Social and Ethical Issues

This lecture will be focussing on social and ethical issues/problems involved with internet. Firstly we need to know why are there problems with using the internet and this can only be achieved by looking at the characteristicas of internet, its users and the information found on the internet: Characteristics of internet as an open protocol and that there are no enforceable standardsis a factor in the problems involved with internet. Secondly Characteristics of information found on the internet is also part of the problem since anyone can publish any work and the fact that there are no control on bias or unethical information. Finally the users of internet are part of the issue being disscussed as there is a number of smart people and also lowly educated people on internet which are all part of the problem. Having comprehended the characteristics of internet it is therefore important to know the actual problem that internet bring. Below is a list of the problems that the internet have:

•Intellectual Property can mean inventions, ideas, music and movies.

•Copyright means the right to copy

•Plagiarism is using other people's ideas without acknowledging where the information came from. This problems can be dealt with by making sure that other people's ideas are acknowledged and make sure to always copy and paste the url that you got information from.

•Security issues include content theft

•Privacy include rights of individuals and organisations

You can protect your self from such things as content and password theft by installing firewalls and also install antivirus and learn about unsafe attachments.

Principles for protecting yourself and and your pc:

• Do not give personal information about yourself
• Do not reply to spam mail
• Set online programs such as MSN messenger and internet browsers to maximum security settings
• Update your anti virus software at least weekly
• Always scan documents before openning them for the first time.
  •Freedom of Speech

Tutorial Summary

Task 1

One of the five information sheets is the introduction to copyright in Australia, I believe it is very important to know about the way copyright operates in Australia as an undergraduate, although one might have a fair idea about how copy right operates it is important to know the entire concept and that is why reading and understanding introduction to copyright in Australia will constitute my list of five.

As part of my list of five I choose to include the research and study information sheet, this is because as Univesity studies wheels around research it is important to know what is right or wrong when researching a topic and by reading this information sheet familiarises one with how much information one can use form other people's work without plagiarism.

As part of my list of five I choose to include Educational Institutions and introduction to copyright, this is becuase it is critical to know what are the limits when using information from other sources for educational purposes since if this is not done it can lead to plagiarism.

It is also important to have an idea about copyright in America as most of the information found on the internet comes from the United States.

Lastly I choose libraries and copyright, as an undergraduate library will always be the first place to go for information pertaining to assignments and it therefore means it very important to know copyright connected to libraries and information they provide.

Task 2

Having looked at the website about music and the web and based on the information on the website it is simple and clear that music online is not free. Many people go online to download music while not knowing that song writers make money out of selling music and therefore it should be known that there is no free music online.

Task 3

Plan to protect myself from viruses and trojans

1. Do not give personal information about yourself
2. Do not reply to spam mail
3. Set online programs such as MSN messenger and Internet browsers to maximum security settings
4. Update your antivirus software atleast weekly
5. Always scan documents before openning them for the first time

It is important for the above steps to be regularly done because if these do not happen it can result in data loss, identity theft and damage of computer files.

Reading One summary: