TUBBY BOOK ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telecommunications: a towering topic to write on

One of the books that recently arrived at the IPKat's door was the second edition of Telecommunications Law and Regulation, published this year by Oxford University Press and edited by Queen Mary scholars Ian Walden and John Angel. It's been specially developed as a textbook for the Telecommunications Law course on the Univesity of London LLM, offered by the Institute of Computer and Communications Law at QM's Centre for Commercial Law Studies.

As the publishers say about it:

"The recent consolidation of regulators in the UK makes this a very timely publication, providing practitioners with an extremely thorough survey of the law and regulatory structures related to telecommunications. Written by many of the leading experts and practitioners in the field, it is a reliable source of reference for practitioners and academics alike. Covering UK, EU, US and other international systems, it offers a comparative and rounded overview of the global telecommunications industry and its regulation. This second edition is fully updated, and contains new chapters on 'Sources of Law', 'Technology, Terminology and Market Structure', 'Intellectual Property Issues', and 'Content Regulation', including broadcasting, internet and premium rate services. The coverage of emerging markets is much expanded with an extensive new chapter on regulatory frameworks for developing countries.

This edition does not merely update its predecessor but makes some structural changes too. Thus you will find

* a chapter on Technology, Terminology and Market Structure;

* a new chapter on Telecommunications, Standards and IP Issues;

* the former chapter on 'Regulatory Convergence: The Impact of Broadcasting and Other Laws' has been replaced by 'Content Regulation'.

£75 for a paperback textbook may sound expensive, but for over 700 pages on a niche topic such as Telecommunications Law the price looks reasonable enough.