The Catholic University of America
Columbus School of Law
CYBERLAW 2000
Professor Susanna Fischer
COURSE OUTLINE
Welcome to Cyberlaw! The goals of this course are the following:
1. To introduce you to some of the most important aspects of this fast-developing area of law.
2. To improve your writing skills by the preparation of a Qualifying Paper in close consultation with myself as supervising instructor. The required work for the Qualifying Paper includes development of a topic, preparation of an outline/source list, preparation of two drafts, and preparation of a final paper.
3. To improve your editing skills by editing one draft of another student's Qualifying Paper.
4. To improve your legal research skills, particularly in connection with Internet resources, by downloading readings from the World Wide Web and by using Web materials to prepare a reading assignment for one class. Most of the course reading materials are electronic.
5. To improve your oral presentation skills by making a short presentation at one class meeting.
A. Course Materials
Please see the Cyberlaw Home Page for general information about course materials. Here are links to the Course Syllabus:
Cyberlaw Syllabus Part I (Weeks One-Three) (1/10/00-1/28/00)
Cyberlaw Syllabus Part II (Weeks Four-Five) (1/31/00-2/11/00)
Cyberlaw Syllabus Part III (Weeks Six-Seven) (2/14/00-2/25/00)
Cyberlaw Syllabus Part IV (Weeks Eight-Ten) (2/28/00-3/24/00)
Cyberlaw Syllabus Part V (Weeks Eleven-Twelve) (3/27/00-4/7/00)
Cyberlaw Syllabus Part VI (Weeks Thirteen-Fifteen) (4/10/00-4/28/00)
B. Attendance
This is not an entirely virtual class, and physical attendance is mandatory. This law school's Academic Rules (in the CUA Announcements) provide that "[r]egular and punctual attendance at class meetings or equivalent course exercises is a condition of receiving credit in all courses." (See Academic Rules V.1) You will be required to sign in at every class to record your attendance. If you fail to sign in, I will regard you as absent. Please be aware that if you miss "more than two hours of course work for each credit hour assigned to the course" (which I calculate to be 6 classes), you may be excluded from the course. (See Academic Rules V.1)
I also expect you to be on time for every class. Tardy students are highly distracting to the rest of the class. I reserve the right to treat late arrival as if you were absent from the class.
C. Class Participation
I expect all students to be prepared for all class sessions and will therefore feel free to call on students randomly. This applies even when I ask some students to be Class Mavens (see D below) or otherwise to bear primary responsibility for initiating discussion on particular material -- such requests will not exclude others from being randomly called on for further discussion or elaboration of that same material. Nor does the fact that you have recently been called on immunize you from potentially being called on again during the same class period.
In rare instances, your class participation can affect your final course grade, either adversely or favorably. (See Academic Rules V.3) Please bear in mind that my standard of excellence for class participation is not based on quantity, but rather quality.
In the small seminar setting of this course, which emphasizes learning through discussion, you must learn to tolerate and appreciate each of your classmates. Please realize that you can learn a great deal from listening to each other. Many of your classmates' backgrounds or particular skills may help you to see things in a way that you could not by yourself.
You should exercise consideration for your classmates by carefully assessing your own behavior in class. Try to view yourself objectively. Are you talking too much and monopolizing the discussion? If so, refrain from talking for a while to let someone else have a chance. If, on the other hand, you have been too silent and passive in class, please make the effort to volunteer to speak. Rest assured that, even if you are concerned that your comment or question will be regarded as stupid, someone else in the class will thank you for raising the issue.
D. Class Maven
Each student is required to act as Class Maven for one class. (Maven is a Yiddish word meaning "expert" or "really knowledgeable person.") As Class Maven, you must assist with preparing the reading assignment for one class and also present a short (15 minute) presentation on the topic to be covered in that class. Following your presentation, there will be a class discussion.
At the first class you will be provided with a list of topics to be covered at Class Maven classes as well as possible dates for Class Maven classes. If you have any questions about the nature of a particular topic, please e-mail me at: fischer@law.edu
At class on Wednesday, January 12, you must hand in to me a brief statement of the following:
1. Your top three choices for Class Maven topics, labeled (1) as your top preference to (3) your third choice of preference. Please indicate, briefly, why these are your preferences.
2. Any dates (maximum 2) on which you will be unavailable to act as Class Maven. Please note that once the date for your Class Maven class has been finally selected, I will only permit you to reschedule in truly exceptional circumstances. I may consult the Academic Dean's office to assist me in determining whether such exceptional circumstances exist.
3. Based on your collective preferences, I will allocate Class Maven topics and dates and will distribute these at class on Friday, January 14. I will do my best to accommodate your preferences, but I make no guarantees as to whether I will be able to do so.
Your presentation as Class Maven may be a lecture or an interactive class of some kind. Creativity is encouraged, as long as you stick to the basic idea of teaching your colleagues about the class topic.
Each Class Maven is required to e-mail me a list of proposed reading assignments (including accurate URLs - please use a cut and paste function to ensure accuracy) no later than 10 days prior to the class at which you are acting as Class Maven. I will send a confirmation within a reasonable time that your reading assignment is approved. If I do not approve your assignment, you must make an appointment to see me within the next 1-3 days so that we can finalize the reading assignment for your Class Maven class. I will do my best to use your selections as the reading assignment, but I will make the final determination as to what the reading assignment will be for each class. Even if I do not approve your selections, I will generally include them as recommended reading. Reading assignments will be posted on the online Course Syllabus no later than 5 days prior to the class for which they have been assigned.
Most of your Class Maven reading assignments should be downloadable from the Web. Occasionally, there may be a good reason for using other outside sources. However, you may not distribute any copyrighted material to the class without my prior approval since there may be copyright infringement risks. If you are in doubt as to what is "copyrighted material" please consult me.
How long should your required Class Maven reading assignment be? In my opinion, the required reading assignment for one class should be approximately 30-40 conventional book pages. Because Web materials are not generally edited like materials in law school casebooks (a notable exception being the online casebook at http://www.cyberspacelaw.org), you will have to include in your proposed list of reading assignments information as to what sections of a Web based document must be read carefully.
I hope that you will also propose URLs for recommended reading. We can include these on the Course Syllabus so that if your fellow students find a topic particularly interesting, they will have a useful list of resources at their fingertips.
If you want to use any audiovisual aids for your presentation (Power Point, overhead projector, etc.) please make sure that you e-mail me about this and/or discuss this with me well ahead of time (i.e. at least 48 hours, weekends excluded) so that we can arrange to have the necessary technology present. Greg Stack in the library is a helpful resource for information about audiovisual technology in the classroom.
E. Listserv and Threaded Discussion Forum
During the first class, you will be asked to fill out a card giving your preferred e-mail address. This will be added to a class listserv to enable e-mail messages to be sent to all members of the class. I will expect you to check your e-mail regularly (i.e. every weekday). If your e-mail address changes, it is your responsibility to send an update to me at fischer@law.edu
An online threaded discussion group has been created as a forum for posting questions and comments relating to cyberlaw. Follow this link to access the threaded discussion forum: http://home.cua.edu/forums/forum.cfm?ID=1
F. Qualifying Paper
Your final course grade will be based primarily on the production of a qualifying course paper on some aspect of cyberlaw.
Paper length is to be 20-25 pages. Papers/drafts may not exceed 25 pages without my prior approval.
The topic must be approved by me. The deadline for submission of topics is Monday, January 24 at 5:00 p.m. A brief statement of your proposed topic should be submitted to me by e-mail by that deadline. During the week before topic submission, you will be required to sign up for an appointment with me during the week of January 24 to discuss your topic submission. You must attend this appointment once it has been scheduled, unless you obtain my prior, written (or e-mailed) permission to reschedule. I may approve your topic submission at this meeting. If I do not, you may be required to submit an amended topic and/or attend further meetings with me until I approve your topic.
A typed outline, including a list of at least 10 major sources in Bluebook citation form, is due on Monday, February 14. The outline should be handed in to me in class. During the week prior to outline submission, you will be required to sign up for an appointment with me during the week of February 14 to discuss your outline. You must attend this appointment once it has been scheduled, unless you obtain my prior, written (or e-mailed) permission to reschedule.
You are required to prepare a first draft of your paper by March 20. In class on March 20, you must give your first draft to another student in the class who has been randomly selected (more information will be provided on the selection process and timing) to edit your paper and you will receive from another student a first draft to edit. If the student whose paper you are supposed to edit is absent from class on March 20 and/or you must be absent, you should make sure that you leave a copy of your paper in the relevant student's mailbox by 5:00 p.m. on March 20. The first drafts must be edited by Monday, March 27. You must submit a copy of your first draft with original edits to me in class on Monday, March 27. I will not grade the first draft or the edits, but will simply note whether the first draft has been completed and the editing has been done. If you fail to complete the first draft on time and/or fail to edit your fellow student's first draft by the due date (unless that student has failed to supply you with a first draft by the due date, in which case you must make an appointment to come to see me to discuss what to do), I may reduce your final grade for the paper.
A second draft of the paper is due on April 10. The second draft should be handed in to me at class on April 10. It should be handed in to me in class. During the week prior to submission of the second draft, you be required to sign up for an appointment with me during the week of April 10 to discuss your second draft. You must attend this appointment once it has been scheduled, unless you obtain my prior written (or e-mailed) permission to reschedule.
The final draft of the paper is due on May 5 by 5:00 p.m. Instructions will be provided later as to where to deliver this paper.
All paper drafts and the final paper must be typed on white 8.5 by 11 inch paper and must be double-spaced. You must leave at least a 1" margin on the left hand side of the page. You should use footnotes, not endnotes. All citations should be in proper Bluebook form. If you have any questions on the format of the paper, please e-mail me at fischer@law.edu
If you must be absent from a class at which you are required to hand in an outline or draft, you must obtain my prior written permission (e-mail is acceptable) to hand the outline or draft elsewhere. If a true emergency prevents you from obtaining my prior written permission, you must come to see me to discuss the situation and/or you must contact the Academic Dean's office.
G. Grading
Your service as Class Maven counts, cumulatively, for 25% of your grade (including your class presentation and preparation of the Class Maven class reading assignments).
All required work on your paper counts, cumulatively, for 75% of your total course grade. The work is graded as follows:
Topic: 5%
Outline: 10%
First Draft: 0% (unless not completed within due date without my written permission, in which case your final course grade may be reduced)
First Draft Edit: 0% (unless not completed within due date without my written permission, in which case your final course grade may be reduced)
Second Draft: 20%
Final Paper: 40%
Late topics, outlines, drafts and/or final papers will not be accepted, in the absence of truly exceptional circumstances. I may consult the Academic Dean's office to assist me in determining whether such circumstances exist. Thus, if, for example, a second draft is not handed in by the deadline without my prior written permission, you will be awarded a grade of 0 for your first draft which will thus result in an automatic deduction of 20% of your final possible course grade.
H. Finding Me
My office is located on the fourth floor of the law school and is room number 412. My office telephone number is 202-319-5568, and my e-mail address is fischer@law.edu.
My office hours are on Monday from 2:00-3:00 and Wednesday from 4:30-5:30. You can sign up for a specific appointment by telephoning or e-mailing me, or with the faculty receptionist on the fourth floor, or you can drop by and take your chances. I will be available at other times: please schedule an appointment outside of my office hours either by telephone or e-mail.
I. Prohibition of Tape or Video Recording
I do not authorize any tape or video recording of my classes by or on behalf of any student in this course.