Course Information – January Term 2025 

Introduction

This seminar will analyze the legal challenges posed by the Internet to the traditional commercial legal framework. Topics include online contracts, digital signatures, intellectual property, taxation, privacy, platform regulation, broadcasting, trade, and the emerging rules on artificial intelligence. This course will adopt a comparative, global perspective with an emphasis on Canadian developments.

The course will feature a mix of lectures, classroom discussion, breakout exercises, and guest lecturers including regulators, politicians, representatives of Internet companies, and civil society advocates. Class materials will be open access and may include readings, podcasts, and other multimedia materials.

See below for more information on course evaluation, including a paper component that would benefit from advance work during the fall term.

Course Format

The class will meet daily from 13:00 – 15:50.  In advance of the class, students will be expected to prepare by reading some light readings and listen to an applicable podcast. All materials will be freely available online. There is no text to purchase.

While this page includes the course schedule, please consult the University’s Brightspace course website for links to the course lectures.

Course Evaluation

The [updated] course evaluation includes:

1. 20% participation grade based on submissions of advance questions for guest speakers.

2. 80% paper. Given the short, intensive approach during January term, it is expected that those writing a paper will have conducted some research or other work prior to the start of the January term. Students are advised to reach out to Professor Geist to discuss.

Course Schedule (subject to change) [last updated: January 15, 2025]

January 6, 2025 – Introduction to Internet Law and Policy

 

January 14, 2025 – Digital Trade and the Digital Services Tax

• Leblond, Digital Trade: Is RCEP the WTO’s Future?
• Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce, July 2024
• Geist, Making Sense of the Digital Tax Debate

Podcast

• The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 216, Game Changer or More of the Same?: Patrick Leblond on the New Global E-commerce Agreement
• The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 210, Meredith Lilly on the Trade Risks Behind Canada’s Digital Services Tax and Mandated Streaming Payments

Guest: Senator Paula Simons

January 15, 2025 – Platform Regulation: Content

Readings:

• Keller, Build Your Own Intermediary Liability Law: A Kit for Policy Wonks of All Ages
• Kosseff, A User’s Guide to Section 230, and a Legislator’s Guide to Amending It (Or Not)
• Nunziata, The Digital Services Act and the Brussels Effect on Platform Content Moderation

Podcasts:

• The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 219, Scott Benzie on What the Corporate TikTok Ban Means for Canadian Creators

Guest: Chantal Bernier, Dentons

January 16, 2025 – Platform Regulation

Podcasts:

• The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 211, Carlos Affonso Souza on the Unprecedented Brazilian Court Order Blocking Twitter/X and VPN Use to Access the Service

Guest: Steve de Eyre, TikTok

Guest: Professor Cintia Rosa Pereira de Lima, Ribeirao Preto Faculty of Law, Sao Paolo, Brazil

January 23, 2025 – Final Paper Due