Instructional goals
The course offers a glimpse over the main legal issues of “Business CyberLaw” from a EU and comparative law perspective.
A first goal of the course is to equip students with tools to understand the interplay between technological advancements and business law (including intellectual property law, corporate law, competition law, business contract law, data protection law, e-commerce law).
Another goal of the course is to develop student ability to identify and critically tackle the legal issues arising from the digital environment.
Prerequisites
Students that passed the exams of Legal system in the digital age and Business Law and ICT can enroll in this course.
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding:
By the end of the course, students should be able:
• to develop a critical comprehension of the fundamental notions of Business law (including intellectual property law, company law, e-commerce law, data protection aw) in the digital environment;
• to understand the role of Business Law in digital contexts.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
to assess and interpret the legal issues arising from digital business contexts and be able to correctly apply different legal sectorial rules in different contexts and settings;
to evaluate the impact of technological changes on Business Legal Rules.
Making judgments:
Upon completing the study program, students will be able:
to apply legal reasoning in business and institutional decisions;
to gather and interpret information and data from different sources, in order to make judgements in an independent way
to debate different perspectives to address the issues at stake in the business cyber activity.
Communications Skills:
to develop the ability to communicate in oral form through the final exam and the class debate;
to use the notions and the communication of Business Law, applied to the digital environment;
to foster the development relational skills in international and multicultural settings
Learning skills:
Upon completing the study program, students will be able:
to build an analytic toolbox from both empirical and legal analysis;
to solve problems in dynamics settings and develop critical positions.
Course Contents
After a general introduction, the course will focus on four key areas:
MODULE I: Advanced Intellectual Property Law and Management in the Digital Environment E
MODULE II: E-Commerce Law
MODULE III: Elements of Enterprise and Corporate law, with a special focus on the issues relating to digitalisation
MODULE IV: Legal Issues of Data-Driven Innovation
Reference Books
All readings are available open access or via Luiss on-line subscriptions. Other materials will be provided during the course on the Luiss Learn Platform.
Teaching Methods
Frontal teaching/case studies/interactive discussions/practical exercises (both individual and group works).
Seminars with experts and key figures.
Students’ participation during lectures is strongly encouraged and will be considered in the final assessment.
Assessment Method
The exam consists of a final oral exam.
The students will be assessed also according to class participation and taking part to lab activities of the course with a bonus of up to two points on the final mark.
Thesis assignment criteria
Upon merit
Week 1
MODULE I: Advanced Intellectual Property Law and Management in the Digital Environment
Session 1 on campus
Introduction to the Course – General
Overview over the program and introduction to EU Law of intellectual property
Session 2 on campus
Trade Marks and other distinctive signs used by enterprises
Readings:
WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook, https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/489/wipo_pub_489.pdf, 67-96
Dev Ganjee, Trade Marks and Allied Rights, The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Property Law (R. Dreyfuss & J. Pila eds.), 2018
Other materials provided during the course
Week 2
MODULE I: Advanced Intellectual Property Law and Management in the Digital Environment
Session 1 on campus
Trade Marks and other distinctive signs
Session 2 on campus
Copyright Law: Digital Markets, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
Digital Copyright Law and Practice (analysis of simulated cases about digital copyright law)
Readings:
WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook, https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/489/wipo_pub_489.pdf
Jane Ginsburg, Copyright, The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Property Law (R. Dreyfuss & J. Pila eds.), 2018
Other readings provided during the course
Week 3
MODULE I: Advanced Intellectual Property Law and Management in the Digital Environment
Session 1 on campus
Software regulation and contracts
Session 2 on campus
Case analysis on digital copyright
Readings:
WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook, https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/489/wipo_pub_489.pdf
Jane Ginsburg, Copyright, The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Property Law (R. Dreyfuss & J. Pila eds.), 2018
Other readings provided during the course
Week 4
MODULE I: Advanced Intellectual Property Law and Management in the Digital Environment
Session 1 on campus
Patents in the ICT world
Session 2 on campus
Digital multimedia content protection: case analysis and Q&A
WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook, https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/489/wipo_pub_489.pdf, 17-40
Dan Burk, Patents and Related rights, A Global Kaleidoscope, The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Property Law (R. Dreyfuss & J. Pila eds.), 2018
(from § 1 to § 7)
Other materials provided during the course
Week 5
MODULE II: E-Commerce Law
Session 1 on campus
Liability of Internet Service Providers
Session 2 on campus
Platform Regulation
Readings:
Jaani Riordan, A Theoretical Taxonomy of Intermediary Liability, in G. Frosio (eds), Oxford Handbook of On campus Intermediary Liability, 2020
materials provided during the course
Week 6
MODULE II: E-Commerce Law
Session 1 on campus
Consumers and Users Protection (including Cookies Law and other tracking mechanisms, Data Protection Law, Consumer Rights)
Session 2 on campus
The Schrems2 Case and transferring personal data on non EU systems.
Readings:
Serge Gijrath, Simone van der Hof. Concise European Data Protection, E-Commerce and IT Law. N.p., 2018
Other materials provided during the course
Week 7
MODULE II: E-Commerce Law
Session 1 on campus
The (evolving) e-commerce legal framework: cloud computing services and contracts
Session 2 on campus
B2B and B2P Contracts
contract models and exercise of critical analysis of specific contract clauses) – introduction to laboratory activity on cloud computing
Readings:
Serge Gijrath, Simone van der Hof. Concise European Data Protection, E-Commerce and IT Law. N.p., 2018.
Bradshaw, Millard, Walden, Contracts for Clouds: Comparison and Analysis of the Terms and Conditions of Cloud Computing Services, Queen Mary University of London Research Papers, no. 63/2010, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3352203
Other materials provided during the course
Week 8
MODULE III: Elements of Enterprise and Corporate law, with a special focus on the issues relating to digitalisation
Session 1 on campus
Basic Elements of Enterprise Law
Session 2 on campus
Elements of Corporate Law:
John Armour, Henry Hansmann, Reinier Kraakman, and Mariana Pargendler, What Is Corporate Law?, in Reinier Kraakman, John Armour, Paul Davies, Luca Enriques, Henry Hansmann, Gerard Hertig, Klaus Hopt, Hideki Kanda, Mariana Pargendler, Wolf-Georg Ringe, and Edward Rock, The Anatomy of Corporate Law: A Comparative and Functional Approach, p. 1-28
• Diego, Corapi; De Donno, Barbara Santa, European Corporate Law, in M. Bussani, F.Werro, European Private Law. A Handbook, Vol II, 2014, p. 209-232.
• A. De Nicola, M. Carone, Italian Business law, Egea, 2008, Section 1, Ch. 1, 2,3, and 7-8-9;.
• Other materials provided during the course
Week 9
MODULE III: Elements of Enterprise and Corporate law, with a special focus on the issues relating to digitalisation
Session 1
corporations and innovative startups with focus on operations and governance of tech startups – class discussion and practice of the regulation model and of cases
Session 2
First session of lab activity on cloud contracts
Diego, Corapi; De Donno, Barbara Santa, European Corporate Law, in M. Bussani, F.Werro, European Private Law. A Handbook, Vol II, 2014, p. 232-251
Adriaan F.M. Dorresteijn, Christoph Teichmann, Erik Werlauff, Tiago Monteiro, Nadia Pocher, European Corporate Law, p. 231 -243
Elisabeth Pollman, Startup Governance, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2019, 155, SSRN, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3352203
Other materials provided during the course
Week 10
MODULE IV: Legal Issues of Data-Driven Innovation
Session 1
Guest Seminar: details will be provided during the course
Session 2 on campus
IoT, data governance and data sharing in smart cities and legal issues of mass surveillance technologies
Readings:
• Gian Domenico Mosco, 'AI and the Board Within Italian Corporate Law: Preliminary Notes', (2020), 17, European Company Law, Issue 3, pp. 87-96, https://kluwerlawon campus.com/JournalArticle/European+Company+Law/17.3/EUCL2020014
Brauneis, Robert and Goodman, Ellen P., Algorithmic Transparency for the Smart City (August 2, 2017). 20 Yale J. of Law & Tech. 103 (2018), GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3012499 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3012499
Other materials provided during the course
Week 11
MODULE IV: Legal Issues of Data-Driven Innovation
Session 1 on campus
Protection of data, big data
Session 2 on campus
Second session of lab activity on cloud contracts
Readings:
G. Noto La Diega, Artificial Intelligence and databases in the age of big machine data, AIDA, 2018, 93 ss.
Readings and materials provided during the course
Week 12
MODULE IV: Legal Issues of Data-Driven Innovation
Session 1 on campus
Artificial intelligence, algorithm based decision-making:
Transparency, Explainability and Accountability
Session 2 on campus
Final session of lab activity on cloud contracts and course wrap up
Readings:
Balkin, Jack M., The Three Laws of Robotics in the Age of Big Data (August 27, 2017). Ohio State Law Journal, Vol. 78, (2017), Forthcoming, Yale Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 592, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2890965
Readings and materials provided during the course