The University of Chicago
Internet Giants: The Law and Economics of Media Platforms
The University of Chicago

Internet Giants: The Law and Economics of Media Platforms

Taught in English

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58,399 already enrolled

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

Randal C. Picker

Instructor: Randal C. Picker

4.8

(1,057 reviews)

59 hours to complete
3 weeks at 19 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

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Assessments

43 quizzes

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There are 11 modules in this course

THIS VERSION OF THIS COURSE WAS LAUNCHED IN JULY 2015 AND HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE THEN. MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE THEN SO YOU SHOULD CONSIDER ANOTHER COURSE FOR MORE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. ************************************************************** This is a course on the law and economics of media platforms. Media delivery is frequently organized around a set of tools that bring together different parties to interact. Edison’s phonograph and wax cylinders did that, bringing together music producers and consumers wanting to listen to music at home, but so does Microsoft Windows, which sits between software developers and computer users.

What's included

2 videos1 reading

In this module, we will focus on Microsoft and its arc from start up to dominance and repeated antitrust target. We will look at the technology leading to the personal computer and the release of the IBM PC in August, 1981 and then the rise of Microsoft from there. We will turn to antitrust actions against Microsoft, first in the United States in 1994 for its MS-DOS licensing practices and then again in the United States in 1998 for its response to the Internet and Netscape Navigator. We will then turn to two competition policy actions against Microsoft in Europe.

What's included

18 videos16 readings7 quizzes

In this module, we will focus on Google and its arc from 1998 start up to dominance and repeated antitrust target. We will look at the underlying tech, two-sided markets and auctions and then at antitrust investigations in the U.S. and the EU.

What's included

26 videos16 readings7 quizzes

In this module, we will focus on the emergence of the smartphones platform. That is an interesting mix of government policy (especially regarding spectrum), collective private activity (standard setting, such as that for the 802.11 standard and for Wi-Fi), and individual private actions (such as that leading to the Apple iPhone and the Android platform).

What's included

22 videos14 readings6 quizzes

In this module, we will focus on the issue of network neutrality, or, as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission likes to put it, the open Internet.

What's included

22 videos12 readings5 quizzes

In this module, we will focus on different platforms for distributing music. That will start with the great home technology of the early 1900s—the phonograph and the player piano—before turning to radio and the ASCAP and BMI licensing regime for public performances. We then will turn to a failed technology and legal regime, digital audio tape and the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. We will then switch to MP3 players, from the relatively obscure (the Diamond Rio) to the ubiquitous (the iPod) and to Apple’s digital rights management regime. We will then switch to the issues raised by peer-to-peer software like Napster and Grokster and then close with an examination of the switch from physical distribution media to digital and subscriptions like Spotify.

What's included

21 videos16 readings7 quizzes

In this module, we will focus on the different platforms for delivering video to the home. We will start with the history of TV in the U.S. in the 1940s and then jump to the copyright issues associated with the creation of cable TV in the 1960s and 1970s. We will then switch to considering two devices (the VCR and the DVD player), two services (Netflix and Aereo) and then creation of digital TV.

What's included

21 videos12 readings5 quizzes

In this module, we will focus on the emergence of digital books and digital libraries. Three topics loom large: (1) Google’s efforts to copy millions of books and bring them online through Google Books; (2) Amazon’s creation of the Kindle ebook platform; and (3) Apple’s launch of the iPad with its associated bookstore and the resulting antitrust lawsuit over that launch.

What's included

20 videos12 readings5 quizzes

We review the entire course in this last module.

What's included

7 videos3 readings1 quiz

Done with the course? Wondering what comes next? Me, too, but this is where the experimental module comes in. A module to test other ways to interact and to explore ideas that might appear in future versions of the course.

What's included

2 readings

This course has been approved for continuing legal education credit in Illinois and this section describes the process for obtaining that credit.

What's included

1 reading

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.9 (137 ratings)
Randal C. Picker
The University of Chicago
1 Course58,399 learners

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