Postgraduate - UnitLAW7245 - Current issues in electronic commerce law

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Law
Offered	Not offered in 2014

Notes

For postgraduate Law discontinuation dates, please see http://www.law.monash.edu.au/current-students/postgraduate/pg-disc-dates.html
For postgraduate Law unit timetables, please see http://law.monash.edu.au/current-students/course-unit-information/timetables/postgraduate/index.html

Synopsis

This unit analyses electronic commerce law as a form of commercial law that incorporates technological innovation and reflects the globalisation of markets. A foundation for analysing specific laws is provided by introducing the idea of an emerging 'global lex mercatoria', providing an overview of the technology used in electronic commerce, introducing some basic electronic commerce business models, and comparing diverse national responses to the growth of electronic commerce. Specific laws governing electronic signatures and other identity management systems, electronic contracting, electronic payments will be analysed in light of those foundational concepts. The unit may also consider related competition and trade practices issues, consumer protection, information privacy, electronic commerce security and jurisdiction.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should:

understand the technical foundation of electronic commerce;
understand the policy issues posed by e-commerce systems for government, business, consumers and citizens in conducting their transactions electronically;
know the basic framework of laws governing electronic signatures and other identity management systems, electronic contracting, electronic payments, information privacy and information security law relevant to electronic commerce;
understand the costs and benefits of using national law reform as a strategy to promote the use of electronic commerce; and
have developed skills of legal research and oral presentation of legal policy, rules and argument in an interactive seminar context.

Assessment

Reseach paper (3,750 words): 50%
Take-home examination (3,000 words): 40%
Class participation: 10%.

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Jane Winn

Workload requirements

24 contact hours per semester (either intensive, semi-intensive or semester long, depending on the Faculty resources, timetabling and requirements). Students will be expected to do reading set for class, and to undertake additional research and reading applicable to a 6 credit point unit.