2005 Legal Studies & Business Ethics Research Colloquium

On October 28-29, 2005, a group of leading communications policy scholars and advocates participated in the first Wharton Colloquium on Media and Communications Law, organized by Assistant Professor Kevin Werbach. Dramatic changes in the competitive landscape, along with technological convergence, are transforming telecommunications, mass media, and the Internet, raising novel legal and policy questions. Presentations at the Colloquium addressed key issues in this area, including potential regulation of Internet-based applications, the effects of peer-to-peer file sharing on the music industry, self-regulatory models for Internet content, and "network neutrality" proposals for broadband access. By bringing together a small but diverse group of academics and industry figures, the Colloquium generated lively discussion and productive insights into the emerging legal landscape for the information economy.

August, 2004

2004 Legal Studies & Business Ethics Research Colloquium

On May 14-15, the Department hosted the 2004 Legal Studies Research Colloquium, this year on the topic of international law and institutions.  Some of the nation’s top scholars in international law – Kenneth Abott (Northwestern University Law School), Laurence Helfer (Vanderbilt University Law School), Peter Spiro (University of Georgia Law School), Paul Stephan (University of Virginia Law School), and Joel Trachtman (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) – presented works in progress on topics such as treaty law, customary international law, and legal strategies to combat corruption.  Other leading scholars – Jeffrey Dunoff (Temple University Law School), Robert Hockett (Cornell University Law School), and Sean Murphy (George Washington University Law School) – provided critical commentary on the papers, as did the Department’s own Phil Nichols and Ed Swaine.  This was the Department’s second research colloquium in as many years.  The colloquium series is designed to provide a unique opportunity for leading legal scholars in a particular field to congregate and work.