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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, October 27, 2011

IU Maurer School of Law and Oxford Internet Institute to offer program in information law and policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 27, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Maurer School of Law has signed an agreement with the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), a department of the University of Oxford, creating a new program that will allow students to earn a certification in information law and policy from the prestigious British university and a Master of Laws degree from IU.

Aimed primarily at international students, the new program will give students with an American law degree or non-U.S. equivalency the opportunity to take 14-16 credit hours of existing regular law courses in the broad area of information and intellectual property law.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Indiana on this highly innovative program combining the legal and societal aspects of the Internet phenomenon," said Professor Helen Margetts, director of OII.

Admitted students will spend the fall semester in Bloomington and the spring term at Oxford, where they will take specialized courses and complete a 10,000-word thesis. The thesis provides students the opportunity to apply the methods and approaches covered during their coursework and carry out a substantive piece of academic research on an information law and policy-related topic of their choice.

Students who complete 24 credit hours from IU or the equivalent and an acceptable thesis will receive an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree from the Maurer School of Law and a Certificate in Information Law and Policy from the OII.

"We are honored to join with a distinguished university to develop this program," said Lauren K. Robel, dean and Val Nolan Professor of Law. "A certification in information law and policy from Oxford will serve as an excellent complement to a Maurer School of Law LL.M."

It is anticipated that a Maurer faculty member will spend most -- if not all -- of the spring semester in Oxford overseeing the students' work. Students are expected to complete the program within a one-year period.

The program has an initial term of three years and will be led by Distinguished Professor Fred H. Cate -- who also directs IU's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research -- and Oxford's Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, professor of Internet governance and regulation. The agreement takes effect immediately, with expectations that the first students will begin the program in fall 2012.

The OII was founded as a department of the University of Oxford in 2001 as an academic center for the study of the societal implications of the Internet. The Institute's renowned faculty are engaged in a variety of research projects covering social, economic, political, legal, technical, and ethical issues of the Internet in every day life, governance and democracy, science and learning, and shaping the Internet.

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