IY5521 Legal and regulatory aspects of electronic commerce

First term, core module for Secure Digital Business Pathway only.

Module leader

R. Carolina (Senior Visiting Fellow) and J. Austen.

Aims

This is intended as an introduction to non-lawyers of basic legal concepts and rules which apply to e-commerce activities, to basic legal risk management techniques for information security managers, and to the most significant of the regulatory aspects which apply to secure electronic commerce. The legal coverage of the module is directed almost entirely to non-criminal law, with an emphasis on legal obligations and liabilities between private parties.

Objectives

On completion of this module students will have gained an understanding of the legal underpinnings and government regulations applying to the use of e-commerce, as well as an understanding of managing legal risk.

Syllabus

The module will be divided into three main parts and will involve lectures from a number of outside legal experts.

  • Part I: The rules – an introduction to the law
    • Introduction.
    • Basic liability for online activities.
    • E-commerce and the law of contracts.
    • Dematerialization of documents.
    • Legal restrictions on the movement and use of cryptographic technology.
    • Digital signature and electronic signature laws.
    • International e-commerce and the law.
    • Discussion: revisiting issues in a multinational context.
    • Electronic ‘money’.
  • Part II: The rules applied – an introduction to corporate legal risk management
    • Systems and service procurement.
    • Corporate re-organisation and the IT security manager.
    • Network acceptable use policies.
    • Records retention policies in the era of de-materialisation.
  • Part III: Regulatory aspects of e-commerce
    • Government control of security technology.
    • Regulation of CAs/TTPs.
    • Data privacy legislation.
    • Taxation of e-commerce.

Method of examination

Written examination.

Main references

  • Christopher Reed, Internet Law: Text and Materials, Butterworths, 2000.
  • Lilian Edwards & Charlotte Waelde, Law & the Internet: A Framework for Electronic Commerce, Hart Publishing, 2000.