About the Center
Welcome!
The Bentley Global CyberLaw Center
This web site is designed to be an evolving resource center for students and faculty who are interested in CyberLaw.
The Bentley Global CyberLaw Center (BGCC) was created in response to a need to assist business students and professors in researching the vast corpus juris of CyberLaw. Assistance in classroom assignments and research can be utilized using the BGCC. Business managers, entrepreneurs and lawyers engaged in e-commerce will find the center useful. Bentley University has a number of IT and related courses that explain and discuss the intersection between business and e-commerce. The Law, Taxation and Financial Planning Department currently offers several courses in cyberlaw studies.
Mission
The BGCC will sponsor conferences and serve as a resource for the development of the relationship of cyber law to business and the liberal arts. Social responsibility and ethics will continue to be emphasized. The ultimate goal is to create a community of students, scholars, business managers and lawyers who contribute to the ongoing development of laws and regulations in e-commerce.
Faculty and Staff
The Executive Director:
Professor Gerald R. Ferrera
Adamian Professor of Law, founded the BGCC.
Co-Director:
Professor Stephen D. Lichtenstein
Law, Taxation and Financial Planning Department
Pagemaster:
Roseann Cotoni
Academic Administrative Assistant
Contributors:
Gaurav Shah
Web Projects Manager, Adamian Technology Center
Roman Shmedryk
Graduate Assistant
Collaborators:
http://www.internetbar.org/
“Internetbar.org Inc. is established to address issues associated
with the practice of law in cyberspace and with harmonizing laws internationally that affect human rights starting with privacy,
identity theft and e-commerce, and other issues that may emerge
as globalization and virtual practices advance.”
Courses
Bentley University offers CyberLaw courses, both at the undergraduate and the graduate level. Below is a listing of the CyberLaw courses offered:
| Course | Description |
|
LA 109 — Law and Ethics for Cybersociety
|
This course will discuss the latest news and events relative to cybersociety from a Constitutional and national security perspective including a focus on recent anti-terrorism legislation. The balance between preserving civil rights and protection of our national security will be explained. Other topics will include the legal, social and ethical concerns relative to online privacy rights, the use of databases containing personal information, and copyright encryption that may interfere with an individual's fair use of downloading digital products. Cybercrimes including hacking, digital forgery, online gambling and embezzlement will be discussed along with government censorship of obscene material. Government regulation of the Internet and proposals for a non-regulated Internet will also be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on a discussion and explanation of the ethical theories as they relate to the development of a Cyberethics policy. |
|
LA 302 — Marketing Law for the CyberAge
|
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the law relating to marketing activities. The goal of the course is to acquaint students with traditional laws of marketing and to apply them to the Internet while at the same time focusing on the rapidly developing changes in laws and constantly evolving issues precipitated by the distribution of ideas, goods and services via the Internet. The course will provide a framework within which to examine the legal issues arising as businesses develop Internet marketing strategies designed to facilitate doing business in the e-commerce/business environment. The course is intended to train the business student to be a better manager capable of making more informed decisions when confronted with legal issues posed by the marketing of goods or services. Emphasis will be placed on the prevention of legal problems that could result in legal liability and/or disputes. Additionally, the law will be viewed as a means to create orderly and effective decision-making. |
|
LA 300 — CyberLaw
|
Computer technology has changed the laws relative to both the acquisition of information and doing business in cyberspace. This course will explain and discuss those legal and ethical issues arising from that change with a major focus on such topics as contracts and torts related to the Internet; property rights including copyright and trademark associated with a web site; protected speech on the web under the First Amendment and privacy rights of the Internet user. These topics will address the potential liability associated with establishing a "domain name" and maintaining a "web presence" on the Internet. Court decisions, federal and state statutes, administrative rulings and legal literature surrounding Internet law will be presented. The course syllabus may be viewed on the Bentley web site: Computing “Courses on the Web.” |
|
LA725 — CyberLaw (Graduate) |
Computer technology has changed the laws relative to both the acquisition of information and doing business in cyberspace. This course will explain and discuss those legal and ethical issues arising from that change with a major focus on such topics as contracts and torts related to the Internet; property rights including copyright and trademark associated with a Web site; protected speech on the web under the First Amendment and privacy rights of the Internet user. These topics will address the potential liability associated with establishing a “domain name” and maintaining a “web presence” on the Internet. Court decisions, federal and state statutes, administrative rulings and legal literature surrounding Internet law will be presented. The course syllabus may be viewed on the Bentley web site: Computing “Courses on the Web.” |
| LA 301 Global Cyberlaw |
This course will discuss the international online environment with a special emphasis on the legal consequences of global e-commerce. The course will explain leading and relevant United States treaties, cases, statutes, regulations and European Union directives as they govern and regulate global online transactions. International e-commerce involves an understanding |
