Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
226.4 sec. 1 - Internet and Communications Law (Spring 2027)
Instructor: Tejas N Narechania (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 4
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
MTuW 10:00 AM - 11:10 AM
Location: Law 140
From January 11, 2027
To April 27, 2027
Course End: April 27, 2027
Class Number: 33200
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 0
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 68
As of: 10/28 03:05 PM
The Internet and communications industries are among the largest and most influential sectors of the economy. They are also the site of one of the United States’ most complex legal regimes, blending questions of administrative law, antitrust law, and constitutional law (from free speech to federalism), among others. As artificial intelligence services reshape the digital economy, how, if at all, should we regulate them? How should we regulate the content moderation practices of large platforms? Should Internet service providers have to comply with net neutrality rules? When should communications infrastructure be regulated, and when should it be left to private markets?
This course, formerly titled “Regulated Digital Industries,” traces these questions up the technological “stack” — from the physical infrastructure of telephone, cable, and wireless networks, to broadband Internet access, to the content, applications, and platforms built atop them. And so our study will proceed chronologically, beginning with early communications regulation and ending with emerging technologies, such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Along the way, we'll see how yesterday's regulatory solutions shape — and sometimes distort — modern domestic policy, asking how to best regulate our modern digital industries. The answers to these questions determine who can access the Internet, who controls the pipes and platforms that carry our speech and commerce, and how far government may reach in regulating both. More fundamentally, they implicate matters of economic efficiency, distributive fairness, monopoly power, access and representation, and the structure of government itself.
Exam Notes: (F) In-person Final Exam
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Exam Length: 4 hours
Course Category: Intellectual Property and Technology Law
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