Course Catalogue

The course gives a thorough introduction to the legal problems, which may occur in the course of the use of the internet in general and e-commerce in particular. It is focused on the view of business related activities. Based on an introduction to the infrastructure of the internet the course will analyse the major legal issues of five economically relevant sections: 1) E-Commerce & Private Law 2) Advertising for e-commerce 3) Online shops and copyright law 4) Domains Cross border e-commerce. The chapter on E-Commerce & Private Law will inter alia cover formation of contract, standard terms and conditions, consumer protection and specific problems connected to internet auctions and mobile commerce. Advertising for e-commerce will take a look at rules of unfair competition, required imprint information, the ban on spamming, specific requirements for sales of pharmaceutical products via the internet and, of course, on ad-words. Further the liability under tele media law, for hyperlinks, hotspot operators and for user generated content will be an important issue. The section on copyright law and online shops will focus on copyright restrictions for the presentation of content (including file sharing and streaming) and will take a look on the protection of content and websites. The section on domains will explain the domain name system and its implications on trademark law and unfair competition law. It will also look at the possibilities to protect a domain as trademark. Finally and the legal consequences of infringement will be covered.