Objectives and competences
The purpose of this course is to explore a number of legal issues (and associated cultural and social issues) which are related to the digital economy. The first half of the course considers horizontal substantive legal issues related to digital economy, while the second half explores legal aspects o specific forms of business models and technological concepts related to digital economy. The focus of the course is upon the EU regulation in this field, while following Slovenian implementing regulation, as well as taking into consideration comparative developments in other jurisdictions, primarily in the USA.
Content (Syllabus outline)
I: Introduction:
- Basic concepts: digital technology, digital economy, digital goods, digital services, fourth industrial revolution, servitization of manufacturing;
- Access-based consumption;
- Internal market and digital single market of the EU;
II. General part:
- Institutional aspects of regulating digital economy (regulation at EU level, at national level, self-regulation);
- EU industrial policy and national digital strategies;
- Digital goods as a category of goods or services on the EU market;
- VAT treatment of digital content in the EU;
- »Free services« as a new form of market goods;
- Fundamental rights in the digital economy;
- Competition law and digital economy;
- Consumer protection and digital economy;
- Environmental protection and digital economy;
- Workers and digital economy;
- Intellectual property in digital economy;
- Legal aspects of price discrimination on single market (geo-blocking);
III. Specific part:
- Legal aspects of sharing (collaborative) economy (Uber, AirBnb, crowdfunding);
- Legal aspects of electronic commerce;
- Legal aspects of internet of things
- Legal aspects of 3D printing
- Legal aspects of eHealth
- Legal aspects of cloud manufacturing
- Legal aspects of Big Data
- Legal aspects of autonomous cars and drones.
Learning and teaching methods
- Lectures.
- Seminars.
- Tutorials.
- Individual work.
Intended learning outcomes - knowledge and understanding
On completion of this course, the student will have:
- a deeper knowledge of debates on the regulation of the digital economy, including where control is exercised and the role of different institutions (including supranational and intergovernmental organisations);
- an appreciation of the differences between technology-specific forms of regulation and laws of general application;
- the vindication of fundamental rights in a context of technological change and rapid economic development.
The course provides students with coherent and specialist training in one of the most rapidly developing areas of law. With its focus on the supranational, international and comparative aspects of law related to the digital economy, the course provides basic understanding of contemporary developments in the field of digital economy for various profiles of students, not only lawyers, but also students of business and economy, medicine, engineers, natural sciences and other fields of studies that are affected by the development of the digitalisation of economy.
Readings
• Damjan (ur.), Pravo v informacijski družbi, GV založba, Ljubljana 2014
• Hojnik, Servitization of industry: EU law implications and challenges. Common Market Law Review, 2016, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 1-50.
• Hojnik, Technology neutral EU law : digital goods within the traditional goods/services distinction. International journal of law and information technology, 2016, [22] pp., doi:10.1093/ijlit/eaw009
• Hatzopoulos, Roma, Caring for sharing? Collaborative economy under EU law, (2017) Common Market Law Review, vol. 54, no. 1.
• Osborn, ‘Regulating Three-Dimensional Printing: The Converging Worlds of Bits and Atoms’ (2014) 51 San Diego L. Rev. 553.
• Rotman, ‘How Technology Is Destroying Jobs’ (2013) 16 Technology Rev. 28.
• Bräutigam in Klindt, Digitalisierte Wirtschaft/Industrie 4.0, November 2015.
• Bryce and others, ‘Competing Against Free’ (2011) 89 Harvard Business Rev. 104
• Polonetsky and Tene, ‘Privacy in the Age of Big Data: A Time for Big Decisions’ (2012) 64 Stanford L. Rev. Online 63.
• Peppet, ‘Regulating the Internet of Things: First Steps Toward Managing Discrimination, Privacy, Security, and Consent’ 93 Texas L. Rev. 85, 133;
• Tran, ‘The Internet of Things and Potential Remedies in Privacy Tort Law’ (2016) SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 2769675.
• Au, ‘Anticompetitive Tying and Bundling Arrangements in the Smartphone Industry’ [2012] Stanford Technology L. Rev. 188.
• Schellekens, ‘Self-Driving Cars and the Chilling Effect of Liability Law’ (2015) 31 Computer Law & Security Rev.: The Int. J. of Technology Law and Practice 506.
Prerequisits
No prerequisits.
Additional information on implementation and assessment Active participation at lectures and seminars.
Written research work, presented at tutorials.
