Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change. Instructors will notify students of any changes and students will be responsible for abiding by them. Even if you print this syllabus, please check the online version often.

Description

IST 432: Legal and Regulatory Environment of Information Science and Technology (3 credits) - New information technologies are creating a global economy heavily dependent upon networked information, hardware, software, and electronic commerce, which calls for adaptation of existing legal and business practices. In many cases, these new technologies pose problems with which existing laws or legislation are inadequate to cope, but the complexity of the environment makes new solutions elusive. This course examines the legal, regulatory, and political environment within which intellectual property rights and e-commerce in the information technology environment are evolving. These include an examination of contracting issues, licensing of information and products, data protection, patents, cyberspace regulation, and implications for personal privacy. The course also focuses on where technology is making regulation difficult by challenging previous concepts upon which our legal and regulatory systems depend.

IST 432 serves as a required course for the Information Context: People, Organizations, and Society option and as an elective for the other options in the IST major. It is also a required course for the SRA major. Additionally, it can serve as an elective for related programs in other colleges.

Prerequisites

• SRA 231 or IST 301

Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Compare and contrast the forms of business organizations and business models available in the Internet and technology sectors
• Summarize the legal process and explain how judges and lawyers use critical reasoning
• Compare, contrast, and evaluate the various types of intellectual property protections
• Apply contract and employment law principles to real-world issues in the Internet and technology sectors
• Describe applicable laws and governmental regulations relating to digital privacy, security, and computer crime

This course is organized into five units of varying length. Objectives for each unit are listed below:

• Unit 1 (Lesson 1): Business Formation and Business Models 
  • Compare and contrast the forms of business organizations (sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, etc.)
  • Explain examples of market and nonmarket innovation catalysts
  • Critique the prevailing Internet business models (free, freemium, subscription, donations, pay what you want, etc.)
  • Summarize the importance of business plans for entrepreneurs
  • Compare the roles of corporate directors, officers, and investors
  • Summarize the processes for changes in corporation ownership and exit strategies
• Unit 2 (Lessons 2 and 3): Legal Process and Critical Reasoning
  • Explain sources of American law (primarily federal and state constitutions, statutes, regulations, and common law)
  • Illustrate the interaction of and relationship between various court systems (federal and state, trial and appellate)
  • Develop case briefs based on assigned judicial opinions
  • Describe the basic steps in litigation, from the development of a dispute through the pleading, trial, and appeal processes
  • Describe jurisdictional issues that arise when business is conducted electronically, rather than face-to-face
  • Compare and contrast forms of alternative dispute resolution, including negotiation, mediation, and arbitration
• Unit 3 (Lessons 4-7): Intellectual Property
  • Describe the policy rationales underlying trademarks
  • Discuss how trademark law relates to Internet domain name disputes
  • Determine where marks fall on the trademark distinctiveness spectrum
  • Explain the constitutional basis for copyright and patent law
  • Debate the pros and cons of various scopes and exclusivity periods under copyright and patent law
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of various measures taken to protect trade secret status
• Unit 4 (Lessons 8-10): Transactional Law
  • Explain general contract law principles, including the purpose of contracts, contract formation, contract performance, breach, and contract remedies
  • Classify examples of free and open source software agreements
• Unit 5 (Lessons 11-12): Regulatory, Compliance, and Liability Issues
  • Discuss the relationship between laws and regulations
  • Identify several ways antitrust law have been applied to online activities
  • Explain the requirements for a state to obtain tax jurisdiction over an out-of-state business operating online
  • Describe various ways that governments have sought to regulate Internet content, including user-generated content
  • Describe constitutional sources of the right to privacy, and common law torts for the invasion of privacy
  • Explain the key federal laws that regulate privacy, including the GLBA, COPPA, HIPAA, and ECPA
  • Outline the key elements of a crime
  • Explain how the Internet has impacted the possibilities for and execution of criminal conduct
  • Discuss the laws under which cybercrimes may be prosecuted
  • Describe the importance of technology transfer and licensing agreements

Instructor

• TBD 

Materials

Course materials will be provided as appropriate throughout the semester. There is no need to purchase a book.

We participate in Penn State’s Student Newspaper Readership Program, through which you’ll get complimentary access to the Digital New York Times and several other newspapers. You should read the Times every day to stay abreast of current developments relating to security and risk analysis; I’ll also highlight links of interest.

If you’re interested in learning more about cyberlaw, here are some other links of interest:

• Cyberlaw Resources
  
  

Assignments & Grading

• Quizzes - 35%
• Team Emerging Trends Project (total, 30%)
• Milestone 1- 2%
• Milestone 2- 6%
• Milestone 3- 8%
• Milestone 4- 9%
• Milestone 5- 5%
• Homework- 20%
• Case Briefs- 15%

Course Grading Scale

• 93.00% and above = A
• 90.00%-92.99% = A-
• 87.00%-89.99% = B+
• 83.00%-86.99% = B
• 80.00%-82.99% = B-
• 77.00%-79.99% = C+
• 70.00%-76.99% = C
• 60.00%-69.99% = D
• less than 60.00% = F

Additional Polices Regarding Grades in IST432

• In accordance with the University policy AD11 on Confidentiality Of Student Records grades or other student records will never be provided by telephone, email, or to third parties. If you have difficulty in accessing your grades, or if you feel a recorded grade may be in error, you should contact the instructor.
• Student grades are posted in Grades, and students are responsible for monitoring grades.
• Caution: until the semester ends, Grades may “ignore” zero-grade assignments; this may result in students being presented an artificially high grade.

Assignments

Extra Credit Policy

Grade Disputes

1. The grade and assignment in question
2. Why you feel this grade was given in error
3. Your proposed solution for this grade

Late Assignment Policy

Working in Groups

• Group Assignments
• Group work is a mandatory aspect of IST432. Students will choose groups towards the beginning of group coursework and will be required to work on group assignments for the duration of the semester.
• All group members are expected to make themselves available outside of class to work on group deliverables. Each individual is expected to contribute to every deliverable, be respectful of alternative views, be considerate of others, and work collaboratively to complete tasks.
• Group Conflicts
• In the event that an issue may arise where an individual is impacting the group’s ability to complete assignments, the group must first work to resolve the issue together. If the group is unable to resolve the issue to all members’ satisfaction, the issue can then be escalated to the instructor.
• To escalate an issue, groups should provide a written explanation of the issue and a description of how the group attempted to address the problem. In the unlikely event a group member is unable to continue working in a group, that group member will be required to complete the project on his or her own.
• Individual Assignments
• In addition to teamwork, students will be required to submit individual assignments. Assignments requiring individual submissions will be noted in class and on Canvas.

General Assignment Descriptions

Quizzes

• There will be quizzes at the completion of all topic units based on material covered during each unit. Each will consist primarily of objective multiple-choice questions, but may also include true & false, short answer and/or essay questions.
• Topics discussed in the lesson readings and materials will be tested on the quizzes. Students are responsible for the material contained in all assigned readings and materials.
• The dates for unit quizzes indicated on the class schedule are subject to change; any changes will be announced and posted to the course Canvas website.
• Each quiz builds on previous course material, but is technically not "comprehensive." Unless stated otherwise, quizzes are open book and open notes.

Make-Up Quizzes

• Students typically have one-week to complete assignments, so make-up quizzes are NOT available. If an approved university excuse interferes with a student submission, a comprehensive make-up quiz will be offered finals week as an alternative. In general, the earlier a student notifies the instructor the more options are available.

Homework & Case Briefs

• As we progress through IST432, we will encounter several graded homework assignments and case-briefs that correspond with our unit topics. The instructions for each homework assignment will detail whether it is an individual or group-based assignment. 

Course Policies and Expectations

• All relevant course-related documentation and information will be posted on Canvas. It will be the primary mode of communication for this course. All necessary updates and/or changes to the course will be reflected in the online course management system. If necessary, detailed instructions on how to use the system will be reviewed.
• Logging into Canvas - Students are expected to login regularly to check for course updates, announcements, emails, discussions, etc.
• Emailing through Canvas - Students are expected to use Canvas for all course email communication.
• Attending virtual meetings - Students are expected to use specified virtual meeting tool(s) for collaboration, meetings, presentations, etc., as needed.

Contacting The Teaching Team

First: Re-read the Syllabus

General Questions 

• The Question Café is a forum on our IST432 Canvas space for general student questions. We created this forum so everyone in the class can see your question and the corresponding answer from the teaching team. If you have general questions about IST432, please try to direct these to the Question Café. Likewise, please subscribe to the Questions Café for important announcements, questions, and updates. 

Private Questions 

• Message the Entire Teaching Team via Canvas: Our course is taught via the Canvas portal. As such, you must utilize Canvas for all correspondence with the teaching team. Be sure to send your message to the entire teaching team so we are able to easily reference and respond to your messages.
• Visit Office Hours: Regular office hours for the teaching team will be announced early in the semester. Unless otherwise noted, once these office hours are announced, the teaching team will be available during this time period on a weekly basis to answer any questions or concerns you may have about IST432.

NO Legal Advice in IST432

Technical Requirements

Technical Difficulties

Academic Integrity

• Full information regarding academic integrity is found within our University Policies page
• When directed, students in our course are required to register with and submit files of written papers to Turnitin, a web-based plagiarism detection and prevention system.
• Severe Penalties: The first academic integrity violation will result in a point reduction equal to 1-1/2 times the maximum original point value of the assignment involved, increasing to 2 times on the second violation. A third violation will result in failing the course. Violations may be on the same or different assignments. Courses failed for academic violations may be noted on the student transcript. When in doubt, meet with instructors prior to submission.

University Policies

Resources

Schedule