Principles of Media and Telecommunications Law

Technical and industrial environment of media and telecommunications law is fast changing. New media are arriving in masse, and various sectors are promiscuously converging. Besides, despite the phenomenal globalization in this area, different countries still retain peculiarities in their regulation systems. To avoid being drowned into this ever-changing sea of details, in this class, we will stick to basic issues of media and telecommunications law. We will discuss, for example, why freedom of expression is so important, and when and how the government should regulate activities of broadcasters. We will also consider various aspects of telecommunications regulation. We will use examples from various countries, in particular, the U.S. and Britain. In the final few weeks, we will examine how successfully these principles are introduced to Japan. Each participant will be asked to make a presentation on one or two of the listed materials.