The John Marshall Law School
Center for Information Technology & Privacy Law

IT 855 - TRANSBORDER DATA FLOW
Professor David E. Sorkin
Spring 2000

SYLLABUS

February 15, 2000: Data Protection and Data Flow

None of Your Business, pp. 1-89

February 22, 2000: Data Protection in the United States

Privacy Law Sourcebook, pp. 1-37, 68-73, 100-02, 158-73

Reno v. Condon, 120 S. Ct. 666 (Jan. 12, 2000)

February 29, 2000: International Data Protection Laws

Privacy Law Sourcebook, pp. 179-259

March 7, 2000 - Spring Vacation

March 14, 2000: Sectoral Effects of the EU Directive

None of Your Business, pp. 90-151

March 21, 2000: Regulatory Models and Solutions

None of Your Business, pp. 152-212

Thesis scope statement due (100 to 200 words)

March 28, 2000: Safe Harbor Principles

Privacy Law Sourcebook, pp. 394-403, 416-21, 521-29

U.S. Department of Commerce "Safe Harbor" Principles

European Commission Data Protection Working Party materials

April 4, 2000: Recent Developments; Oral Reports

Privacy Law Sourcebook, pp. 387-93, 404-15, 456-59

April 11, 2000: Oral Reports

April 18, 2000: Oral Reports

April 25, 2000: Oral Reports

Thesis paper due

Additional reading assignments may be announced in class.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

To receive credit for the seminar, students must present an oral report to the class, submit a thesis paper, and participate in class discussions. Students are expected to read the materials listed on this syllabus in advance of each class session, as well as supplemental materials that will be mentioned in class and listed on the seminar web site.

The oral report will be given on a topic approved by the instructor and within the scope of the seminar, and should be accompanied by handouts or other visual aids as appropriate. Oral reports may be presented by individual students or, by advance arrangement with the instructor, by teams of up to three students. It is contemplated that approximately one half hour of class time will be devoted to each oral presentation, or up to one full hour in the case of team presentations. Students are encouraged to distribute abstracts, questions for discussion, or other material related to their presentation in advance using the mailing list. If a student is unavailable to present the oral report on the arranged date, he or she will be expected to prepare a written or (preferably) web-based presentation for distribution to class members, and to conduct a discussion of the presentation using the seminar mailing list, in lieu of presenting the oral report.

The thesis paper should be of a style and quality suitable for publication in a law review or other professional journal, and should address a narrow topic approved by the instructor and within the scope of the seminar. The thesis paper may (but need not) address the same topic or a similar topic as a student's oral report. The topic may not be one on which the student has written another paper for academic credit. There is no minimum or maximum length for the paper, but it is expected that most satisfactory papers will fall within the range of 5,000 to 10,000 words, not including citations. A statement of approximately 100 to 200 words setting forth the topic and scope of the thesis is to be submitted by the date indicated on the syllabus.

The thesis paper is due at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, April 25, 2000. Late papers will be submitted up to seven days late with no penalty (i.e., until May 2). Papers submitted after May 2 but on or before May 17 will receive a grade of D if they are satisfactory. No papers will be accepted after May 17.

Class participation will also account for a part of the grade assigned to each student. Participation in discussions on the mailing list as well as in-class discussions will be considered. Quality is more important here than quantity, and raising significant issues for discussion can be as valuable as responding to questions raised by others.

The oral report, thesis paper, and class participation will each contribute in equal parts to the grade assigned to each student.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Instructor

Professor David E. Sorkin
Office: 321 S. Plymouth Ct., Room 1607
Phone: (312) 987-2387
E-mail: david@sork.com
Office hours: Tuesdays 4:00-6:00 pm

Textbooks

Peter P. Swire & Robert E. Litan, None of Your Business: World Data Flows, Electronic Commerce, and the European Privacy Directive (Brookings Institution Press, 1998).

Marc Rotenberg, The Privacy Law Sourcebook 1999: United States Law, International Law, and Recent Developments (Electronic Privacy Information Center, 1999).

Seminar web site

http://www.citpl.org/data/

Seminar mailing list

http://www.egroups.com/list/tbdf/