Research Interests

Scholarly Activity

• Visiting Scholar, Centre for Media and Communications Law, University of Melbourne, Australia http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/cmcl/people/visitors
• Co-chair of the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition of the UN's Internet Governance Forum
• Guest editor of a Special Edition on Disability of the Web Journal of Current Legal Issues published in December 2014 http://webjcli.org/
• Treasurer of the British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association (BILETA)
• Guest Editor of the Spring 2012 edition of the European Journal of Law and Technology showcasing cutting-edge research in information technology law
• Advisory Board member of the AHRC Project Invisible Difference: Dance, Disability and the Law http://c-dare.co.uk/projects/invisible-difference-dance-disability-and-law/
• Invited panel member to speak at the United Nation’s Internet Governance Forum meeting in Indonesia in October 2013. This is part of the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition’s panel relating to rights issues for indigenous peoples and disadvantaged groups
• Peer reviewer in the area of information technology law and disability access for the International Journal of Law and Information Technology, the European Journal of Law and Technology, International Review of Law, Computers and Technology, SCRIPT-ed, the Journal of Business Ethics and Future Internet.
• Project reviewer in the area of information technology governance for the Czech Science Foundation, the main public funding agency in the Czech Republic supporting all areas of scientific research
• Invited expert speaker on disability and technology at the Intersections Expert Forum Institute of Creative Enterprise, Coventry University to take place on the 26^thNovember 2013
• Expert Panel Member of Lancaster University Confucius Institute’s Doing Business in China: Intellectual Property Rights Events
• Organiser of BILETA’s 2011 international Conference at MMU: http://www.law.mmu.ac.uk/bileta/
• Track Co-chair Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues of IT Supported Emergency Response track at the Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management Conference, Penn State Uni, USA, May 2014

Public Engagement Activities:

• Panel Member “Doing Business in China Workshop Series”: Banking/Financial Services for Doing Business in China Wednesday 19^th June 2013
• Panel Member “Doing Business in China” Lancaster University Management School Wednesday 20^th March 2013
• Presented the following workshop session: C. Easton IPR management: Management of IPR in transnational collaboration KARIM Network, Brussels 1^st March 2013
• Panel Member Doing Business in China Lancaster University Management School Wednesday 7th November 2012

Conference Papers:

• Easton, C. A golden ticket? Uber, Airbnb and the Chocolate Factory of the sharing economy Gikii Conference, Berlin 23rd-24th September 2015
• Easton, C. The role of the privacy impact assessment in IT Innovation in Crises: An Example ISCRAM Conference Kristiansand, Norway 24th-27th May 2015
• Easton, C. Analysing online intermediary liability: A rights-based perspective BILETA Conference UWE 9th-10th April, 2015
• Easton, C. An Analysis of the European Union's Law and Policy Relating to Website Accessibility Coherence in EU Internet Law Conference, Copenhagen Business School 9^th-10^th October 2014
• Invited talk: Easton, C. Access to the Internet and Human Rights International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference 3^rd-4^th October 2014
• Easton, C. "You will never walk again... but you will fly": Human augmentation in the known world Gikii Conference, Sussex University, 1^st-2^nd September 2014
• Easton, C. Hacking the hackers: The LulzSec saga and the future of hacktivism Centre for Crime, Law and Justice Launch Event, Lancaster University 30^th June - 1^st July 2014
• Büscher, M., Easton, C. et al Cloud Ethics for Disaster Response ISCRAM Conference Penn State University, USA, May 19^th 2014
• Easton. C. The digital divide, inclusion and access for disabled people in IT Supported Emergency Response Systems: A UK and EU-based analysis ISCRAM Conference Penn State University, USA, May 19th 2014
• Easton, C. Equal access to the Internet: A human rights analysis BILETA Conference, UEA, 14th-16th April 2014
• Easton, C. After the Hype: MOOCs and Legal Education BILETA Conference, UEA, 14^th-16^th April 2014
• Invited talk: Easton, C. Access to the Internet and the Development of Internet-focused Human Rights Instruments The Common European Constitutional Culture – Its Sources, Limits and Identity 6 -8 March 2014, Warsaw, Republic of Poland Supreme Administrative Court
• Easton, C. Are you but a number? The State, big data, the law and inclusion Cyberspace 2013 Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 22^nd-23^rd November, 2013
• Easton, C. Accessibility and equality through the eyes of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Gikii Bournemouth University 16^th-17^th September 2013
• Easton, C. Public Services and Big Data: Regulatory Challenges and Ethics BILETA Conference, Liverpool University, 10^th-12^th April 2013
• Easton, C. Court Circuit: Legal Issues Relating to Social Robots Case study: Johnny Five Gikii UEA, London Campus, 17^th-18^th September, 2012
• Easton, C. Ethics and self-regulation: an analysis of the position of ICANN and the expansion of generic top level domain names International Conference on Information Law and Ethics, Corfu, Greece 29^th-30^th June 2012
• Easton, C. Legal substance versus reality: a case study on accessible Internet design and mediation SCRIPT Conference The University of Edinburgh 6^th-8^th June 2012
• Easton, C. (2012) The digital divide and the disabled European ecitizen: The post-Lisbon future British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Conference Northumbria University 29-30 March 2012
• Easton, C. Revisiting the law on website accessibility in the light of the Equality Act 2010 and the UNCRPD British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association Conference 11-12 April 2011, Manchester Metropolitan University 2011
• Easton, C. 2008 An analysis of policy in relation to technology and disability: towards a universal service model Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference Manchester 19^th March 2008
• Easton, C. Online accessibility: the W3C Guidelines – a smokescreen for bad practice? Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference Kent 4^th April 2007
• Easton, C. An examination of IT policy in a developing nation: case study South Africa Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference Glasgow 8^th April 2004
• Easton, C. An examination of socio-legal issues surrounding access to technology Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference Nottingham15^th April 2003

Book Reviews:

• Easton, C. Disability and Information Technology: A Comparative Study in Media Regulation Eliza Varney Web Journal of Current Legal Issues, 2014 http://webjcli.org/article/view/375/475
• Easton, C. Intellectual Property Rights: Legal and Economic Challenges for Development edited by Mario Cimoli et al LSE Book Reviews, 2014 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2014/07/22/book-review-intellectual-property-rights-legal-and-economic-challenges-for-development/
• Easton, C. Achieving Impact in Research edited by Pam Denicolo LSE Book Reviews, 2014 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2014/01/22/book-review-achieving-impact-in-research-edited-by-pam-denicolo/
• Easton, C. Generational Use of New Media edited by Eugene Loos LSE Book Reviews, 2012 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2013/01/17/book-review-generational-use-of-new-media/

Other:

• Two entries in the SAGE Encyclopaedia of Social Media and Politic
• Driverless cars could change lives for disabled people, if we let them The Conversation 13^th August 2014 http://theconversation.com/driverless-cars-could-change-lives-for-disabled-people-if-we-let-them-30286
• The London meeting that could shape the future of the internet The Conversation 20^th July 2014 http://theconversation.com/the-london-meeting-that-could-shape-the-future-of-the-internet-28278
• EuroDIG 2014: Pockets of inspiration amid the protocol and formality Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition Blog June 2014 http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/eurodig-2014-pockets-of-inspiration-amid-the-protocol-and-formality/
• Fixing the Internet?: Reflections on the Internet Governance Forum Lancaster Law School Blog November 2013 http://lancslaw.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/fixing-the-internet-reflections-on-the-igf2013/
• Researching interactive technology at Vanderbilt University HEA Social Sciences Blog December 2012http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/social-sciences/2012/12/07/clickers-moocs-and-southern-hospitality-researching-interactive-technology-at-vanderbilt-university/
• Easton, C. Create/BILETA Response to the Government Consultation Technical review of draft legislation on copyright exceptions: education exceptions, 2013
• Easton, C. Carry on Automat(r)on: Legal and Ethical Issues relating to Healthcare Robots Society for Computers and the Law Magazine, 2013 http://www.scl.org/site.aspx?i=ed32369
• Easton, C. SCRIPT/BILETA Response to the Government Consultation "A Communications Review for a Digital Age" 2011 http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/research/itforesightforum/BILETA%20Communications%20Review.pdf

Legal Teaching and Learning Activities

• Peer reviewer in the area of interactive teaching for the Liverpool Law Review and the European Journal of Law and Technology
• Awardee of a 2012 HEA International Scholarship to carry out research into legal education and technology in the USA
• Invited panel member: What can we learn from the past decade in informing our approach to the future of legal education and education more generally? Liverpool Law School April 2013
• Invited external speaker: Edinburgh Law School Distance Learning LLM Teaching Review June 24th
• Facilitator of the National Law Student Forum, a national initiative to support student-centred legal curriculum development and participation
• Chair, Students as Partners Interactive Debate, HEA Conference 3-4 July 2013, The University of Warwick
• Presented a session as part of Lancaster University’s Educational Research Seminar Series on: Interaction and Engagement: What can MOOCs learn from clickers?’ 27th February 2013
• Leading a workshop session for Lancaster’s FASS Teaching Network on “Making our offerings distinctive in a competitive market” in November 2013
• Presented a session on interactive technology to students on the Lancaster University undergraduate course: "Learning in a Digital Age"
• Developer of the Higher Education Academy’s publication on the internationalisation of the higher education curriculum
• Presentations given on the use of interactive Classroom Response System Interactive Technology to teach law given at MMU and UWE
• Presented research into Classroom Response System Interactive Technology in a workshop at The HEA’s Scottish Legal Education Event, December 2011
• Gained funding to run a Higher Education Academy Discipline-based workshop session on the Changing Nature of Legal Education
• Creator of the online interactive teaching resources attached to John Fairhurst’s “Law of the European Union” textbook published by Pearson and Hilaire Barnett’s “Constitutional and Administrative Law” textbook published by Routledge
• Author of an interactive English Legal System book which seeks to present legal knowledge in a clear, accessible manner with a focus on the acquisition of core skills
• Developer of the Public Law and EU law areas of Pearson’s innovative Virtual Learning Environment

Conference Papers:

• Easton, C, et al HEA Ron Cooke International Scholars Interactive Panel Discussion HEA Conference 3-4 July 2013, The University of Warwick
• Easton, C. MOOCs: Too Connected for Effective Interaction? BILETA Conference, Liverpool University, 10th-12th April 2013
• Easton, C. Embedding ever-evolving interactive clicker technology in the legal curriculum: a best practice guide British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association Conference Manchester Metropolitan University April 2011
• Easton, C. Asking the Audience: Using Clicker Technology in Legal Education British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association Conference 21-23 April 2009, University of Winchester 2009
• Easton, C. An exploratory study into the use of interactive technology to teach law Learning in Law Association Conference Warwick University 24^th January 2009

Funding:

Higher Education Academy International Scholarship £8444

Lancaster University Early Career Small Grants Scheme Welfare that Works? Access to technology and disabled people: a capabilities-based analysis £1888

Security Lancaster Mini-project: The Future of Information Transparency £665

MMU Research Institute Collaborative Fellowship: The Internet, deliberative democracy and the learning disabled citizen £2460

MMU Promising Researcher Fellow 2011 £5000

BILETA interactive technology research grant 2010-2011 £2500

Socio-legal Studies Association travel grant to finance research in South Africa £650

Web Links

Twitter @EastonCatherine

PhD Supervision Interests

Dr Easton is willing to supervise PhDs in the general areas of internet law and intellectual property. Relevant topics include: Internet governance, website accessibility, domain name regulation, Internet service provider liability and online copyright infringements.