Chevron Left
Back to Internet Giants: The Law and Economics of Media Platforms

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Internet Giants: The Law and Economics of Media Platforms by The University of Chicago

4.8
stars
1,092 ratings

About the Course

This seven-week course will explore the relationship between law and technology with a strong focus on the law of the United States with some comparisons to laws around the world, especially in Europe. Tech progress is an important source of economic growth and raises broader questions about the human condition, including how culture evolves and who controls that evolution. Technology also matters in countless other ways as it often establishes the framework in which governments interact with their citizens, both in allowing speech and blocking it and in establishing exactly what the boundaries are between private life and the government. And technology itself is powerfully shaped by the laws that apply in areas as diverse as copyright, antitrust, patents, privacy, speech law and the regulation of networks. The course will explore seven topics: 1. Microsoft: The Desktop vs. The Internet. We will start with a look at the technology path that led to the first personal computer in early 1975, the Altair 8800. That path starts with the vacuum tube, moves to transistors, then to integrated circuits and finally to the microprocessor. We will look at the early days of software on the personal computer and the competition between selling software and open-source approaches as well as the problem of software piracy. We will discus the public good nature of software. The 1981 launch of the IBM PC revolutionized the personal computer market and started the path to Microsoft's powerful position and eventual monopoly in that market with the selection of MS-DOS. We then turn to four antitrust cases against Microsoft: (1) the 1994 U.S. case relating to MS-DOS licensing practices; (2) the U.S. antitrust middleware case over Microsoft’s response to Netscape Navigator; (3) the European Union case regarding Windows Media Player; and (4) the EU browser case over Internet Explorer. These disputes arose at the point of maximal competition between the free-standing personal computer and the Internet world that would come after it and we may know enough now to assess how these cases influenced that competition. 2. Google Emerges (and the World Responds). Google has emerged as one of the dominant platforms of the Internet era and that has led to corresponding scrutiny by regulators throughout the world. Decisions that Google makes about its algorithm can be life altering. Individuals are finding it more difficult to put away past mistakes, as Google never forgets, and businesses can find that their sales plummet if Google moves them from the first page of search results to a later page. With great power comes scrutiny and we will look at how government regulators have evaluated how Google has exercised its power. Both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Union have undertaken substantial investigations of Google’s practices and we will look at both of those. 3. Smartphones. The Internet started on the desktop but the Internet is increasingly mobile and people are seemingly tethered to their smartphones and tablets. And we have seen an interesting shift in that market away from Nokia handsets and the Blackberry to Apple's iPhone and its iOS platform and to the Android platform. The legal infrastructure of smartphones and tablets is extraordinarily complex. We will start by looking at U.S. spectrum policy and the effort to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum. We will look at the activities of standard setting organizations, including the IEEE and the creation of the 802.11 standard and Wi-Fi (or, if you prefer, wifi), the creation of patent pools and the regulation of standard essential patents. We will look at the FTC action against Google/Motorola Mobility and Apple's lawsuit against Samsung over utility and design patents relating to the iPhone. Finally, we will take a brief look at the European Commission's investigation into the Android platform. 4. Nondiscrimination and Network Neutrality. Facebook has more than 1 billion users and measure that against a world population of roughly 7 billion and a total number of Internet users of roughly 2.5 billion. A course on law and technology simply has to grapple with the basic framework for regulating the Internet and a key idea there is the notion of network neutrality. Nondiscrimination obligations are frequent in regulated network industries, but at the same, discrimination can be an important tool of design for communication networks. We will start our look at the Internet by looking at the great first communications network of the United States, the post office and will look in particular at the Post Office Act of 1845. We will then move to modern times and will consider efforts by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to produce sensible and sustainable nondiscrimination conditions for the Internet and will touch briefly on comparisons from around the world. 5. The Day the Music Died? In many ways, the Internet came first to music with the rise of peer-to-peer (p2p) music sharing through Napster and its successors. We start with a look into music platform history and the devices that brought recorded music into the home: the phonograph and the player piano. We turn to radio and the legal regime that puts music on the airwaves, the performing rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI. We look at the antitrust issues associated with the blanket license. We consider a failed music platform, digital audio tape, and the complicated legal regime associated with it, the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. We will consider the copyright issues raised by the creation and distribution of music and the litigation over the p2p technologies such as Napster and Grokster. The music industry responded to p2p technology by adding digital rights management tools to CDs. As music distribution switched from physical media to digital distribution, we entered the world of Apple and the iPod and iTunes. We consider the DRM issues associated with Apple's music platform as seen by Steve Jobs. We conclude by looking at emerging subscription services like Spotify and the service that Apple is building based on its purchase of Beats. 6. Video: Listening and Watching. Images are some of the most powerful ways in which ideas and speech are communicated and video has long been regulated by the state. That starts as a communications law issue with government regulation of the radio spectrum, but also leads to the design of the television system with the assignment of channels and eventually the definition of digital television. And with the emergence first of cable TV and subsequently the VCR critical copyright roadblocks had to be overcome for new distribution technologies to emerge. We will consider the legal engineering that led to the DVD platform, which was an exercise in patent pools and trademark creation. We will sort through the creation of the digital TV platform and will also look at the copyright underpinnings for Netflix. And we will consider the question of technology neutrality in the content of the copyright fight over a new video distribution entrant, Aereo. Finally, we close the week with a brief look at the incentive spectrum auctions and the possible end of broadcast television. 7. The Mediated Book. Gutenberg revolutionized books with his printing press and for academics, books are sacred objects. But the printed book is on the run and with the rise of the ebook, we are entering a new era, the era of the mediated book. This is more than just a change in technology. We will look at the issues created by the rise of the ebook, issues about control over content and licensing and of the privacy of thought itself. We will also look at the legal skirmishes over this space, including the copyright fair use litigation over Google Books, the Apple e-book antitrust case. And we will look at the Amazon Kindle platform....

Top reviews

NA

Apr 17, 2022

This course provided the background knowledge I needed on the Internet Giants and how they came to be so. Thank you Randy and all the people who worked behind the scenes to deliver this to us.

DC

Feb 4, 2017

It was really really cool, I learnt a lot, the readings were always interesting, the course was well-structured, super understandable and easy to follow. I would recommend it wholeheartedly!

Filter by:

201 - 225 of 233 Reviews for Internet Giants: The Law and Economics of Media Platforms

By 佳 成

•

Jul 4, 2024

优秀

By Chintan A

•

Aug 15, 2016

Ex

By Ed M

•

Dec 3, 2015

This course was very informative to me personally as I am a "millennial" and was born into the digital. A few points of criticism to Dr. Picker, however, given that the title includes law and economics, I had a feeling throughout most of the course that we were learning more about Law than Economics. The few segments where he broke away and described net-neutrality as an economic device was perfect in that structure, but if that could be applied (with some of the hypo examples he used) in those other terminology areas, I would not be saying law outweighed economics. I must admit I only come from reading economic books by physical Economists (never took principles) so I may not see things the way he does, but I just want to make clear that someone like me welcomes Economic charts, graphs, empirical testing with defining that field's jargon. Other than that it was a series of lectures and crafted very scholarly.

By Sarah H

•

Apr 16, 2020

Excellent course for those interested in a good foundation of basics of the history, economics, law, and origins of major internet platforms such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, etc. The class was released in 2015 and should probably be updated to include newer info about these companies' business models, particularly streaming media (Spotify, Hulu, YouTube, etc aren't mentioned in any depth). However, the class provides a lot of useful information and lays the groundwork for further study, so I'm glad I took it.

By Ramanpreet S S

•

Sep 3, 2017

The course is highly educational and detailed. The manner of explaining one particular thing by digging deep into how that thing came into existence makes this course really interesting. And the most entertaining bit is how the professor/educator never really lets you get bored, there are always certain stories along the path that just pull you back in.

By Yolanda S D

•

Jun 16, 2018

The concept of this course is good, but often times I find myself not following the material because the lecturer keeps going off topic. It would be better if he can explain something without interrupting it with gimmick details. Overall this course has expanded my knowledge.

By Paolo V

•

Apr 24, 2018

Not a lawyer but after a while I sort of grew an appetite for the topics presented in this course. I probably missed a lot of the legal technicalities - that's a given. But I definitevely learned a lot as well from a obviously in-love-with-the-law teacher.

By Ioana D

•

Jun 10, 2019

Great course in that it explains the legal framework within which these media giants were created. One drawback is that it predominantly focuses on US and I think now the big fights for privacy against these companies will happen in Europe.

By Mr. M L

•

Aug 28, 2020

Excellent coverage of law, economics, and technological concepts, and application of a combination of them in the current context of the "Internet Century". Should consider updating outcomes of cases, and new technological market players.

By Mohamad S A

•

Sep 22, 2015

Fantastic Professor who is witty and really into the topics! A little more variety in the structure of the videos (not always him standing in front of the screen), but some little films, guests and so would have made 5/5 stars.

By Ricardo G

•

Jun 13, 2023

Very interesting course! It is really important to look back and see how internet giants played their game and antitrust agencies tried to avoid monopoly or misuse of a dominant power by these giants.

By Matthijs J P C B

•

Sep 27, 2016

Great course, but really dense so better be ready to put in the work. Might be a bit heavy on the law side for IT/economics professionals, but the professor is surely a fellow geek.

By Michal S

•

Mar 22, 2016

It was a little different than I expected (more litigations and law in general), but A LOT of new information nevertheless.

By Polina A

•

Mar 30, 2018

Too difficult for not native speakers to understand the topic but this course brings a lot if information.

By Ruslan T

•

Jul 21, 2020

The course is very interesting, but the 70-question test in Course review (week 9) is too much ...

By Joy S

•

May 15, 2019

Really good information on the whole internet thing. Covers all aspects very thoroughtly

By Дмитрий О

•

Jun 29, 2020

Very interesting course, but it's 5 years old and many links aren't working any more.

By Felicia I

•

Jul 8, 2019

Very informational, but found the speed of the lessons could have been faster.

By Eugène P P N M

•

Mar 24, 2021

Merci au Professeur Randal C. PICKER, à l'Université de Chicago et à Coursera

By Twinkle M

•

Oct 20, 2020

Becomes very technical in the middle weeks

By Abraham M

•

May 8, 2017

Great course! Very comprehensive

By Zhao y

•

Jun 19, 2017

very informative and passionate

By Oliver H

•

Aug 14, 2016

Loving it.

By Arya M

•

Jun 18, 2023

good

By Masoud A

•

Jun 17, 2021

This course felt like a long journey, thankfully, it was presented in short and brief segments thus allowing for some breather from time to time. This was a huge work and professor Randal must have a challenging task in putting all this work together. The downside of the course is the exaggerated use of annoying sounds such as the long stretch of AAAAAAs and MMMMs between the sentences made by the professor which at times disrupted the good contents of the segment. It is a commonly known principle when delivering in public speaking and presentations to avoid the excessive use of such gestures as AMMMMMMS and the likes. At times I had to skip the lecture because of that.