NYU Steinhardt Department of Media, Culture, and Communication MCC-UE 1304 Global Media and International Law Course Description This course examines the legal and regulatory instruments designed to manage the flow of media and cultural products across international borders. It provides an historical overview of the various institutions and actors involved in global media regulation and administration, and assesses the various principles and practices that might be said to constitute regimes of global media governance. The course pays special attention to the early regulation of the post, telegraph, and radio as precursors of the current regulatory regimes for broadcasting, telecommunications, satellites, trade in media products, and Internet protocols. Student Learning Objectives Basic understanding of the history of global media governance, from postal systems in the 19 th century to the Internet; Knowledge of the rules and regulations underpinning media networks, as well as the application of those rules; Analytical and critical skills to assess the various legal and political principles and practices of global media administration and regulation; Research techniques focusing on legal texts, as well as international regulatory instruments and governance institutions. Readings: Required Texts Readings, both secondary and primary, as assigned in syllabus and available via NYU Classes Consult Global and Transcultural Communication Research Guide, Bobst Library at http://nyu.libguides.com/content.php?pid=30915&search_terms=global Evaluation Participation (attendance, participation in class discussion and on-line) % Final Grade 10 Summary / Review Essay (due: Feb 12) 10 Special Exhibits: Background Research Project 15 Research Proposal (due: March 14) 05 Midterm Test March 13 15 Research Report on current legal and regulatory issue (due: April 24, by 8:00am) 20 Class Presentation of Research Report 10 Final Take-Home Test May 13 15
Grading Rubric A Excellent. Student exhibits exemplary creativity through historical research and analysis. Writing and data presentation is lucid, engaging, and nearly error free. B Good. References to the course material are well chosen and topical. Analysis is present, but largely rehearsed from class lecture and discussion. Writing and data presentation is clear and has very few mistakes. C Satisfactory. References to the course material are well chosen and topical, but work is primarily descriptive, with little or no analysis. Work consists mostly of underdeveloped ideas, off-topic sources or examples, inappropriate research, or anecdotes. D Unsatisfactory. Student does not engage with the material according to course expectations. Substantial problems exist in student's work. F Fail. Student does not submit work, or work is below unsatisfactory level. School and Course Policies Students with Disabilities Students with special needs, either with physical and/or learning disabilities, should register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212-998=4980, 240 Greene Street, www.nyu.edu/csd. Religious Observances Students with religious observances that may interfere with the class schedule should to see me at the beginning of the semester to talk about alternative arrangements. Late Submission Deadlines are set to coincide with the flow of the semester, and your research projects are designed to provide us with course material. The deadlines are sacrosanct. Please notify the instructor as soon as you think you will miss a deadline for submitting assigned work. Late assignments may be downgraded by up to 5% a day. Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Academic integrity is the guiding principle for all that you do [ ] you violate the principle when you: cheat on an exam; submit the same work for two different courses without prior permission from your professors; receive help on a take home courses without prior permission from your professors; or plagiarize. You plagiarize when, without proper attribution, you do any of the following: copy verbatim from a book, article, or others media, download documents from the Internet; purchase documents; paraphrase or restate someone else s facts, analysis, and/or conclusions (See School of Education Bulletin, 2004-6, p. 174). Cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated under any circumstance and will result in a failure of the assignment and possible failure of this class. 2
Detailed Class Schedule Jan 28 Introduction: Global Media and International Law Jan 30 Internet Filtering & Global Media Flows: Some Current Issues Wu, Tim. World Trade Law of Censorship and Internet Filtering. 7 Chicago Journal of International Law. 263 (Summer 2006) Google. Enabling Trade in the Era of Information Technologies: Breaking Down Barriers to the Free Flow of Information. Available at Google Public Policy Blog (posted 15 November 2010). Feb 4 & 6 International Law: an Introduction Oppenheim, L. International Law: A Treatise: Vol 1 Peace. 1905 edition. Introduction, Chap 1: Foundation of Law of Nations (3-43) & Part 1, Chap. 1: International Persons Koskenniemi, Martti. The Politics of International Law. 1 European Journal of International Law. 4-32 (1990) Feb 11 International Law and International Politics Keohane, Robert. International Relations and International Law: Two Optics. 38 Harvard International Law Journal. 487 502 (Spring 1997) Summary & Review Essay of Keohane and Koskenniemi: due Feb 12 at 12 noon Feb 13 Global Media and International Law: Setting the Stage Magder, Ted. International Agreements and the Principles of World Communication, in Curran, J. and Morley, D. eds. Media and Cultural Theory. 2006, 164-76 Krasner, Stephen. Global Communications and National Power. Life on the Pareto Frontier. World Politics. April 1991, 336-66 Feb 18 Guest: Research Project Bobst Research Librarian Feb 20, 25, 27 Postal and Telegraph Networks: Historical Foundations Williamson, F.H. The International Postal Service and the Universal Postal Union. Journal of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. 68 78. Vol. 9 (1), Jan 1930 Winseck, Dwayne and Pike, Robert. The Global Media and the Empire of Liberal Internationalism, Circa 1910-30. Media History, 15:1, 2009, 31-54 Treaty Concerning the Formation of a General Postal Union, Berne (1874) International Telegraph Convention, St Petersburg (1875) Convention for Protection of Submarine Cables, (1884) Mar 04, 06, 11 Radio: National Sovereignty and Innocent Passage Hershey, Amos. The International Law of Aerial Space. 6 American Journal of International Law, 1912, 381 3
LeRoy, Howard. Treaty Regulation of International Radio and Short Wave Broadcasting. The American Journal of International Law. 32 (4) 1938, 719-37. Aitken, Hugh. Allocating the Spectrum: The Origins of Radio Regulation. Technology and Culture. 35(4), 1994, 686-716 International Wireless Telegraph Convention, Berlin 1906 International Radio Convention, Washington 1927 Mar 13 Mid-Term Test Mar 25, 27 Propaganda: and Freedom of Information: fighting words and human rights Downey, Elizabeth. A Historical Survey of International Regulation of Propaganda. 5 Mich. YBI Legal Stud. 1984, 341-60. Whitton, John. Radio after the War. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 22 (2), 309-17, 1944 Uttaro, R. The Voice of America in International Radio Propaganda. International Telecommunications. Winter 1982, 103-22 Metzl, J. Rwandan Genocide and the International Law of Radio Jamming. The American Journal of International Law. 91(4), 1997. 628-51 International Convention Concerning The Use Of Broadcasting In The Cause Of Peace, Geneva, 1936 April 1, 3 Satellites and UNESCO Slotten, Hugh. Satellite Communications, Globalization and the Cold War. Technology and Culture. 43 (2), 2002, 315-50 M. J. Peterson. Diverging Orbits: Situation Definitions in Creation of Regimes for Broadcast and Remote Sensing Satellites, American Journal of Political Science, 98: 2, May 2004, 277-91 Carlsson, Ulla. The Rise and Fall of NWICO: From a Vision of International Regulation to a Reality of Multilevel Governance, EURICOM Colloquium, Information Society: Visions and Governance, Venice 5-7 May, 2003 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1967) April 8 Trade in Cultural Products: Elgin Marbles and other National Treasures Merryman, John H. Cultural Property, International Law, and Human Rights. Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal 19, 2001, 51 67 April 10 Trade in Media: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization & UNESCO Bruner, C. UNESCO, the WTO, and Trade in Cultural Products. In Chaisse, J. and Balmelli, T. eds. Essays on the Future of World Trade Organization: Policies & Legal Issues. 385 424, 2008 Magder, T. Gambling, the WTO and Public Morals: a short review of Antigua vs. the US. Television and New Media. 7(1), 2006, 52-67 4
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1947 General Agreement on Trade in Services, 1994 April 15, 17 Internet and Governance Van Eeten, Michel and Mueller, Milton. Where is the governance in Internet Governance? New Media & Society, 15 (5), 720-736, 2012 Benklar, Yochai A Free Irresponsible Press: Wikileaks and the Battle over the Soul of the Networked Fourth Estate. Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review, 24, 312 397, 2013 April 22 April 24, 29 April 01, 06 May 08 No Class Student Research Reports Student Research Reports Review 5