish successful from unsuccessful e-commerce law reform efforts, identify factors contributing to success or failure and offer tentative assessments of the likely success of future efforts
• Have developed skills of legal research and oral presentation of legal policy, rules and argument in an interactive seminar context.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include some or all of the following:

• Introduction to e-commerce business models and technologies
• Adapting existing laws to demands of e-commerce
• Electronic contracts: Formation and enforcement
• Identity management, authentication and electronic signatures
• Electronic payments law
• Consumer protection issues
• Unsolicited commercial email and anti-spam laws
• Problems of extra-territoriality and jurisdiction
• Information privacy and security
• Advertising, unfair competition and trade marks
• Digital rights management and collaborative production systems
• Self-regulation and standard setting.

• Seminar participation (10%)
• Take-home examination (90%) (23–26 October)
  
  or
  
  Research paper 8,000 words (90%) (30 November) (topic approved by the subject coordinator)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Have an understanding of the technical basis for e-commerce
• Have a good understanding of the policy issues posed by e-commerce systems for government, business, consumers and citizens in conducting their transactions electronically
• Be familiar with the major law reform issues in facilitating e-commerce and regulating the technological infrastructure of e-commerce in Australia and overseas
• Understand the principal trans-border legal issues in e-commerce and the methods for dealing with jurisdictional problems
• Understand different national strategies for adapting to e-commerce as one dimension of globalisation, and how self-regulation interacts with national regulation in global markets
• Be able to distinguish successful from unsuccessful e-commerce law reform efforts, identify factors contributing to success or failure and offer tentative assessments of the likely success of future efforts
• Have developed skills of legal research and oral presentation of legal policy, rules and argument in an interactive seminar context.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include some or all of the following:

• Introduction to e-commerce business models and technologies
• Adapting existing laws to demands of e-commerce
• Electronic contracts: Formation and enforcement
• Identity management, authentication and electronic signatures
• Electronic payments law
• Consumer protection issues
• Unsolicited commercial email and anti-spam laws
• Problems of extra-territoriality and jurisdiction
• Information privacy and security
• Advertising, unfair competition and trade marks
• Digital rights management and collaborative production systems
• Self-regulation and standard setting.

• Seminar participation (10%)
• Take-home examination (90%) (23–26 October)
  
  or
  
  Research paper 8,000 words (90%) (30 November) (topic approved by the subject coordinator)