Module 2 Homepage

Week 2 - Law Orientation

This first module is intended to introduce you to law and its role in informing data analytics. There is some very basic coverage of types of laws and sources of law, as well as an overview of the U.S. legal and court system. You will also be introduced to legal reasoning and application of the IRAC method. Through your study and assignments in this module you will begin to understand some basic themes of this course. First, that law is territorial in its very nature which complicates its application to evolving technology that is not similarly grounded. The Microsoft Case is a good example. Also, the reality that law is slow to evolve while technology is the opposite, thus challenging how law can inform data analytics and making it hard for business professionals to know how to respond with certainty.

What to Read & Watch this Week

Read through the Course Overview sections
Read, Watch for Legal Orientation
- Text Book Chapters 1-4 (Reading for background only)
- Law 101
  - Introduction to Business Law
  - How to Read a Case
  - The Power of the Judiciary (overview of the U.S. Court System)
- Introduction to the IRAC Method
- Microsoft Case
  - The Case
  - The Critique of the Case
  - The IRAC of the Case
Read & Watch for Online Discussion
- Kate Crawford Presentation Video
Read for Reading Question Set
- Three Paradoxes of Big Data Download Three Paradoxes of Big Data
- FTC Report on Big Data Download FTC Report on Big Data
  (pages 1-11)

To Do List for this Week

Discussion (original post due Friday, comments due Sunday)
Reading Questions (due Sunday)

Learning Objectives

To understand the basics of how to read a case and to complete an IRAC
To understand the overview of the U.S. legal system
To begin to understand the legal challenges of big data and how current law informs data analytics
To begin to understand the tension between law and rapidly evolving technologies