Introduction to E-Commerce Law

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

PURPOSE

COURSE PROCEDURE

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE

REQUIRED TEXTS

REFERENCE MATERIAL

COURSE DESCRIPTION

An e-commerce web address usually begins www. This prefix embodies an important concept; that e-commerce is a world wide application. In 2001 e-commerce generated $32 billion in sales. It involves international protocols and conventions as well as state and national legislation. An e-commerce entrepreneur needs to be aware of online jurisdiction rules that apply to local and cross border transactions. Lapses in choice of law and forum in contracting can land an e-commerce vendor in a foreign jurisdiction that may be outside of the shores of the United States.

An e-commerce entrepreneur should pay attention to the abbreviations that appear in business news. Entities such as the CERN, HCOPIL, ICC, ISO, OECD, UNCITRAL, WIPO, and WTO should be as familiar as B2B and COD to the Internet Attorney.

In this course students will learn about the international organizations that are involved in regulating and directing the development of e-commerce. Jurisdictional rules will be covered as well as practical considerations of limiting the possibility of being called in front of a foreign court.

Prerequisites: Not required

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PURPOSE

Introduction to E-Commerce Law is an LLM executive level course required for E-Commerce specialization. Credit for this course may not be applied to the JD degree requirements. This course, along with the other five E-Commerce courses complements the present LLM program.

The International Business Law Center has developed this online learning course with the focus of providing a solid grounding in the law of international electronic commercial business.

The factors that are driving e-commerce include the expanding global communication networks, the expansion of global online markets, and the emerging of business models that provide access to the global market. Business strategies have evolved from the bricks and mortar retail establishments, and catalog outlets into electronic business transactions that run the full cycle from procurement of raw materials, to processing and distribution of manufactured goods, to order fulfillment systems and international payment processes via electronic funds transfer systems.

In addition to the international sale of goods, there is a blossoming of electronic services that were previously only available through hard line links to service providers. Internet retailing, banking, and data exchange now flow over computer grids and satellite systems. Deals are closed not with a handshake, but with an exchange of private keys.

E-Commerce is the complete value chain that links suppliers, producers, retailers, and customers. Companies that do not plan to enter the E-Commerce arena themselves, still have to deal with clients and customers whose only presence will be in the form of full-service electronic storefronts. These companies will have to adjust their strategic plan to include electronic media in their businesses. Understanding the novel legal issues that arise in relation to, the Internet, electronic commerce and on-line services, as well as the laws and jurisdictional matters that apply to e-commerce applications, are the instrument of success in positioning a business in the electronic marketplace.

Any enterprise that attracts as much traffic and value as does the electronic commerce enterprise, seldom survives in a lese faire environment. This new economic reality is no different. Government intervention in this market exists on every level. From regulating the hours of a cyber-café to restrictions on access and content, to international protocol agreements; all levels of government are leaving an imprint on commercial matters in the electronic markets.

In the legal market a new classification is emerging: the “Internet Attorney”. This practice area is a crossover specialization that integrates the traditional Intellectual Property practice subjects with the Litigation practice subjects of Domestic and International Business and Tax Law. This practice area incorporates all of the practical applications of doing business online. The legal and regulatory issues of the Internet Law practice area involve the migration of businesses to the electronic storefront, the protection of industrial property, transnational licensing, strategic partnering, taxation of cross border transactions, and electronic financial services. Components of the practice also include consideration of issues of cyber-crime and privacy.

In short, the practice of law has embraced the global electronic marketplace. The LL.M program specialization in E-Commerce provides a new curriculum for training the Internet Attorney.

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COURSE PROCEDURE

This course will involve fourteen weekly modules that are delivered through on-line instruction pursuant to current program specifications. Each module will contain text material, study guide instruction, and weekly interactive participation. Text material may contain a combination of code sections, cases, and commentary materials or news articles that are available on the Internet. Study guides will contain commentary materials upon the text materials with imbedded exercises and assignments to be completed either independently or within a group of two to five persons. Assignments may be submitted directly to the Instructor.

Each module, selected students may be called upon to deliver answers in the Internet based classroom to questions posed by the instructor. Questions may be posed in case study form or in issue form. Answers may be short (one page) form or long form (five page analysis).

During the sixteen-week semester, the students will have two technology skills and control weeks. The first week of the course, the student will spend the time acquiring and testing the necessary accessing components of the course, including: blackboard skills, database access, proxy server access, material download, and other technical issues. Also, students will introduce themselves and identify with each other (camaraderie and network building). During the third week, students will be given another breather week to check the quality of their acquired technology technical skills and offsite database access in order to identify any problem areas that require immediate correcting.

During the semester, each student will receive at least two detailed feedback sessions from the Instructor through the detailed marking of his/her/group study guide assignments and/or class participation. Separately, the Instructor is available for office hour private counseling through email, telephone, and by residential office appointment.

Other assignments may receive feedback and will receive a grade, recorded in the online grade book that students may assess their performance.

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ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

This online course requires attendance which is measured by (1) the modular-weekly interactive participation opportunities in the classroom, (2) mandatory weekly participation through being called upon to address the class for certain modules as well as (3) modular study guide assignments. Missing mandatory weekly participation assignments is the equivalent of being not prepared in class and will result in a zero for that assignment. Not turning in study guide assignments will result in a zero for that assignment.

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EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Grades will be determined through a combination of factors, as follows:

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REQUIRED TEXTS

Electronic texts edited and authored by the Instructor, supplemented by reference materials available at the IBLS web site. Reference materials will include source materials and secondary materials.

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REFERENCE MATERIAL

Reference material will be drawn and accessed from Internet enabled databases. These databases are already part of the database collection provided to all students in the LLM program.

The IBLS Law Database contains legal summaries written by IBLS Partners and Editors for the purpose of explaining concepts in e-commerce with links to primary and secondary legal resources.

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