University
of Hong Kong Faculty of Law,
Semester 2, 2001-02
IT.Law@hku.hk (YLAW0006
broadening course)
University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law - Semester 2, 2001-2
Subject Outline, Objectives & Assessment
Amended 20 February 2002 with correct dates for Lessig classes
1. Focus and objectives
The course description says:
While the Internet has been developing rapidly and has intruded
into almost every aspect of our daily lives, many legal issues relating
to it have not resolved. The course provides an introduction to the principal
legal problems generated by recent developments in information technology,
especially the Internet. Topics are likely to include: privacy and the
protection of personal data, patents and copyrights in software, contractual
and tortuous liability for defective software, EDI (electronic data interchange),
e-commerce and cryptography, computer fraud and other 'cyber-crimes', defamation,
evidential problems.
As you will see from the course schedule
and readings, this year's course covers many of the most interesting
legal issues surrounding information technology and 'cyberspace'.
The course is based on the law of Hong Kong, considered in its
international context. Comparisons with the law of other jurisdictions
(including the People's Republic of China) are used to explore potential
developments in Hong Kong law. The international nature of cyberspace also
requires consistent attention to the development of international standards.
Wherever possible, examples will be drawn from topical issues and matters
of everyday experience.
2. Teaching and assessment
2.1. Teaching
This is a 3 credit point course. There will be 8 two hour lecture classes
over the Semester, usually on Wednesdays at 4-6pm. The dates and topics
of the classes are set out in the Schedule at http://www2.austlii.edu.au/hkitlaw/broadening/schedule.html
. Please check the Schedule carefully so that you are certain in which
weeks there are classes and in which weeks there are not.
In the week commencing 18 March, there will be no class on Wednesday
20 March, but all students are instead required to attend either or
both of two special classes by Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford
University, a distinguished international expert on cyberspace regulation:
-
On Monday 25 March 6pm - 8:15pm - Hochelaga lecture on regulation of cyberspace
-
On Tuesday 26 March - 10:40am - 12:40pm, Q & A session for IT law students
[These dates were incorrect in the previous version of this outline]
The venues for these two events will be announced in class and posted
on the course website.
The course is coordinated by Graham Greenleaf and Anna Tam, who
will each teach some of the classes. A number of guest lecturers will also
address the class. See the Schedule for details.
2.2. Assessment
The assessment for the course will be an end-of-session take-home examination
worth 100%. It will consist of at least three questions, which will involve
legal and policy issues which may range over the whole subject, and the
inter-relationships between them. There will be some choice of questions,
but you will need to answer questions covering most or all of the topics
in the course in order to answer the Examination successfully.
The maximum word length for the Examination will be 3,000 words,
excluding citations and bibliography, but including any discursive footnotes.
This will be a strict word limit - any text in excess of the word
limit may be ignored by the teacher.
The date of availability of the Take-Home will shortly after the
last class, and you will have approximately 10 days in which to complete
it.
Citation, plagiarism and other issues of academic
standards
The take-home end-of-session assessment must be documented according to
normal academic standards, even though many (often most) of the resources
you are likely to cite are found on the world-wide-web. The full web address
(URL) must be given for all world-wide-web resources cited (including the
Reading Guides), plus other normal information such as the author and the
title of the resource.
Take care to avoid plagiarism!: You must remember that, whether
you are using print or web sources, all sources which are (i) quoted, (ii)
paraphrased or (iii) relied upon for significant ideas (whether or not
quoted or paraphrased) must be cited, usually by a footnote on each occasion
of use. If you do not do so, this is often detected, and may lead to failure
in the course and possible charges of academic misconduct. Don't risk your
career for the sake of a footnote, when you can get credit for good research
and documentation instead!
3. Internet and print resources for the subject
There is no textbook prescribed for this subject, as there is no book that
is fully suitable. It will be possible for students to prepare for classes
and to prepare their final examination from materials available for free
access via the Internet.
3.1. Internet resources
Subject home page
The subject's web pages are at http://www2.austlii.edu.au/hkitlaw/broadening/
(the 'hkitlaw home page'). Notices concerning the subject, particularly
any details to changes to scheduled classes, will be posted there, so pease
look at the home page regularly.
Reading
The reading relevant to each class will be made indicated on the Schedule
of classes - http://www2.austlii.edu.au/hkitlaw/broadening/
- next to each class. It is up to students to decide which, if any, internet
resources they need to print out for their own use (subject to copyright
restrictions, of course).
Other research resources
There are other resources, accessible from the course home page, which
will assist you in class preparation, and in preparing your examination.
These will be discussed in the first class
3.2. Recommended books
The following books are recommended for the reasons explained below. See
the first Reading Guide for other general texts in this area.
-
Paul Stephenson, Alisa Kwan and David Ellis Cyberlaw in Hong Kong
Butterworths Asia 2001 (hereinafter 'Stephenson, Kwan & Ellis') - The
first book to survey numerous topics of cyberpspace law relating to Hong
Kong. (HK$800) .
-
Lawrence Lessig Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace Basic Books 1999
- This is an excellent and controversial book on the theory of cyberspace
regulation, and one that provides chapter by chapter a valuable perspective
on most topics in the subject. About US$20 from Amazon.
Details of books and journals on the topic in the UHK Law Library are available
from the subject home page.
4. Contact information
This year, the course has two coordinators:
Graham Greenleaf ,
Professor of Law, University of New South Wales
Distinguished Visiting Professor (2001-02) University of Hong Kong
Faculty of Law
Office: Room 502, KK Leung Bldg
Tel: +852 2859 2931 (Office HKU) Fax: +852 2559 3543 (UHK)
E-mail: g.greenleaf@hku.hk or graham@austlii.edu.au
Anna YM Tam, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong
Office: Rm 506, KK Leung Blgd Tel: +852 2859 2977
E-mail: aymtam@hkucc.hku.hk
22 January 2002
