The Internet: Politics and Law

 

Prof. Giovanni SARTOR & Prof. Alex TRECHSEL (SPS)

Monday, 17.15-19.15, Seminar Room 2 at the Badia

Administrative Assistant: Rosanna Lewis 

January – March 2012

6 credits

 

Seminar description

This course will address the recent developments of the Internet, both from a legal and political perspective. The focus of the course will be on how politics and law contribute to the development of the Internet. Also, we will engage with the question of how today’s politics and law are shaped by the Internet. We will consider how, in the regulation and use of the Internet, politics and law interact, influencing and constraining each other.

 

In particular we will focus on the following themes:

• Politics and law in the information/knowledge society (introduction)
• Politics in cyberspace
• The law in cyberspace

 

The governance of the Internet

• The politics of Internet governance
• Regulation and self regulation in the internet domain

 

Public participation and the Internet

• The Internet and political participation
• Free speech and censorship over the Internet

 

The Internet and political control

• Political control through the internet
• Data protection and surveillance

 

Internet, politics, media and culture

• Political participation and access to digital contents (Pirate bay)
• The law and access to digital media

Through weekly readings, discussions and several talks given by specialists we will try to address these issues using a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, merging methods from political and legal research. Participants in the seminar are expected to select one of the topics-concepts and take responsibility for opening the discussion.

 

For further information on the course and background reading, please visit The Internet: Politics and Law WordPress blog .