Ethical Issues: Safety, Security & Netiquette

• Completion of this module enables discussion of ethical issues in safety/security, understanding plagiarism significance, and awareness of limited access to information/communication technologies.

Ethical Issues for Safety and Security

• Social networking involves websites/services connecting individuals online with similar interests, like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.
• Acceptable Use Policies are established by network administrators or school leaders regarding technology needs and safety.
• Netiquette involves online behavior that is appropriate and courteous, derived from "net" (internet) and "etiquette"; it includes respecting views and courtesy in online discussions.
• Cyberbullying utilizes social networking sites or technologies like text messaging.
  • Cyberbullying differs from regular bullying due to its invasiveness, wider audience, and constant accessibility.
• Student data is impacted by computer technologies that revolutionize data gathering, storing, manipulating and communicating.
  • Students have the right to control the use of their personal information.
• Internet privacy is impacted due to online tracking, IP addresses that can trace location.
  • Being aware of private info shared online, protecting passwords, and not sharing confidential information are vital.

Digital Divide

• The digital divide refers to unequal access to information and communication technologies across community segments.
• Factors include gender, socio-economic status, race, resource equity, and teacher bias.
• Gender differences exist in internet usage, IT driving men, women being more passive, men favor video games, and women favoring chatting and email.
• Socio-economic factors affect access to technology reducing availability of resources for those in poverty, widening the divide.
• Race: minority groups fall behind in informational technology skills because of limited access due to their socio-economic standings.
• The lack of practice with informational technology skills among minorities may lead to limited success in relevant careers.
• Resource equity entails having equal access to technology and is important for quality education, helping bridge the digital divide.
• Teacher bias affects how students use and understand technology based on teaching methods and classroom technology use.

Legal Use of Digital Media

• Copyright grants creators the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display their work.
  • It protects creators from theft and ensures they benefit from their creations.
• Plagiarism is using another's words/ideas without credit, passing them off as one's own.

Types of Plagiarism

• "The Ghost Writer": turning in another's work, word for word, as one's own.
• "The Photocopy": copying significant portions of text straight from a single source without alteration.
• "The Potluck Paper": copying from several sources and tweaking sentences to make them fit together.
• "The Poor Disguise": slightly altering the paper's appearance by changing keywords and phrases.
• "The Labor of Laziness": paraphrasing most of the paper and organizing it from other sources.
• "The Self-Stealer": generously borrowing from one's previous work.
• "The Forgotten Footnote": mentioning the author but not providing specific information on the material location.
• "The Misinformer": providing inaccurate information regarding the sources, making it impossible to find them.
• "The Too-Perfect Paraphrase": citing a source but not using quotation marks for word-for-word copied text.
• "The Resourceful Citer": properly citing all sources, paraphrasing, and using quotations, but the paper is almost entirely unoriginal.
• "The Perfect Crime": properly quotes and cites sources in some places but goes on to paraphrase other arguments from those sources without citation.
• Images, videos, and music requires proper permission or citations.
  • Copying media from websites, using footage/music from others' videos, performing/composing copyrighted music without permission are considered plagiarism.

Human Intellectual Property Rights

• The module enables discussion of the significance of intellectual property rights.
• It applies intellectual property law principles to real problems and analyze the social impact of IP law/policy.
• Intellectual Property (IP) involves creations of the mind, like inventions, literary/artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce.
• IP is protected by patents, copyrights, and trademarks, enabling creators to gain recognition or financial benefits for their creations.
  • The IP system encourages creativity and innovation by balancing the interests of innovators and the public.

Types of Intellectual Property

• Copyright is a legal right describing the rights creators have over literary and artistic works.
  • Copyright ranges from books, music, films, computer programs, databases, maps, and technical drawings.
• Legal rights are granted to creations that express or embody an idea, which includes the rights to copy, distribute, reproduce, and license the work.
  • Examples of copyrightable works include software, architectural designs, graphic arts, video/sound recordings, books, and databases.
• Original work rights exist without registering the copyright, but registration gives more leverage to take an infringer to court.
  • Employer are automatically copyright owner.
• Copyright allows individuals to profit from their creative assets.
  • Copyrighted assets are sold and leased for license fees/royalties.
  • A copyright lasts 70 years after the owner's death; owned by corporation and lasts 95 years from the first date of its use. You can register a copyright with the US Copyright Office.
• Patents are an exclusive right given for an invention
  • It provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
  • Technical information on an invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.
• Trademarks can distinguish the goods/services of one enterprise from those of others.
  • Trademarks are protected by intellectual property rights.
• Industrial design is the ornamental aspect of an article and involve three-dimensional or two-dimensional features.
• Geographical indication identifies a product originating in a given place, with qualities/characteristics essentially due to that place of origin.
• Trade secrets are intellectual property rights on confidential information which may be sold or licensed.
  • Requirements include commercial value due to secrecy, limited access, and measures to maintain secrecy.
• Unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of trade secrets is an unfair practice/violation of trade secret protection.

Topics To Take Action

• World IP Day: April 26, it promotes discussion on the role of IP in encouraging innovation and creativity
• WIPO awards: member states foster a culture in which innovation and creativity are celebrated, all nominations are submitted through national IP offices.