This advanced seminar will discuss carefully selected topics of digital infrastructure regulation. It provides a basic introduction to core insights from regulatory theory by inquiring into the “who”, “what”, “how”, and “why” of infrastructure regulation and by probing the distinctiveness of digital infrastructures (as opposed to non-digital ones). Questions covered include: How to conceptualize a digital infrastructure as a regulatory object? How to address information asymmetries in highly distributed digital infrastructures? How to determine human and machine identity online? Which digital infrastructures could improve effective regulation? Should Europe build its own digital infrastructure (“EuroStack”)? The seminar introduces students to the analytical and methodological concept of “thinking infrastructurally” as a lawyer. We will practice infrastructural thinking by engaging with concrete regulatory design questions posed by certain digital infrastructures (including internet, cloud, AI, social media, and regulatory enforcement and compliance).
Digital Infrastructure Regulation
2 ECTS / 12h / English