Internet and the Market:

E-Commerce & Intellectual Property

Course Outline

U. Miami School of Law Spring 2003

Prof. Michael Froomkin

Unless otherwise marked, all required reading assignments will be available from the distribution center. Some, but not all, are also available on line. Optional readings are not included in your packets, but will be placed on reserve in binders in the library.

Don't forget the (optional) references to places you can go for breaking news at the end of this document.

Please note that I may need to cancel (and make up) class scheduled for March 17.

Part 1: Getting Oriented

Introduction: What is the Internet
Introduction to Digital IP
Introduction to E-commerce in Tangible Goods
Introduction to E-Fraud
Digression: Totally 'E' Commerce
Some Other Perspectives

Note that the following list of topics is subject to constant change -- and we can't do them all.

Part 2: Topics in E-Commerce

Gambling (and Jurisdiction)
Contract Formation Online
Digital Signatures I
Digital Signatures II
Online Payment Systems

Part 3: Privacy and Assertions of Information Ownership

Privacy
(continued)
(continued)

Part 4: Digital IP

Linking Liability/Meta-tags
Online Copyright Basics
DMCA & Copyright Management Technologies
Napster and True Peer-to-Peer Systems
Open Source Software

Part 5: The Electronic Lawyer

Topics in online lawyering

Good sources of breaking news

These are optional, but recommended:

BNA Internet Law News and BNA E-Commerce Law Daily
Cybertimes (free subscription required)
Jessica Litman's "New Developments in Cyberspace Law"
Phil Agre's Red Rock Eater -- details and archives at http://commons.somewhere.com/rre/
The irregular (about once a week, more or less) RISKS Digest -- The Forum on Risks to the Public In Computers and Related Systems . Interesting news items on computer-aided screwups and some of the world's worst puns.
Dave Farber's Interesting People list (to them, and often about about them).
Bytes in Brief , a useful and gently opinionated weekly roundup of legal developments.
Eben Moglen's Spot News About Leopards .
Cryptome .for the latest in crypto and security news. ("Cryptome welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security and intelligence, but not limited to those.")
Worth a quick look, but a bit frothy, Wired News .
Another source, although somewhat duplicative of sources listed above, is ACM's TechNews . The bad thing, or good thing, about TechNews is that it only comes out three times a week.
If three times a week is too much, there's the weekly e-commerce newsletter from Steptoe and Johnson. In addition to the same US stuff many other sources have, it tends to cover major events in both West and,-- more unusually -- East Europe relating to e-commerce and crytpo.
For news about ICANN, see the ICANN Blog and ICANNWatch .
And for the really hardcore, try Slashdot

If you are thinking of writing a paper, you may want to look at UCLA Cyberspace Law Bibliography, and especially Eugene Volokh, Writing A Student Article.

You may also want to visit some of the other Internet Law and related courses collected by Jessica Litman

Return to class policies .

Links to selected previous year's courses

Internet & The State: Social & Political Regulation, Fall 2002
Internet & The Market: E-Commerce & Intellectual Property, Fall 2003
Internet & The State: Social & Political Regulation, Fall 2001
Internet Governance Seminar, Spring 2000
Internet Law, Fall 2000
Intellectual Property in the Digital Era, Spring 1999
Law & Electronic Commerce Seminar: Spring 1999
Internet Law, Fall 1999: Part One & Part Two
Internet Law, Fall 1998
Law & the Internet Seminar, Spring 1998
Law & the Internet Seminar, Fall 1997
Law & The Internet Seminar, Spring 1996

This document last modified: Dec. 19, 2002