199 syllabus

SYLLABUS

Law and the Internet	Steven Helle
Journalism 199	121B Gregory Hall
Spring 2002	University of Illinois
	s-helle@uiuc.edu

Goals: Become familiar with First Amendment and statutory law relating to regulation of speech on the Internet.

Texts: The text is available at Dup-It Copy Shop, 808 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, although some assigned or recommended readings are available only from websites. Assigned readings from websites on the Internet are specified in the syllabus. Please check the syllabus well enough in advance that you know when you will need access to the Internet to complete an assignment. All readings should be brought to class to facilitate class discussion and review for examinations.

Grading:

An AA,@ as specified in the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students, is meant to indicate Aexcellent@ work. An AA@ in this class will only be awarded to work of the highest caliber. The best students pay attention to detail. Errors in spelling or grammar indicate a lack of precision in thought and can quickly reduce the grade to AB@ or lower. Any violation of academic integrity (it is assumed that you have read rule 33 of the Code and the Comments; if you haven=t, please do so) will be penalized with a failing grade on the assignment or a failing grade in the course. All work is assumed to be original, unless there is appropriate citation. Work passed off as original that is not constitutes plagiarism (see rule 33). Collaboration in test-taking or in producing the content for assignments is also considered a violation of academic integrity, unless the assignment specifies joint work. Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade immediately after the deadline, and one letter grade for each day late thereafter.

	Scavenger hunt B 5%
	Paper and presentation on cookies – 10%
	Test I – 25%
	Test II – 25%
	Test III – 25%
	Class discussion (quality, not quantity) B 10%

Agenda: (note that assignments are listed on the day due or to be discussed)

Tuesday, Jan. 15 B Introductions, search engine overview

Thursday, Jan. 17 B Open class; meet with instructor in office during classtime if problems with upcoming assignment.

Complete e-mail survey and scavenger hunt and e-mail to instructor by 8:30 a.m. today.

Tuesday, Jan. 22 B Presentations on “cookies” (the kind placed on a computer hard drive while web surfing, not the kind upon which one munches – they have no bad side)

Each student will be assigned to take the pro or con position in an oral presentation.

By 5 p.m. today, all students should place a position paper of at least 500 words in the instructor’s mailbox in the College office, 119 Gregory Hall. This paper is to present the position opposite the one presented orally. Hand in a hard copy of the posted position by 5 p.m. today whether you are presenting today or not.

Students will be paired with another student to present the position they were assigned in a five-minute presentation. Only the presenting students and the instructor will be present, although students who have already presented may attend any subsequent oral presentations if they wish. At the end of each presentation, the student taking the contrary position should ask a question isolating what he or she considers a weakness in the argument, and that student has the option of asking a related follow-up question.

Turner v. FCC I (note the two different tests that the Justices discuss: strict scrutiny and the intermediate O'Brien test)