| CODE | ECL5121 | ||||||||
| TITLE | EU Information Technology Law | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | European and Comparative Law | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | “Cyberspace”, “the Internet”, “smart” environments, “Artificial Intelligence” have all become part of our daily vocabulary, with much being said and written on the social, economic and technical effects thereof. This course focuses upon the legal implications of the development of the information market, with an examination of various initiatives, laws, proposals, recommendations and other legal mechanisms proposed or taken at a European and international level. It commences with an overview of Information Law. Here the student will be encouraged to examine and assess the meaning of information and its regulation in a networked world. The focus will then move to a consideration of the effect of the convergence of technologies in the exchange of information, storage, manipulation and sharing of information. It will include an examination of the concepts of freedom of information, the rights to privacy and data protection and freedom of expression. Study-Unit Aims: The primary aim of the course is to facilitate a solid understanding of legal policies on privacy and data protection, and intellectual property, particularly in the context of distributed computer networks such as the Internet. More specifically, the course seeks to illuminate the rationale and regulatory logic of such policies along with the various technological challenges that they face. The course seeks also to illuminate legal-regulatory issues related to freedom of expression, the increasing automatisation of decision-making processes, the increasingly cross-national character of organisational transactions, and the interaction of legal norms with the regulatory effects of IT and other non-legal instruments, such as sectoral codes of practice. A further aim of the course is not just to impart knowledge of the relevant legal rules as they currently stand but also to encourage critical appraisal of them. This involves analysing and challenging the assumptions upon which the rules are based, and discussion of alternative regulatory possibilities. The initial overview on Information Law is followed by an analysis of various topics such as: - Privacy/data protection: the study-unit focuses on legal rules on data protection, alternatively termed data privacy, that is, a set of norms which govern the processing of information relating to a natural person (personal data) in order to protect, at least in part, the privacy and related interests of those persons. From the course, one gains a firm understanding of the basic rules and principles for protecting privacy and personal information, particularly as laid down in EU and other international instruments. One gains also insight into the myriad regulatory challenges in the field. Further, one learns about the potential for technological development to both threaten and enhance privacy protection. - The main focus is on European and international codes, primarily the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU e-Privacy Directive (and ongoing 'modernisation' process), along with case-law from the CJEU as well as from national courts, pursuant to these instruments. Special attention is given to the interplay between data protection and intellectual property law, particularly in the context of efforts to curb digital 'piracy', regulate digital platforms and increase the transparency of automated decision-making including profiling. - Intellectual Property in the Information Society: the study-unit focuses on emerging issues, such as copyright and copyright infringement in the digital environment, and intellectual property mechanisms for the protection of software and databases. Furthermore, modern and emerging civil liability rules and regulation of software products and AI will also be examined. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: There are at least two sets of learning outcomes for this study-unit: generic and topic- specific outcomes. At a generic level, on the successful completion of this study-unit, a student will be able to: a. Evaluate the relationship between law and information and communication technology (ICT) in particular within the areas of intellectual property and privacy/data protection (a separate study-unit focuses on issues related to electronic commerce.); b. Critically analyse the key statutory European and International regulation in the field; c. Interpret and apply legal rules in the above fields, in accordance with generally accepted legal-dogmatic method; d. Investigate the relevant law in certain non-European jurisdictions, particularly the USA. d. Critically assess the ways in which ICT challenges the application and enforcement of law on point; e. elucidate and critically assess the regulatory roles played by technology as such and by various forms of soft law (eg guidelines, codes of practice, forms of alternative dispute resolution); f. Critically analyse the underlying political, economic or social factors and issues that have influenced legislators, policy makers and judges in the emergence, development and interpretation of the law. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: At a topic-specific level: At the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (For privacy/data protection) a. Critically evaluate the different legal issues in the field of data protection law, thus facilitating a solid understanding of legal policies on privacy and data protection; b. Critically analyse the European and International regulation in the field; c. Critically assess the effectiveness of the law in these fields; d. Critically analyse the underlying political, economic or social factors and issues that have influenced legislators, policy makers and judges in the emergence, development and interpretation of the law; e. Critically evaluate the relationship of data protection legislation and other areas in cyberlaw, such as consumer protection and intellectual property. (For intellectual property in the information society section) a. Examine the different legal issues surrounding the regulation of intellectual property; b. Appraise traditional intellectual property legislation in light of the “open” paradigms employed for example by the F(L)OSS and Creative Commons initiatives; c. Critically analyse key statutory international and national regulation in the field and the effectiveness of regulation; d. Critically analyse the underlying political, economic or social factors and issues that have influenced legislators, policy makers and judges in the emergence, development and interpretation of the law; e. Critically evaluate the relationship between intellectual property and other fields of law such as competition and data protection law. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: At the beginning of each section of this study-unit students will be given an updated list of reading materials. The study-unit leaders will make extensive use of the University of Malta’s e-learning space. The following is an indicative list of reading material: Main Texts: The current editions of the five best known information technology law textbooks are: - Rowland, D., Kohl, U. & Charlesworth A. Information Technology Law, (5th ed.) Routledge, 2017, ISBN: 9780415870160. - Lloyd, I. Information Technology Law (9th ed.), OUP, 2014, ISBN: 9780198830559. - Murray, A. Information Technology Law (4th ed.) OUP, 2019. ISBN: 9780198804727. - Reed, C. & Angel, J. (eds.) Computer Law (7th ed.) Oxford University Press, 2012, ISBN: 9780199696468. - Bainbridge, D. Introduction to Information Technology Law, (6th ed.) Longman, 2007, ISBN: 9781405846660. Other texts: - Bygrave, Lee A. Data Privacy Law: An International Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Print. ISBN-13: 9780199675555. Available at Law and Theology Library. - Lynskey, Orla. The Foundations of EU Data Protection Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Print. ISBN: 9780198718239 Available at library as an e-book. Supplementary Readings: - Kuner C, Lee A. Bygrave, Christopher Docksey, and Laura Drechsler (Des) The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A Commentary (OUP 2020). - Edwards, L. (ed.) Law, Policy and the Internet, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018, ISBN: 9781849467032. - Bygrave L, “Minding the Machine v2.0: The EU General Data Protection Regulation and Automated Decision Making” in Yeung & Lodge (eds.), Algorithmic Regulation (OUP 2019), pp. 246–260. - Zuboff S, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Public Affairs 2019) ISBN-13: 9781610395694. - Benkler, Yonchai (2006) The wealth of Networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. - Johnson, Thomas A. (ed) (2006) Forensic computer crime investigation Boca Raton, Fla: CRC. - Lessig, Lawrence (2006) Code: Version 2.0. New York: Basic Books. - Stoll, Cliff (1989) The cuckoo's egg, London: The Bodley Head. - Wall, David S. (ed.) (2001) Crime and the internet New York: Routledge. Journal Articles: - Koops, Bert-Jaap. 'The trouble with European data protection law', International Data Privacy Law, 2014, vol. 4, pp. 250-261. - Bygrave L, “Machine Learning, Cognitive Sovereignty and Data Protection Rights with Respect to Automated Decisions” in M. Ienca and others (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Life Science, Information Technology and Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2021), forthcoming (available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3721118). - Balkin, Jack M. (2004) Digital Speech and Democratic Culture: a theory of freedom of expression for the information society, New York University Law Review, Vol. 79, No, 1, p1. - Brenner, Susan W. (2004) Cybercrime metrics: old wine, new bottles? Virginia Journal of Law & Technology Vol. 9 p13. - Brenner, Susan W. and Bert-Jaap Koops (2004) Approaches to cybercrime jurisdiction. Journal of High Technology Law Vol. 4 p1. - Froomkin, A Michael (1996) Flood Control on the Information Ocean: Living With Anonymity, Digital Cash, and Distributed Databases, University of Pittsburgh Journal of Law and Commerce Vol.15 p395. - Goldstone, David and Betty Shave (1999) International Dimensions of Crimes in Cyberspace. Fordham International law Journal Vol. 22 p1924. - Goodman, Marc D and Susan W Brenner (2002) The emerging consensus on criminal conduct in cyberspace. International Journal of Law and Information Technology Vol. 10 p139. - Hörnle Julia, (2005) Country of Origin Regulation in Cross-Border Media: One Step Beyond the Freedom to Provide Services? International Comparative Law Quarterly Vol. 54 pp89-126. - Katyal, Neal Kumar (2003) Digital Architecture as crime control. Yale Law Journal Vol. 112 p2261. - O’Neill, M.E. (2000) ‘Old crimes in new bottles: sanctioning cybercrime’ George Mason Law Review Vol. 9 p237. - Reidenberg, Joel & Lorrie Cranor (2002) Can User Agents accurately represent privacy policies? Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=328860. - Reidenberg, Joel (2001) The yahoo case and the International Democratization of the Internet, Fordham Law & economics Research Paper No 11. - Reidenberg, Joel (2003) Privacy Wrongs in Search of remedies, Hastings Law journal Vol. 54 p877. - Swire, Peter P. (2003) Trustwrap: The Importance of Legal Rules to Electronic Commerce and Internet Privacy Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 54. - Wall, David, S. (1998) Catching Cybercriminals: Policing the internet. International Review of Law Computers and Technology Vol.12 p201. - Zittrain, Jonathan (2003) Internet Points of Control, British Colombia Law Review 653-688. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Mireille-Martine Caruana Ioannis Revolidis |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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