Networks, Platforms, and Utilities

3 credits · Law School

This course studies the law and policy pertaining to the economic governance of networks, platforms, and utilities (NPUs), including communications (postal service, telecommunications, broadband internet), transportation (railroads, airlines), energy (electricity, pipelines), finance (money, payments, financial market infrastructure), and technology platforms (operating systems, online marketplaces, internet search, social media). Although these industries are diverse, they are governed (to varying degrees) by a common legal framework. The course will introduce students to the legal toolkit that lawmakers, regulators, and judges have used to address NPU industry problems. How this toolkit should be applied - if at all - to new types of NPU enterprise will be a major theme. Particular attention will be devoted to the causes and consequences of NPU industry deregulation in recent decades. [3]