Jonathan Magee's List: Facts of Digital Law

• Cyber plagiarism occurs when a person uses internet technology to locate, copy, and submit the work of another without citing the source of information.
• Why Students Plagiarize
   
   * Students are afraid to fail.
   
   * Schools and parents create an atmosphere that focuses on grades and achievement.
   
   * Overscheduled students lack the time to complete assignments.
   
   * Students do not understand plagiarism and the proper use of citations.
   
   * It is easy to obtain documents on any subject.
   
   * Students do not fear getting caught because many teachers never realize their students are plagiarizing.
   
• How Students Plagiarize
   
   * Search Engines: Students simply type a phrase into Google or Bing and they quickly have access to hundreds of Websites about the topic. A quick cut and paste places the information directly into a student’s document.
   
   * Electronic Documents: Students can easily share their work with other students by creating and maintaining their documents electronically. The document can be passed to another student via email or a USB card.
   
   * Web Paper Mills: Documents covering any topic can be purchased and downloaded from countless websites.
   

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• Internet-based information has had a profound effect on the way people can now educate themselves from a pool of seemingly endless content.
• plagiarism as “appropriating the writings, graphic representation, or ideas of another person to represent them as one's own work without proper attribution” (The Online Ethics…).
• Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional with a majority of student's claiming they did not know they needed to site sources in the first place (Logue 40).

• Plagiarism is not illegal, but all academic institutions have some sort of disciplinary action against it. As opposed to copyright infringement, which is the stealing of others' ideas for financial gain, plagiarism is the stealing of ideas for non-profit use.

   
• first recorded instances of plagiarism occurred in AD 561 when an Irish monk named Finnian lent another monk named Colmcille a religious manuscript that Finnian had written and illustrated.
• Colmcille, impressed by Finnian's work, proceeded to copy the words from the manuscript before retuning it to Finnian.
• Using the Internet to copy and paste information out of online works and into word-processed research papers has become known as “cyber-plagiarism” (Lathrop and Foss 18), or as some English teachers like to call it “patchwork plagiarism.” (Benning A1)

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• Plagiarism has been around for as long as there have been students.  However, the advent of the Internet has dramatically increased the opportunities and ease to plagiarize.  The phenomenon of plagiarism is affecting Universities all around the globe.
• In a 1999 survey of American students conducted by the Center of Academic Integrity at Duke University, 68% of the 2,100 students polled said that they had committed at least one academic offence such as plagiarizing (Quan F1).
• Larry McKill, the Associate Dean of Arts, Student Programs at the University of Alberta, estimates about 70 people were proven to have plagiarized during the academic year 2000 in the Faculty of Arts (Gold F1).
• • During the same year, at the University of Ottawa, 18 students in the faculty of arts and sciences were disciplined for plagiarism; Carleton University reported 50 cases of plagiarism; and at the University of Toronto over 200 cases of plagiarism are reported each year (Quan F1).
   
   
   
   
• • Most university administrators believe that the number of unreported cases of
    plagiarism far exceeds reported numbers (Quan F1).
   
   

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•   

  Digital Rights and Responsibilities (Secondary): the privileges and freedoms extended to all digital technology users, and the behavioral expectations that come with them

   
• Cyberbullying 

  Cyberbullying is the use of e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, pagers, cell phones, or other forms of information technology to deliberately harass, threaten, or intimidate someone.
• Social Networking  

  Social networking is the practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or   social contacts by making connections through individuals. While the number of ways to interact via the Internet are rapidly increasing, so are the  types of online social networking dangers
• Sexting 

  In this lesson students will define the term sexting and outline the dangers of sharing explicit photos or other images online.
• Online Safety & Internet Predators  

  When it comes to Internet safety, many students do not worry about it. They think they are immortal. They are very trusting of others even though parents tell their kids "don't talk to strangers".

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• Digital citizens have the right to privacy, free speech,
• Basic digital rights must be addressed, discussed, and understood in the digital world.
• these rights also come responsibilities as well. Users must help define how the technology is to be used in an appropriate manner

• Some examples of issues involving digital rights and responsibilities include:

   
  • Plagerism- Most students don't know the copy right laws and thus plagerise wich is unresponsible.
  • Being unsafe- A lot of kids give out too much personal information that they shouldn't be and that is very unresponsible.
  • Cyber bullying- Kids don't understand that bullying online is no different from bullying in real life and that it is extremely wrong.

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• The privileges all digital technology users have and the expected behaviors that go along with those privileges.

• Digital citizens have "digital rights" just as U.S. citizens have Consititutional rights, such as the constitutional right to privacy and to free speech. These rights, however, come with responsibilities and expectations that you will behave and use technology appropriately. Topics included under Digital Rights and Responsibilities include:

   
   
  • Citing sources and plagiarizing.
   
  • Using digital devices for the wrong reasons, such as cheating in school or harrassing others.
   
  • Abiding by the school's agreement of acceptable use when using school technology.
   
  • Reporting violations of your personal rights or violations of other's.

• Technology access in the 21st Century has created an increasing demand to prepare our students to use that technology safely, legally, and ethically in our school systems as well as socially and eventually professionally.
• "Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use."   --Mike Ribble
•  Digital Citizenship    Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:                 

  a.	advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
  b.	exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
  c.	demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
  d.	exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.
•  Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility     

  Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:

                               

  a.	advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
  b.	address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources.
  c.	promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
  d.	develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools.
• • Digital Access: full electronic participation in society (sometimes called Digital Divide)
    
  • Limiting Factors: Socioeconomic status, disability, gender, physical location, limited integration at school or not meeting needs of those without access at home
• • Digital Commerce: the buying and selling of goods online 
  • Limiting Factors: illegal/immoral goods, SPAM, spoofs, confusion over auction v. retail sites, identity privacy, poor credit, lack of education opportunities for students
• • Digital Communication: the electronic exchange of information 
  • Limiting Factors: multiple tools, almost unlimited access, instant communication, balancing safety and appropriate communication
• • Digital Literacy: the capability to use digital technology and knowing when and how to use it 
  • Limiting Factors: Using online tools, evaluating online sources,
• •   Digital Etiquette: the standards of conduct expected by other digital technology users 
  • Limiting Factors: Constantly changing ability of tools, digital kids' expanding usage and application, cyberbullying
• • Digital Law: the legal rights and restrictions governing technology use 
  • Limiting Factors: file sharing, copyright violation, academic
• • Digital Rights and Responsibilities: the privileges and freedoms extended to all digital technology users, and the behavioral expectations that come with them 
  • Limiting Factors: safety, honesty, cheating
• • Digital Health and Wellness: the elements of physical and psychological well-being related to digital technology use 
  • Limiting Factors: physical and pscyhological impacts like carpel tunnel, eye strain, poor posture, addictions
• • Digital Security: the precautions that all technology users must take to guarantee their personal safety and the security of their network 
  • Limiting Factors: hardware and software security, personal information security, school and library security,

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• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
• Many people assume that online content, or content found on Web   sites, is not subject to copyright law and may be freely used   and modified without permission
• Copyright law protects almost all content on the Web or in any   other digital or electronic form

• Any copyright-protected content in a non-digital form   will be protected in a digital form. Examples of copyright-protected   materials include:

   
   
  • Print and electronic books
   
  • Analog and digital musical recordings
   
  • Print and e-mail letters
   
  • Web sites
   
  • Embedded works in Web sites
• Scanning
    Scanning or digitizing a work (such as an article, book   excerpt or photograph) produces a reproduction of that work. Prior   to scanning a work, you must obtain permission from the copyright   holder or its agent.
• Using Content from a Web Site
    Before using any content on a Web site, you should determine   its copyright status and, if necessary, obtain permission from   the copyright holder or its agent.

• P

  osting Content to a Web Site
    Posting copyright-protected content on a Web site requires   permission from the copyright holder or its agent.

   
• Forwarding E-Mail
    The copyright in an e-mail belongs to the author of the   e-mail. The copyright in an e-mail attachment belongs to the author   of the attachment. You must obtain permission from the applicable   copyright holder(s) or their agent(s) prior to forwarding an e-mail   or e-mail attachment.
• Linking to a Web Site
    A link on a Web site lets you click and connect to another   area of the same site or to a different site. A link from your   site to another Web site (especially to a page other than the   homepage) may need the consent of that Web site's owner. U.S.   law is not clear on this issue. In an effort to be safe, many   organizations only link their own sites to the public home pages   (rather than the internal pages) of other Web sites. To ensure   compliance, obtain permission even to link to another Web site's   home page.
• Electronic Discussion Lists, Bulletin Boards and Newsgroups
    Copyright law protects all types of electronic discussions,   including messages that appear in your e-mail inbox or ones that   you access from a Web site or computer network. You should not   reproduce or forward any comments from any electronic discussion   list, bulletin board or newsgroup without the permission of the   copyright holder or its agent.

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• The owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work and to distribute it to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending.
• Original works of authorship in any format may be copyrighted, including literary, musical, pictorial, and audiovisual works, as well as computer programs and software.
• Generally, a work is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is given a term enduring for the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's death.
• Notice of copyright generally appears on the title page of a volume or verso. It may take one of three forms: the word "Copyright," the symbol ©, or the abbreviation "Copr."
• the copyright notice may appear either on the item or on the container. The absence of a copyright notice does not necessarily mean that the work may be freely copied.
• Copyright is sometimes followed by the statement: "All Rights Reserved.
• Representatives of publishers, authors, and educators agreed on minimum standards of educational fair use of copyrighted materials in a 1976 "Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions with Respect to Books and Periodicals."
• • a chapter from a book
   
  • a single article from a periodical or newspaper issue
   
  • a short story, short essay, or short poem
   
  • a chart, graph, diagram, cartoon, or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper
• The guidelines for multiple copies for classroom are more restrictive. "Educational use" alone is not sufficient to qualify as "Fair use.
• • a complete article is less than 2,500 words in length
   
  • an excerpt of a prose work is no longer than 10% of the work or 1,000 words, whichever is shorter
   
  • a short poem or excerpt of a poem is no longer than 250 words or no more than one article, story, poem, or essay, or two excerpts are from the same author

• Regardless of the above, the following copying activities are always prohibited:

   
   
  • copying to create, replace, or substitute for anthologies, compilations, or collective works
   
  • copying of or from a work intended to be "consumable in the course of study, including workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, answer sheets, etc.
   
  • copying to substitute for the purchase of books or periodicals
   
  • copying in excess of "Fair Use" even when directed by a higher authority, such as a dean or department chairperson
   
  • copying of the same item by the same teacher from term to term, without permission
   
  • copying with any charges to students beyond the cost of photocopying

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• Copyright issues quickly become complicated by the circumstances in which creative works are made or infringed upon- which explains why creative professionals defer to their lawyers when difficulties arise.

• 1. Your work: You own the copyright (the right to use and reproduce your work) from the second you create the work (press the shutter, click the record button, etc) until and unless you assign any of your rights to someone else.

   
• 2. Work for Hire: If you’re an employee of a company for whom you are generating images, music etc. the copyrights to that material belong to the company. 
• 3. Freelance Work: You own the rights to any images/music/written material you make during a freelance assignment unless you have agreed to sell some or all of the rights to the client.

• 4. Ideas: You can’t copyright an idea (only the actual production of an idea).

   

  5. Registering a Copyright: There is a procedure for registering your materials in the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress.  There is a small fee to do so but registered copyrights will give you a large advantage should you need to sue someone’s ass off who infringed on your copyright.

• 6. © You do not have to place the copyright symbol with your name and “year created” near your published or printed materials- but if you do it’s easier to nail someone for infringement on your copyright if you go to court.

   

  7. Infringement: A fashionable flourish along sleeves or perhaps the seam of your pants that was popular in the 60’s. (And especially: when someone uses copyright protected material without permission it is illegal and called an “infringement”).

   

• 8. Internet: If someone swipes your picture/song/video from the internet and uses it for their own purposes, it is a copyright infringement. (Btw, the same is true if you nick some else’s material for your own purposes.)

   

  9. Public Domain: Pictures, compositions and other “works” whose copyright protection has expired (old stuff) or “works” that were never covered by copyright law (really old stuff) are not copyright protected and are considered in the “public domain” thus can be legally used by anyone.

• 10. Fair Use: Exceptions to copyright protection include newspapers using copyrighted materials without permission for reporting and teachers who make multiple copies of copyrighted materials for classroom distribution.  There also seems to be some wiggle room with using copyrighted materials for portfolios, especially student portfolios.

   

   

   

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• Digital Law deals with society’s behaviour with using technology.
• On the internet, people get in trouble by the law or by their schools by doing the wrong thing online.
• Some examples of what digital law deals with are plagiarism, illegal downloading of music, hacking and creating worms or viruses. Plagiarism is the most common thing that teenagers usually do.

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• "Digital Law is defined as the electronic responsibility for actions, deeds which is either ethical or unethical. Digital responsibility deals with the ethics of technology
• It is basically about what you are and are not allowed to do while surfing and using the Internet

• Digital Law relates to crimes of stealing or causing damage to other people’s work, identity, or digital property.  
   
  • Stealing someone's identity is called identity theft. (Covered in Section #7, Digital Security.)
   
  • Stealing someone's digital property can be intellectual property theft, digital piracy, or plagiarism.
   
  • Causing damage to others would be crimes such as hacking or creating and sending viruses.