session 4. internet governance

Session 4 will look at the internet, its origin, salient technological features and its legal implications. We shall talk about whether and how the internet should and could be regulated. An essential focus of our analysis will be on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Reading materials
On the Nature and Origins of the Internet, excerpts from the US Supreme Court judgment, ACLU v. Reno, 929 F.Supp. 824 (1996)
Mueller, Governments and Country Names: ICANN's Transformation into an Intergovernmental Regime

Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 1
Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 3
Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 4
Goldsmith and Wu, Who Controls the Internet?, chapter 5

Note: While the readings for this session may appear at first sight more than the usual amount, the chapters of Who Controls the Internet? are in fact popular reading and easily digestible. They are also a good preparation for the interactive session on cyber-regulation that follows.

Optional:
The Economist, The Internet at Forty
The Economist, ICANN be Independent
Milton Mueller's critique of Who Controls the Internet?

Here are some useful links related to ICANN and Internet governance:
http://www.icann.org/
http://www.intgovforum.org/
http://www.internetgovernance.org/
http://www.icannwatch.org/

The slides of session 4 are here.

updated schedule of sessions

As I mentioned yesterday, I am delighted to let you know that Dr Ingo Meitinger of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Head Training and International Cooperation, Law and International Affairs Division) will join us and take over the session on intellectual property protection and its regulation at the international level.
To accommodate his agenda, we needed however to make a slight change to the schedule of sessions. Sessions 8 and 9 are now swapped - the implications of this are minimal.

Here is the updated version of the schedule.

PS. Thanks for bearing with me on the rather not exciting topic of int'l telecommunications law. I look forward to next week's session on the Internet - a theme that is likely to stir the spirits a bit more.

session 3. int'l telecommunications law

Session 3 looks at the telecommunications rules at the international level. This entails an analysis of the law and policies of the international telecommunication union, which happens to be the oldest intergovernmental organisation, as well as an enquiry into the rules related to satellite communications. We will also explore how the communications rules have changed over time and how new regulatory models, which move away from the traditional inter-national cooperation, have emerged.

Reading materials
Walden, International Telecommunications
Burri, Communications as a Distinct and Unique Object of Regulation

Optional: Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, chapter 11

The slides for session 3 are here.

session two. the international human rights framework

It is the objective of session two to present the international human rights framework of pertinence to media. The different dimensions of the freedom of expression will thus be central to our analysis. We will look at the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights but also discuss the law and practice developed under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
I urge you to read the case Demuth v. Switzerland before the session, so we could discuss it in more detail.

Reading materials
Jorgensen, Freedom of Expression
Marauhn, Freedom of Expression (ECHR)
Legal texts:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR)
Case:
Demuth v. Switzerland, ECtHR
Optional: Open Net Initiative Bulletin, China's Green Dam

The slides for session 2 are here.

session one. introduction and overview of the core themes

The objective of the first session of the course is to get you acquainted with 'contemporary media' as a specific subject matter of regulation. Amongst others, questions to be answered are: What are the economic and societal justifications for regulating media? Have these rationales been modified over time as the media landscape has been profoundly changed? What is international media law? What are its building blocks and how are they reflected in the course's structure?

Reading materials
Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, chapter 1 (also useful for subsequent sessions)
Flew, New Media: An Introduction
Sauvé and Steinfatt, Multilateral Rules on Trade and Culture (only pages 326-339; the entire article for session No 9)

Optional: Jenkins, Convergence? I Diverge
Burri, New Technologies, New Patterns of Consumer/Business Behaviour and Their Implications for Audiovisual Media Regulation

The slides of session one are here. For the subsequent ones, I will make them available shortly before the lecture.