276.1S sec. 001 - Cybersecurity Law Fundamentals (Summer 2026)
Instructor: James Xavier Dempsey (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
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Units: 1
Grading Designation: Credit Only
Meeting:
MTuWThF 2:00 PM - 3:40 PM
Location: Law 145
From July 27, 2026
To August 04, 2026
Class Number: Click to show Class Number
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 6
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 30
As of: 04/13 04:33 AM
Corporations, government agencies, and other institutions are under constant cyberattack, threatening personal privacy, corporate trade secrets, critical infrastructure, national security, and democratic processes. In response, what role does the law play? This survey course will explore the range of legal and policy questions posed when a cyberattack occurs and will consider how the law can be deployed to improve cybersecurity in advance of an attack. It will examine how the law of cybersecurity in the U.S. is a patchwork, including criminal law, data breach notification statutes, tort law and other common law theories of civil liability, administrative agency regulation and enforcement, and national security law. It will examine how standards of care are being defined for cybersecurity, including for critical infrastructure. Looking forward, it will identify major trends in U.S. cybersecurity law and explore the relationship between artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It will seek to offer insights on governance and risk management relevant to in-house counsel, private attorneys, and government officials. Given the complexity and rapid change that characterizes the field, the focus will be on U.S. law and policy. The class will meet over seven days; attendance at each session is mandatory to receive credit. There will be in-class interactive exercises, with students pre-assigned to respond. Readings will be drawn from original sources (statutes, regulations, judicial opinions, administrative agency rulings, and new articles). All materials will be made available electronically on bCourses.
Jim Dempsey has been a leading expert on privacy and Internet policy for four decades. From January 2015 through May 2021, he was executive director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (BCLT), where he helped maintain Berkeley’s #1 rating in IP law. In August 2012, after Senate confirmation, Jim was appointed by President Obama as a part-time member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent federal agency charged with advising senior policymakers and overseeing the nation’s counterterrorism programs. He served in that position until January 2017, while also leading BCLT. Before coming to Berkeley, he was at the Center for Democracy & Technology for 18 years, holding a number of leadership positions. Currently, in addition to teaching this course on cybersecurity law in the LLM program at Berkeley, Jim is Managing Director of the IAPP Cybersecurity Law Center, Senior Policy Advisor to the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance at Stanford University, and Judge on the Data Protection Review Court in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Other experience includes Deputy Director of the non-profit Center for National Security Studies, Assistant Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, legal practice as an associate at Arnold & Porter, in Washington, DC, and clerk for Judge Robert Braucher of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Jim is co-author of Cybersecurity Law Fundamentals (2d ed. IAPP, 2024), a comprehensive survey of cybersecurity law for practitioners. He writes on cybersecurity policy issues at iapp.org and LawfareMedia.com.
Exam Notes: (TH) Take-home Final Exam
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: Intellectual Property and Technology Law
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
AI Law and Regulation
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