session 3. international 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 (ITU), which happens to be the oldest intergovernmental organization. The session includes also 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 co-operation, have emerged. The session will conclude with an analysis of current net neutrality initiatives.
 
Reading materials Walden, International Telecommunications    

Optional  
Palfrey and Gasser, Interop, chapter 1   
Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, chapter 11  
MacKinnon, United Nations and the Internet: It's Complicated, Foreign Policy, August 2012 
US Federal Communication Commission, Open Internet Press Release, 2015

session 2. international human rights framework. freedom of speech.

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.

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:
Mira Burri, Immer mehr staatlich verordnete Grenzen im Cyberspace (NZZ, October 2010) 

session 1. introduction to the course and its core topics.

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 addressed are: What are the economic and societal justifications for regulating media? Have these rationales been modified over time as the media landscape has profoundly changed? What is international media law? What are its building blocks and how are they reflected in the course's structure?
Organizational sides of the course will also be clarified and the pertinent questions answered.
Reading materials: Flew, New Media: An Introduction Sauvé and Steinfatt, Multilateral Rules on Trade and Culture (only pages 326-339; the entire article for session 10)
Optional: Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, chapter 1 (background text; also useful for subsequent sessions) Burri, New Technologies, New Patterns of Consumer/Business Behaviour and Their Implications for Audiovisual Media Regulation
A great interactive presentation on why the Internet matters, by Prof. Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard University can be found here.