Internet Law

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.

136-150 hours

The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.

Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.

The Melbourne Law Masters welcomes applications from students with disabilities. The inherent academic requirements for study in the Melbourne Law Masters are:

• The ability to attend a minimum of 75% of classes and actively engage in the analysis and critique of complex materials and debate;
• The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and to critically evaluate these;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
• The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
• The ability to present orally and in writing legal analysis to a professional standard.

Students who feel their disability will inhibit them from meeting these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact Student Equity and Disability Support.

The internet turned 23 in 2015, 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, taught by media lawyer Jonathan Gill and Professor Megan Richardson. Topics include copyright laws related to user-generated content, the regulation of social networks, privacy, libel tourism, online obscenity and collaborative internet-based contracting.

Principal topics include:

• Overview of technology and avenues of distribution
• Copyright and allied rights in online services
• Commissioning and licensing material
• Regulation of transnational online products and services
• Internet contracting and consumer protection issues
• Censorship of material distributed via online services
• Defamation and privacy
• Obscenity
• Journalists and the internet
• 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.

A student who has successfully completed this subject will:

• Have an advanced and integrated understanding of key principles of internet law in Australia and comparable jurisdictions
• Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the effectiveness of these legal principles
• Have the cognitive and technical skills to independently examine, research and analyse existing and emerging legal issues relating to internet law
• Be an engaged participant in debate regarding emerging and contemporary issues in the field
• Have a sophisticated appreciation of the factors and processes driving law reform
• Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas, and to critically evaluate existing legal theories, principles and concepts with creativity and autonomy
• Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information regarding internet law to relevant specialist and non-specialist audiences
• Be able demonstrate autonomy, expert judgment and responsibility as a practitioner and learner in the field of internet law.

• Class participation, including a short in-class presentation on one of the seminar topics (10%)
• Take-home examination (5,000-6,000 words as specified in the subject reading guide) (90%) (16 - 19 September)
  or
• 8,000 word research paper (90%) (26 October) on a topic approved by the subject coordinator

A minimum of 75% attendance is a hurdle requirement.

Specialist printed materials will be made available free of charge from the Melbourne Law School prior to the pre-teaching period.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.