Course Description:

This course prepares students to understand the need for esports and gaming institutional mechanisms, such as policies, procedures, and regulations, as well as governance organizations. Students will become familiar with the mission, structure, and function of firms and private and public governing organizations as well as the legal challenges and opportunities associated with esports and the gaming industry. Students will also explore and become familiar with certain topics and issues related to ethics and integrity, intellectual property, privacy and personally identifiable information, public health, and taxation. By the end of the course, students should be able to evaluate critical issues related to esports and gaming, including whether standards and other governance mechanisms should be implemented, and the implications associated with such governance mechanisms, as well as intellectual property matters. 

The Midterm for this course involved a series of debates centered around key governance and regulatory issues within the digital gaming industry. The class was divided into 8 or 10 teams, with each team assigned to one of five case studies. One team argued in favor of the actions or decisions taken in the case (pro side), and the other half argued against them (con side). The debates focused on various aspects of governance and regulatory concerns, providing students with an opportunity to apply their understanding in a dynamic and adversarial setting.

The focus of the debate was “Content Regulation”, and the following is my opening statement which ended up achieving victory in this mock trial.

Click here to see the Opening Statement