1. Identify, describe and explain key statutory, policy and common law provisions relevant to E-Commerce law.

Knowledge and understanding

2. Analyse, interpret and evaluate legal and policy provisions relevant to an area of E-Commerce practice and law.

Knowledge and understanding,

Learning

Analysis and Application

3. Identify, select and deploy a range of appropriate primary and secondary resources drawn from Law, Business and other relevant fields.

Knowledge and Understanding

Enquiry

Coursework - Written assignment weighted at 100% assessing learning outcomes 1, 2, 3.

In preparation for the summative assessment, students will have the opportunity to complete a formative assessment, in the form of a short academic task. Students undertaking the formative assessment will receive written feedback on their performance and will have the opportunity to arrange an online feedback session with the module tutor. Completing the formative assignment will contribute to improving students’ skills in research, critical analysis & academic writing.

This module introduces students to the E-Commerce Law contextualised to the contemporary digital environments. Indicative content includes:

1. Foundation of E-Commerce Law: sources and jurisdiction.


2. Laws relating to electronic contracts: Formation of electronic contracts, contractual terms, communicating offer/acceptance, electronic signatures. Electronic/online payments and cryptocurrency.



3. Digital content and intellectual property rights: copyright in computer software, digital creativity & copyright, copyright infringement in digital world, database rights.


4. Consumer Protection: consumer rights in distance and online selling, regulation of spam, consumer rights act 2015, digital content, enforcement of consumer protection legislation.

The contemporary business world around us is constantly being subjected to digitalisation. E-commerce law is the cornerstone of the commercial sector. This module provides understanding of the key legal issues which underpin the development of e-Commerce. The students will learn about selection of issues relevant to the development of e-commerce. This module deals with E-Commerce Law from both consumer and intellectual property perspective. This module emphasises on developing research skills by incorporating a wide range of resources, including state publications, EU Law and international law.

The majority of learning materials will be presented online asynchronously organised as a series of weekly topics. Students will be encouraged to follow the weekly schedule where this is possible. Three synchronous online webinars will be held to provide opportunities for live interaction between students and lecturer, to cover an introduction to the module and learning expectations, an assessment guidance session, and a consolidation session prior to the assessment date. These sessions will be recorded for the benefit of students who are unable to attend at the scheduled time.

The online learning materials will be organised as a range of short activities for each topic. Instant feedback will be provided where appropriate on computer-aided tests of knowledge. Summaries and explanations of applied tasks will be available, allowing students to assess their progress against suggested answers.

Tutor-student and peer interaction will be facilitated through the use of collaborative online learning spaces. Students will be able to post questions and queries as they reflect on their own developing understanding of the key subject concepts.

The guided learning will incorporate a mixture of activities, some of which will require group work and electronic interaction. The learning will be facilitated by use of the VLE platform and discussions/interactions between students and tutors.

Students will be expected to be familiar with contemporary discussions in this area of law, and to bring a range of ideas to bear on the discussions. Thus, although there will be a framework of knowledge and understanding, students will be actively, rather than passively, engaged in the process of both learning about, and increasing understanding of, the subject matter.

Murray, Andrew.¿Information technology law: the law and society. 4th Edition. Oxford University Press, 2019. (on Law Trove)

Todd, Paul. E-commerce Law. Routledge-Cavendish, 2017.

Lloyd, Ian J. Information technology law. Oxford University Press, 2017. (on Law Trove)

Textbooks/e-text

VLE

Westlaw/Lexis Nexis/Law Trove