Computer Technology RULES, LAWS, ETHICS By Megan Rees

 Law – A system of rules that are enforced by a country or community to govern behavior. When laws are broken, legal action can be taken  Rule - One of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere. Disobeying rules can cause disciplinary action.  Ethics – Moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior. Being unethical can danger your moral character, but may or may not be illegal or even against the rules. RULES, LAWS, ETHICS

 Don’t kill people  Don’t jump on the furniture  Don’t cheat on your test  Don’t steal someone’s identity  Don’t read someone’s mail  Don’t spy on your neighbor  Throw your trash away  Don’t blackmail your friends LAW, RULE, OR ETHICS? Rul e Law Rul e Ethics Law Ethics Rul e Ethics

ItemLawRuleEthics SmokingSmoking in non- smoking public areas Smoking in the house Smoking around children Reporting a crime Teachers, counselors, nurses At school or work Social pressure at work or school Telling the truthOn the witness stand At school or work All the time!

 Any software or data created with a computer is owned by its creator and is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's in any tangible form. "Tangible" means it's recorded somehow.  So you can't copyright a thought, but if you write it down the writing is automatically copyrighted without doing anything else.  No—you can’t sue for someone “stealing your idea” COPYRIGHT

 It is important to note that when a corporate employer hires someone to develop a program for the company, this is known as "work made for hire."  Under this legal doctrine the employer (the corporation) owns the copyright and the employee forfeits all rights.  This is not controversial in the corporate sector, but in the education sector it is possible to have a shared copyright between the school, instructors and developers. (Of course, this is up to the school.) WORK FOR HIRE

 Public domain software is software that has been placed in the public domain, in other words there is absolutely no ownership such as copyright, trademark, or patent.  Trademark: A recognizable sign, design or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others  Patent: Exclusive rights granted to the creator for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention.  Snafu, XOS, SMUCL, BLAST, Phyz, etc. PUBLIC DOMAIN LICENSE

 Freeware – Still owned and copyrighted, but available for use at no cost  May have some limitations attached such as  Cannot be changed  Cannot be redistributed  Personal non-commercial use only  Examples: Pegasus mail, Opera, Mpeg Steamclip  Not the same as “Free software” where the source code is available to the user, who can make changes, improve and re-distribute.  Examples: Audacity, Evolve 4.0, VirtualBox, Greenshot, Cdex, etc FREEWARE LICENSE

 Shareware is proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience.  Functionality – Only some aspects of the program are available for free  Availability – Program only works for a limited amount of time  Convenience – Nagging dialogue boxes that appear until you purchase  “Free Trial” or “trial version” indicates shareware.  Restrictions apply; modification, sharing, studying, redistribution, etc.  Examples: Pocket tanks, Winzip, WinRAR, Dropbox SHAREWARE LICENSE

 Indicates that the copyright holder reserves, or holds for their own use, all the rights provided by copyright law, such as distribution, performance, and creation of derivative works; that is, they have not waived any such right.  You can install and operate the software on only one PC at a time.  You can make only one back-up copy of the software.  If you give the software to anyone, you also give up permission to use the software.  You are not to modify the software in any way.  Examples: Microsoft Office, Photoshop— pretty much everything! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No copyright, free to all Public Domain Copyrighted but free Freeware Copyrighted with use restrictions Shareware Copyrighted, at a cost, all restrictions possible All Rights Reserved

 Even though computers and the Internet allow easy access for cutting and pasting items, it is considered plagiarism when the creator has not given permission and/or been given credit for his/her work. To be legally and ethically correct, it is imperative to cite where the information was found and give the creator credit even when no copyright is evident. On many campuses, plagiarism, such as cutting and pasting from Internet sources without attribution, can result in severe consequences, ranging from failure of class to suspension or expulsion from the institution. INTERNET CITATIONS

 A set of rules applied by the owner/manager of a network, website or large computer system that restrict the ways in which the network, website or system may be used.  AUP documents are written for corporations, businesses, universities, schools, internet service providers, and website owners. ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

 Creation and transmission of rude, offensive, obscene or indecent documents or images  Creation or transmission of material which is designed to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety  Creation of defamatory material  Creation and transmission that infringes on copyright  At Universities and schools: that internet usage is a privelage and not a right.  Which areas can be accessed or saved to  Signers are accountable for what they do  Refrain from illegal, unethical or obscene activities  No access to pornographic material AUP’S RULES MAY INCLUDE: