Course Descriptions

SPACE LAW

National Security Space Law (Law 747)(1 credit hour) Course will address the national security and military aspects of space law and policy, including arms control, intelligence gathering, weaponization, rules on use of force as applied to space activities, and security and risk of space assets. Students enrolled in this course will obtain priority seating and access at the major space law conference held May 1-3, 2008 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Von Der Dunk, Fall 2008)

Space Law (Law 748/G) (2 credit hours) Course will provide a basic overview of space law with primary emphasis on the civilian and commercial dimensions of space law and policy (including civilian government space, satellite launch, insurance, space tourism, remote sensing, and space traffic management). Course coverage will include the five major international treaties dealing directly with space (the Outer Space Treaty, Liability Convention, Registration Convention, Rescue and Return Agreement, and Moon Treaty) and the application of these Cold-War era treaties to modern space activities, “soft law” instruments attempting to regulate space, U.S. national legislation addressing space issues, as well as the mechanisms for the creation and negotiation of international space law, including the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, to address new or growing problems such as orbital debris. The course will include guest lecturers from the military and private sector. (Von Der Dunk, Fall 2008)

National Space Legislation (1 credit hour) In view especially of the increasing commercialization and privatization of space activities and their applications there is an increasing need at the national level to implement the international space treaties and some other international space law, notably by means of the establishment of national space legislation, including licensing regimes dealing for example with liability issues, or other control mechanisms. Thus, the course will discuss the various ways in which countries across the world have chosen, or are choosing, to implement relevant international requirements as well as to assert national space policies by means of such national law. A prominent place in this context will be taken by discussion of national US law on such activities as satellite communications, satellite remote sensing and space tourism. This course is only open to those that have followed the Space law class of the first semester. (Von Der Dunk, Spring 2009)

European Regulation of Space and Telecommunications (1 credit hour) This course deals with two inter-related topics. The first relates to the interaction between the EC/EU and the European Space Agency in particular in the development of European space activities and policies, with due attention to such other players as EUTELSAT and EUMETSAT, up to and including the discussions on their institutional integration. Also the development of such trans-European space projects as Galileo and the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (G0ES) project will pass scrutiny. The second deals with the way in which the EC has, since roughly 20 years, started to apply its general legislative and regulatory competencies in the area of the most prominent sector of commercial space which is satellite communications, as a key are within the larger area of telecommunications. Here, the gradual development of an Internal Market for satcom services will provide the focal point. This course is only open to those that have taken the Introduction into EC law. (Von Der Dunk, Spring 2009)

Introduction into EC Law (1 credit hour) This course will provide an overview of the development of European Community law from the origins of the EEC, right through the latest developments such as the establishment of the European Union and the current transition from the failed Constitutional Treaty to the new Reform Treaty. In doing so, the unique character of the EC/EU as a half-way house between a classical intergovernmental organization and a federal state will be explained, as well as the respective roles of the Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice in the process of law-making - Regulations, Directives and Decisions - at the European level. Major substantive elements of EC law, such as the freedom of movement of goods, services, person and capital and the competition regime will also be briefly discussed. The course is open to anyone interested in a fundamental understanding of EC law, whether with a view to space activities or more broadly speaking. (Von Der Dunk, Spring 2009)

U.S. Military Space Law (Law 787) (1 credit hour) This course examines U.S. and international laws regarding the employment of U.S. military space systems. Specific topics include rules governing the authorities of the military services and combatant commanders under the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the authorities of the intelligence community including recent changes after the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, the laws of armed conflict as applied t space operations, intelligent oversight, support for domestic military operations, procurement of space systems, and military support for commercial and foreign entities. (Huskisson, Spring 2009)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & CYBER LAW

Cyberlaw (Law 681/G) (3 credit hours) This course will focus on regulation of the internet and, to a lesser extent, how the internet changes regulation. Laws regulating the internet include those regulating the physical wires and airwaves, including “network neutrality” policies, local franchising rules, spectrum policies, and universal service rules. Other laws regulate content, such as intellectual property, indecency, and spam laws. Yet others regulate software, such as “good” software through standard-setting, patents, and licenses supporting open source, or “bad” software like spyware, malware, and viruses. In addressing how the internet affects regulation, the course will explore international and national jurisdictional issues, how nations control, or are unable to control, theirs citizens’ use of the internet, as well as cyber terrorism and cyber warfare. Course themes include how cyberlaw affects core civil rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, and privacy. The course also addressed the heavily debated theoretical question of whether the internet’s decentralized communications structure fosters or undermines greater deliberative democracy and individual freedom. Grade based on 5-10 page reaction paper. (Ammori, spring 2009)

Domestic Telecommunications Law (Law 726/G) (3 credit hours) This course addresses the legal framework applied in the United States to most wireline and wireless communications (other than the internet, which is addressed in the Cyberlaw Course). The covered media include cable television, landline telephone, broadcast and satellite radio and television, and mobile technologies. The course will explore the economic, technological, national security, and statutory and constitutional issues that have shaped these media, as well as how these “persistent” issues have evolved over time. We will explore the current policy and academic debates, including spectrum policy and frameworks for regulating similar services offered by different media platforms. We will place particular emphasis on the pervasive role of law, and how the media we use have been fundamentally shaped by legal decisions. More broadly, we explore how law affects the distribution of political and economic power in the U.S. by determining who can speak to whom, for what purpose. (Ammori, Fall 2008)

International Telecommunications Law (3 credit hours). This course will focus on national and international regimes for regulating telecommunications and media communications by wire (cable, phone, and fiber) and by air (satellite, broadcast, wireless). The course will introduce students to the international lawmaking through the International Telecommunications Union and World Trade Organization, including international allocation of spectrum for wireless services and orbital slots for satellites, as well as certain International copyright/broadcasting issues and issues surrounding submarine cables. We will discuss jurisdiction among different international and national bodies and conflicts among nation states. We will also explore historical regulation and how the convergence between telephone, television, and computer services can upset existing regulatory apparatuses. To a lesser degree, we will engage in comparative analysis of different nations' communications policies. We will explore how the United States addresses global communications issues, including through the FCC's International Bureau and through NTIA, and will consider some domestic US regulation limiting and setting a framework for foreign involvement in certain communications industries within the US. (Ammori, Spring 2009)

Spectrum Management Law and Policy (Law 724) (1-3 credits) This course will cover the basic governing law and the policy behind the primary spectrum management debates. It will include coverage of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)/NTIA split jurisdiction over spectrum, Title III of the Communications Act, licensing issues including auctions, licensed v. unlicensed activities, cognitive radion and special spectrum considerations behind broadcast and satellite. (Spring 2009, Fred Campbell)

OTHER RELATED COURSES

International Law (Law 640/G) (3 credit hours) This course explores issues of public and private international law with an emphasis on public international law. Specific topics covered include the nature and sources of international law rules related to making and interpreting treaties, the relationship of international law to U.S. domestic law, how international law enters the U.S. courts, limits on a nation’s ability to legislate and enforce laws outside its territory, immunity of foreign nations and their enterprises from jurisdiction of another nation’s courts, methods of international dispute settlement (from the World Court to private commercial arbitration), rules relating to the treatment of another nation’s citizens (e.g. protection of investments from expropriation ) and rules regarding the use of military force as well as tribunals for war crimes (such as the international criminal court)(Schaefer, Fall 2008)

Administrative Law (Law 633/G) (3 credit hours) The origin and growth of the administrative process, the develop¬ment of administrative law and its impact upon traditional legal institutions, analysis of the types of federal and state adminis¬trative tribunals, their powers and functions, problems of administrative procedure, judicial and other controls upon the administrative process, special vertical studies of selected state and federal agencies. (Shavers)

Electronic Commerce (Law 613) (3 credit hours) This course will study a variety of issues arising in electronic commerce. The issues in the course fall within three broad areas. First, we will examine some of the basic practices for setting up a business in cyberspace and consider issues related to protecting commercial identity online. Second, we will consider privacy issues associated with the online environment. Finally, we will examine the application of various legal in the online environment including, the laws governing the sale of goods, payments, secured transactions, licensing, taxation and jurisdiction. A variety of state, federal and international legislation and directives will be considered including: the Communications Decency Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the USA Patriot Act of 2001, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, digital signature statutes and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. There are no prerequisites for the course. Participation on UNL’s Blackboard will be required. (Wilson)

International Trade Law (Law 671/G) (3 credit hours) This course explores government regulation of international trade and the interaction between national and international rules governing trade. Specific topics covered include U.S. constitutional issues regarding the regulation of trade by the U.S. federal and state governments, regulations regarding the importation of goods into the United States (e.g. classifying, valuing, and determining the origin of imported goods), barriers to U.S. exports, rules of the GATT and NAFTA that seek to eliminate or limit such barriers, U.S. unfair trade laws (i.e. laws designed to protect U.S. businesses from imports that have an “unfair” advantage), and the institutional and dispute settlement rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A visitor from the Washington D.C. trade policy community may be invited to speak. Past speakers include: U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel and Ben Nelson, Congressman Doug Bereuter and the Honorable Abner Mikva.

American Foreign Affairs Law & Policy Seminar (Law 750/G) (3 credit hours) This seminar will explore structural/organizational issues (e.g., separation of powers, federalism) related to U.S. foreign policymaking as well as U.S. foreign policy in a number of substantive areas, such as the war on terror, non-proliferation, trade, space and telecommunications, foreign aid, global warming, relations with the European Union, relations with Latin America, etc. Previous enrollment in an international law course, although not required, will be useful background for students in the seminar.(Schaefer)(Enrollment Limit – 12; Professor Often Increases Limit at His Discretion to 16)(Will be offered during 2008-09 academic year)

International Business Transactions (Law 673/G) (3 credit hours) This course primarily covers the private contractual aspects of international trade and some public (government regulation) aspects as well. Specific topics covered include the role of counsel in international business, international sales contracts and the Convention on the International Sale of Goods, use of distributors and agents, investing overseas, private international dispute resolution, choice of forum and choice of law clauses, international commercial arbitration, enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, extraterritorial legislation, responses to fairly and unfairly traded imports, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. (Schaefer)