The course investigates the impact of digital technologies on private law. Firstly, it offers a comprehensive and systematic illustration of the EU legal framework. Secondly, it deals with how digital technologies reshape traditional categories of property, contracts and liability through an in-depth analysis of online commerce, digital assets, digital platforms, blockchain, smart contracts and cryptocurrencies. Regarding the method, while legislation will be the starting point of the analysis, case law and reconceptualisations offered by legal scholars will be an essential perspective. This multi-layered approach will provide students with notions and independent thinking skills necessary to tackle the legal and economic issues of our increasingly digitalised society.
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Programme
The course will focus on the main institutes of private digital law. After a brief introduction of the principles of the subject - from right to internet access to net neutrality - the focus will be on innovations affecting traditional private law institutions due to technological progress. It will begin with legal subjectivity, investigating the legal status of robots and the digital identity. The contract will be seen from the point of view digital market, from the sale of goods online to the economic value of personal data. The liability of the host provider will be the entry point for analysing possible new developments in legal regulation: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. Finally, the focus will be on legal issues related to blockchain technology, from the regulation of cryptocurrencies and crypto assets to smart contracts and automated executions.Core Documentation
Diritto privato digitale, ed. Ettore Battelli, Giappichelli, 2022Reference Bibliography
-Type of delivery of the course
The course is based on two kind of classes: (i) general lectures, aimed at providing students with the theoretical foundations of the course; (ii) seminars, aimed at providing students with a more interactive, and therefore more critical, perspective of the theoretical concepts.Type of evaluation
The assessment method is oral and consists of three or more questions on different parts of the programme. The evaluation criteria are: knowledge acquired of the subject, competence in using technical terminology, quality in the exposition of the topics.