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.