Handbook

This course will give students an overview of the operation of new media and communications services under Australian law, examining both the legal requirements and the policy reasoning behind the way in which media, data, telecommunications and communications are regulated.

Main Topics

• how laws are made, changed, interpreted and enforced, with cybercrime among the examples
• laws governing licensing, ownership and control of telecommunications, radiocommunications and broadcasting enterprises, and whether these laws are appropriate and effective to deal with new technologies and services;
• electronic commerce and what it means for business, consumers and the community;
• restrictions on media and online content, including classification and censorship, and regulation of content; and
• protecting intellectual property and reputation, covering copyright, trademarks, and defamation
• how legal enforcement and regulatory modes change under the impact of the mass personalisation, ubiquitous publishing, Social Networking and User Generated Content features of Web 2.0
• impact of the online giants' cult of "Disruption"/"Forgiveness not Permission" on the rule of law online.
  
• digital surveillance and tracking law
• Issues around "Open data', Big data, and their use in artificial intelligence and machine learning online
• new modes of legal services which arise in response to these challenges