Course Information

Course Description:

This course addresses Internet law and provides guidelines for putting existing material online, creating material specifically for the Internet, using material found on the Internet, e-commerce, and educational aspects of the Internet.  Real-world examples are used to illustrate how the rules affect businesses.  This is a three (3) hour course. Students will work on real case studies and will have discussions on what they feel should be the correct outcome based on the law as learned through this course.

Course Objectives:

Course objectives will be pursued through a combination of textbook study, on-line discussion through the use of WEBCT, student presentations of selected cases or topics, and written assignments, quizzes, and tests.  Students will participate in activities designed to enhance their abilities in communication, critical thinking, and problem solving. These objectives will relate to the Learning Goals as set out at the beginning of each chapter's Lessons.

Prerequisites and Corequisites:

Prerequisites for this course are DSPR 0800, Developmental Reading and DSPW 0700, Basic Writing or equivalent skills if the student is required to take these courses at their institution. The student must possess sufficient reading and writing skills to succeed in this course.

Course Topics:

Looking at the Contents of the textbook for this course, the student will see that this course is divided into three major Units.  A breakdown of the Units are as follows;

 Unit A, Building Blocks

Chapter 1: Copyright Law

Chapter 2: Patent, Trademark and Trade Secret Law

Chapter 3: Ownership of Copyrights

Chapter 4: Contract Law

Chapter 5: Employees

Chapter 6: Contractors and Consultants

Chapter 7: The Laws of Defamation, Publicity, and Privacy

Unit B, Creating Web Sites and Web Products

Chapter 8: Web Development Agreements

Chapter 9: Using Preexisting Works

Chapter 10: Clearing Rights and Obtaining Licenses

Chapter 11: Licensing Content: Industry by Industry

Chapter 12: Content Owner and Publisher Issues

Chapter 13: Web Products Distribution Agreements

Unit C, Web Marketing and E-Commerce Issues

Chapter 15: Choosing Names for Your Products

Chapter 16: Domain Names

Chapter 17: Privacy Policies and Procedures

Chapter 18: E-Commerce Laws

Chapter 20: Linking, Framing and Caching

Specific Course Requirements:

1. Reading and other Assignments indicated in the course Syllabus and Schedule reflect the plan for presentation of this course and the course material.  It will be followed closely.  Adjustments may, however, be made from time to time by class announcements and email from your instructor.  Each student is responsible for completing all assignment, quizzes, discussions, and Tests.  
2. This course requires work to be completed on a variety of methods including written case analysis, case discussion, homework problems, participation in exercises, quizzes and Tests.
3. Each student is expected to participate in all scheduled on-line discussions and assignments.  Group discussions will include many items that are not in the textbook.  Therefore, you must participate in order to receive the full benefit from this course.  A portion of the student's grade will come from the on-line case discussions.
4. Case Discussions will require research on the Web to formulate the student's responses.  The student will also have to cite their sources in submitting their case responses.  This will involve determining what the "current" law is concerning a topic discussed within a chapter of the textbook. Since law is "ever-changing" research will have to be current.
5. Students will have self-graded quizzes over the chapters covered in this course.  These are taken through the WebCT function and are completed through the students "home" computer.
6. There will be three proctored test for this course. The student will need to make sure that their Testing Center has the correct pass codes to access each of these three tests. (See a discussion of this by opening "Test/Quizzes" under Test/Quizzes on the menu bar.

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course.  It is located at http://rodp.bkstr.com. 

Supplementary Materials:

Access to a law dictionary is very helpful but not mandatory.  The textbook does not have a Glossary but defines legal words and concept throughout the text.

Students must have access to the Web and the Internet.

Handouts through email by your instructor.

Hardware Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. 

Software Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. A specific software requirements for this course include a word processing software (preferably Microsoft Word ®)

Instructor Information 

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

Assessment and Grading

Quizzes, Testing and Discussion Procedures:

• Quizzes are taken by the student on their "home" computer and are self-grading. Links are found on the menu bar.  The first time a student takes a quiz or test, they will need to carefully read the instructions provided.   There are 12 quizzes this semester.
• Unit Test 1, 2, and 3 are proctored and are to be taken in a Testing Center at your college or university. Check with your institution on two very important points BEFORE going to your Testing Center to take Test #1 , #2, or  #3.  First, find out if your Testing Center has received the password codes that will allow you access to Test #1, #2, and #3.  Next, plan to go to the Testing Center at least one hour before closing time and therefore, you need to know your Testing Center's hours. Testing Centers require a photo ID before administering a test. Children are not allowed in the Testing Centers.
• If you are taking this course at a distance site and cannot come to your campus for these two tests, it will be your responsibility to make arrangements for the proctored testing. You can find approved Testing Centers for the state of Tennessee at http://www.rodp.org/proctorsites.htm.  Contact your instructor to discuss the matter immediately.

Grading Procedure:

Three Test - up to 60 % of your final grade

Participation in On-line Case Studies & Research for Discussion 32%

Averages of quizzes  8 - 10%

All grading procedure is to determine that the student has mastered the material for the successful completion of this course.  High achievement in the course will be achieved by participating fully in all case studies through research of assigned topics, discussion of these cases with other students in this course, and the mastery of the course material through reading the textbook and the lesson notes prepared by the instructor. 

Grading Scale:

90-100---A, 1500 - 1350 points
80-89 --- B, 1349 - 1200 points
79-70 --- C, 1199 - 1050 points

69-60 --- D, 1049 - 900 points

Below 60 -F, 899 and below points

Assignments and Participation

Assignments and Projects:

The Calendar and Schedule on the menu bar for this course sets out all assignments along with the due dates.  Case Study Research and Discussion assignments are found within each chapter in the teachers lesson notes on the Menu Bar under Course Module, and then click on "Module, Legal Issue Module".

Class Participation:

Students must communicate with other students using the email function within WebCt.  You are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource.  You must check both the Announcements that will be posted on the Homepage and you will need to check your email each day.  Further, students must actively participate in threaded discussion concerning the assigned Case Studies Research assignments.

Punctuality:

Due dates and times for all assignments, quizzes and tests are set out on the Calendar and class Schedule on the menu bar.  Students in Web based courses often wait until the course gets going before purchasing the textbook and then ask the instructor for extra time to complete their first assignments.  You need to go ahead and purchase your textbook and begin you reading assignments since not having your textbook is NOT a good reason to get behind.  Students who have failed to be involved in the class for 2 weeks will receive a grade of F in the class for excessive absence.

Course Ground Rules

• To succeed in this course, you must read assigned chapters in the textbook. There are also self-graded quizzes over the chapter that we will be covering this semester.
• You are expected to participate and your participation is required.
• You are expected to communicate with your instructor and other students as part of the learning process.
• You must learn how to navigate in WebCT.
• You must keep current in all assignments and knowledgeable of all announcements.
• You must use WebCT for all emails so that all of your work does not get mixed with both students and instructors other emails that have nothing to do with this course.
• Your instructor may have irregular working hours like the students.  Do not assume that they stay on line all the time.  They have lives also and may be in lecture classes or in Switzerland.
• Assignments received late may not be accepted.
• There will be no make up Unit Test/exams if you miss the test/exam window.
• Address technical problems immediately.  
• Observe course netiquette at all times.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

• Always include a subject line.
• Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emotions might be helpful in some cases.
• Use standard fonts.
• Do not send large attachments without permission.
• Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
• Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussion Groups:

• Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
• Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
• Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other's ideas.
• Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
• Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
• Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
• Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Chat:

• Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
• Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
• Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
• Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
• Be constructive in your comments and suggestion

Web Resources:

• Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
• Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the left to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to their website at:

http://help.rodp.org