My LL.M. essays

Between 2007 and 2009 I read for an LL.M. at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in November 2009. As part of this, I wrote 6 major essays and a dissertation, and I am making these available online.

Each essay had a choice of three set titles or an own choice of title; the dissertation was my own choice (as anyone who knows me could guess). Each item was written to strict word-count or page-count limits.

Essays

• Information Technology, Investigation, and Evidence - Analysis of the resilience of the PGP "web of trust" and application to the disruption of criminal networks
  January 2008, own title.
• Forensic Computing - Issues relating to law enforcement use of "trojans"
  April 2008, set title:
  Several countries, including Germany and the US, have proposed to use Trojans by law enforcement agencies to collect data "remotely" from suspects. Analyse and discuss the technological and legal issues this approach to forensic computing raises.
• Information Technology Law - The Intermediary Service Providers provisions of the E‑Commerce Directive, its UK implementation, and relevant cases, from the point of view of UK ISPs
  April 2008, own title.
• Information: Control and Power - "Information should be free". Should it? Is it?
  January 2009, set title:
  "Information should be free." (a) Critically evaluate this statement and (b) consider whether information is in fact free, with reference to two areas of law explored in this module.
• Copyright - Legal protection of databases
  January 2009, set title:
  In December 2005 the first evaluation of Directive 96/9/EC on the legal protection of databases was published. In it four policy options were canvassed: to repeal the whole Directive; to withdraw the "sui generis" right; to amend the "sui generis" provisions; or to maintain the status quo. Critically assess these options detailing which you would advocate should be adopted and why.
• Managing Intellectual Property - Critically analyse the mechanisms used by courts to assess damages in trade mark and patent infringement cases in one jurisdiction of your choice.
  April 2009, set title used unchanged.

Dissertation

To my other legal topics index. Back to Clive's home page.