session 8. media globalisation and its discontents

After the hard work done in getting to know the law of the WTO, this session will be more dynamic and less legalistic.
It will explore the effects of globalisation on media and how states have reacted upon these. We will look in particular at the tension between trade and culture, and at the concept and regulatory objective of cultural diversity. We will also contemplate whether digital media are differently created, distributed and accessed and what the implications of this may be - e.g. for promoting creativity and for fostering cultural identities.

Reading materials
Burri, Reconciling Trade and Culture: A Global Law Perspective, JAMLS 41:2 (2011)
Anderson, The Long Tail
UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

Optional:
Time's Person of the Year: You, 2006
Anderson, Free
The Economist, The Clash of Clouds, Oct. 2009

All readings will be of immediate help for those who will present during the interactive session on cultural diversity. They also give a good intro to the session on the challenges and opportunities for media law.

Here are the slides for session 8.

session 7. wto law (2).

After having gotten the basic idea of the institutional set-up of the WTO and its functions, session 7 will go into the substance of the WTO law. We will firstly look at the underlying principles of non-discrimination (most-favoured-nation treatment and national treatment obligations) and how they are regulated under the GATT (for goods) and the GATS (for services) respectively. We will then focus on those rules of the WTO that are most relevant to telecom and media products and services or were specifically designed to address them.

Reading materials
Roy, Audiovisual Services on the Doha Round

Optional: Van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the WTO, Chapter 4
(this is an abridged version of the chapter; while it is still too long, it could serve well as a reference text in case more clarification is needed on the non-discrimination principles under GATT and GATS)

Here are the slides of session 7.

session 6. the law of the world trade organization

Sessions 6 & 7 focus on the law and policy of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The purpose of the first session of this pair will be to introduce you to the institution of the WTO and to its unique characteristics that set it apart from other international organisations. We will also talk about the basic rationales for free trade, about the sweeping process of economic globalisation and about the need for state cooperation and global rule setting. While the topic is complex and it does come along with its own and often very specific vocabulary, it is critical to understand that a great deal of our domestic policy- and rule-making (also in the field of media) is dependent upon these developments at the global level.

Reading materials
Van den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the WTO, Chapter 1 (the analysis of economic globalisation and its pros and cons will be useful also for session no 8, as well as partially for the interactive session on cultural diversity protection)

Here are all WTO legal texts.
We will pay particular attention to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO (the WTO Agreement), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Optional
Here are some additional basic reference texts about the WTO:
Understanding the WTO
10 Benefits of the WTO Trading System
10 Common Misunderstandings of the WTO

WTO Dispute Settlement: One-Page Case Summaries (1995-2008)


Here are some cases exemplifying the theory of comparative advantage (source: Wikipedia).

Here are the slides for session 6.