Ethics of Online Media

The Ethics of Online Media

By: Casey Pohl, Shawna Smith, Betsy Kohmetscher, and Gina Geier


The Internet is a tool that many people are familiar with in today's society. It can help us buy things online; communicate with friends we have not talked to in a while, listen to music, do research, and so many more things. However, there are many things about Internet that people do not consider when using the net and precautions they should take to protect themselves and their work. A word that we hear a lot in college is plagiarism. Plagiarism involves using other people's work and material to claim as your own. A lot of people today do not know the copyright and ethical issues of using online material. Another issues that is becoming more prevalent, is identity theft and sharing to much personal information even sometimes with those close to you. There are many things that Internet users should be more aware of to keep themselves out of trouble and in order to be safe.


With the Internet, it is easy to just copy and paste someone else's work and material into your own documents or websites. Many people know it is wrong to take material out of books because they precisely say, "all rights reserved" or have the copyright symbol where a lot of websites do not (http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/dec98/gajad1.htm#Free). It is also very hard to enforce copyright on the Internet because of all of the users of the net, (http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/internet/overview.php). Many people are taught that it is ethical and morally right to give credit where credit is due. According to the same website, www.copyright.gov the definition of copyright is “Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works”. Copyright focuses on material of such items as literature, art, music, sound recordings, and films and broadcasts, (http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/internet/overview.php). It is important to acknowledge the author for the form of their expression that they have allowed to share with you. As Internet users, it is also important to know what websites are giving you factual information. Some websites, such as Wikipedia.com, can be edited by anyone. Any internet user that has access can changed or edit what is on each page, without ever having to present research or faProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

s. It is also anonymous so you have no way of knowing who added the information. It can be easily fabricated. But not all websites have such editing options, like Wikipedia. There are lots of educational sites that are very dependable. A few ways to tell if the websites are more than likely true, is if they end in, .gov or .edu. “Gov” stands for government and “edu” stands for an academic site. Chances are these types of websites have material that is accurate and reliable. This information is acceptable to use as a reference in a research paper.


Certain websites are designed for sharing personal information, such as facebook.com. Since the internet is such a large search engine you must be careful about how much personal information you post on your website. Before posting information about yourself you should consider what not to include first. According to www.wiredsafety.org something that someone shouldn't include in a real, or full, name, e-mail address, home phone numbers, and home addresses. Www.safety.lovetoknow.com says not to include your date of birth, where you work, places you visit, or photographs with important landmarks in them.

There are basic things that are okay to share on your website. In blogs and friendly sites like Myspace.com, they want you to list some basic or simple information about yourself. These type of sites ask for your basic information when signing up. Things they ask about are name (first), networks, relationship status, hometowns, and what you are looking for (or creating the website for). These sites also have sections that are wide open for a user to fill out. Some of these sections include activities, likes, dislikes, favorites (movies, shows, books, etc.), quotes, and some even include a "basic info" section. The broader sections like these can vary in length depending on what a user chooses to include. These websites mostly let a user include photographs of themselves as well.


Before signing up for a website that shares your personal information it would be beneficial to read that website’s privacy policy. Privacy policies explain how your personal information can be shared with third parties on the website. Some websites allow the member to decide which information he or she wants to share with other members. Facebook.com, for example, lets a user decide if he or she wants to share their work or school information with "only friends, friends of friends, people in your network, everyone, or customize". It is really important to make sure to know who is exactly able to look at your site and information before posting any personal information. Another thing to keep in mind when expressing yourself on facebook or a blog, is to avoid incriminating information, such as photos. It is impossible to know for sure who has access to photos you upload or e-mail. There are serious repercussions for anyone caught with a photo of them doing something illegal. For example, if a high school student is in a photo with alcohol and the photo is online a school official as every right to report it to police.

The internet has proven to be one of the most convenient and useful inventions of our lifetime. But as our paper discussed it is important to protect yourself and to understand that you cannot believe everything you read. Unlike a newspaper, anyone can publish anything on the internet. And unlike shopping in an actually store, there are scams online that only want your personal information. While the benefits of the internet certainly outweigh the negatives it is still important to be well informed on how the internet works. You do not want to incriminate yourself, steal work from someone else or believe an opinion to be facts.


Bibliography

http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/dec98/gajad1.htm#Free

http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/dec98/gajad1.htm#Free

www.copyright.gov

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/internet/overview.php

http://faculty.washington.edu/macp/research/NetEthics.htm

www.wiredsafety.org

www.safety.lovetoknow.com

http://courses.wccnet.edu

http://courses.wccnet.edu/computer/mod/a12c.htm

Facebook.com

Myspace.com

Twitter.com