The SCL Student Essay Prize honours the memory of Sir Henry Brooke CMG, a former President of SCL and his immense contribution to the field of computers and the law.
Question:
“At the start of the 2010s, two billion people used the Internet, MySpace rivalled Facebook as the most popular social network, iPads did not exist and few people had swapped their trusty Nokias for iPhones. Peer to peer networking was seen as an existential threat to copyright industries and net neutrality was not yet the law anywhere, while cloud computing was unknown to the general population. The future was unpredictable.” What, where, how, and when will the greatest regulatory challenges for the Internet of 2030 be? Justify your answer with reference to existing laws, regulation, and government policy documents”.
The prize:
- A free place at the SCL Annual Conference 2020 in central London (SCL will provide a maximum £250 contribution to the cost of travel and accommodation)
- Publication in the SCL’s Computers and Law Magazine and on this website
- £300 cash
Who can enter
You are eligible to enter this competition if you are a student (undergraduate, taught postgraduate, or research postgraduate) currently registered at an accredited academic institution or legal practitioner training course (e.g. to become a barrister, solicitor or advocate).
Length of essay
A maximum of 2,500 words of text (and a minimum of 1,500), plus up to 500 words for citations (but not any further descriptive or explanatory material, so no padding your essay with footnotes). Full competition rules are available appear at the bottom of this page.
The closing date for entries is 17.00 hours on Friday 22 May 2020. We look forward to receiving your entry!
SCL Essay 2020 Prize Rules
Essay requirements
Your essay must be your original work and not previously published, or submitted for publication, elsewhere. You must have written the essay in the current academic year, and you are welcome to re-use work you have done for your studies. No jointly-authored papers are permitted. You may only submit one entry. Your essay must be in English.
How to submit you essay
You must send your essay as a PDF file by email to hello@scl.org to be received by 17.00 hours on Friday 22 May 2020. Your covering email must set out your name, mailing address, educational establishment and the course to which you are registered.
Copyright and publicity
You retain copyright ownership in your paper. You agree to your work being compared against electronic sources by automatic means, and other plagiarism checks the SCL considers appropriate. If you win, you grant to the SCL the non-exclusive right to publish the paper, in print and electronically, in SCL publications, and you agree not publish your papers elsewhere before 1 December 2020. You agree to make any prepublication editorial modifications to the winning entry that are required by the editor of Computers & Law for this purpose.
If you are the winner or your essay is “Highly Commended”, you grant the SCL the right to publish your name, photograph, educational establishment and details of your essays.
The prize
The prize is £300, a free ticket to the SCL Annual Conference 2020 in central London (SCL will provide a maximum £250 contribution to the cost of travel and accommodation) and publication in the SCL’s Computers & Law magazine and on SCL’s website.
The judges may, in their discretion, in addition to declaring a winner, formally award one or more other essays the title ‘Highly Commended’.
How and when will the result be announced
The result of the competition will be announced on Monday 22 June 2020 on the SCL website but, if there are a large number of entries, this deadline may be extended. The prize will be awarded only if, in the opinion of the judges, the standard of entries merits the award.
The judges
The judges will be chosen by the SCL. All entries will be anonymised before submission to the judges. The decision of the SCL as to the interpretation of these rules and the awarding of the prize (and as to whether any prize is to be awarded) is final and no correspondence or discussions regarding its decision will be entered into.
Also see:
Free membership for UK students in full-time education: SCL provides free membership for UK students in full-time education with a valid ac.uk email address. SCL student members are also eligible to attend SCL events at concessionary rates. UK students in full-time education can apply to join SCL for free by emailing sarah.forster@scl.org
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