Title

Ethical and Legal Issues on the Internet

Assessment A, Part 1: NBC News Interview
What are the main ethical issues on college campuses today?
Plagiarism, cheating and copyright infringement.
o you thin! the Internet has made students less ethical?
The Internet doesn't make people unethical; it only enables unethical people to do what they were always going
to do cheat, plagiari!e, infringe on copyrights easier and faster.
What can colleges do today to help encourage academic integrity and deter unethical "ehavior?
"y establishing a code of ethics that clearly defines what is acceptable beha#ior and taking disciplinary action
against those that break the code.
Where is "logging going in the #uture?
"logging will become a more credible and #aluable way to e$amine social, political, cultural, legal and
entertainment issues.
Why should we pay any attention to what you say in your "log?
%ou don't ha#e to ha#e an ad#anced degree to be an e$pert in something, ha#e an opinion or facilitate a
discussion. &nd most bloggers don't claim to be anything more than regular people sharing ideas.
$ow do you see micro%"logging sites li!e &witter and &um"lr a##ecting news delivery?
'icroblogging allows real people on the scene to report realtime e#ents to the whole world. It adds firstperson
depth to the news and allows us to see into news stories that (ournalists wouldn't ha#e access to.
o you thin! "loggers or micro%"loggers should also a"ide "y a code o# ethics?
%es and no. I think that some bloggers should be allowed to (oin the )ociety of Professional *ournalists. Then,
they would ha#e to abide by their code of ethics.
Assessment A, Part ': NBC News Interview
I# you !new someone "ought a term paper, would you turn them in?
I would speak to them about it but the ultimate decision lies with them.
$ow do you view the e(panding role o# "logs in reporting current news?
It o#eral a good thing..the more sources the better as long as the integrity remains
o you thin! "loggers should give the news media a little respect and )ust #ollow and comment on the news,
instead o# "rea! it?
absolutely not ..if the bloggers are more efficient..then more power to them..in the spirit of competitian
Assessment B: Write a Blog *ntry
Blog entry:
&cademic integrity concerns us all, whether we are students, faculty, administrators, or staff members of theany
gi#en uni#ersity. It is this way because we are all members of the academic community, and as such, we ha#e
obligations to each other and oursel#es in matters of self discipline and academic integrity. +ere are ,- .ules of
responsible blogging from the website, blog.sponsoredre#iews.com . These rules co#er all aspects. ,. /heck your
facts0 technology makes it incredibly easy to produce and share content nowadays. The result is that information
is spreading like fire through social networks, bookmarking sites and blogs. 1nfortunately we are talking about
both correct and incorrect information. 'ake sure to check your facts before publishing posts or articles, else you
might not only look dumb, but also misinform and damage other people. 2. .espect /opyright Law0 people
Assessment B: Write a Blog *ntry
Blog entry:
wrongly associate online content with public domain content. 3id you know that e#ery published material is
copyrighted e#en if it does not show a copyright notice4 'ore importantly, e#en if you remo#e the copyrighted
content after the author contacts you the copyright infringement will still e$ist. Learn the basics of the /opyright
Law to a#oid costly mistakes. 5. 6/onsider the implications0 as mentioned before information on the Internet
spreads like fire. /onsider the implications of what you write, and remember that once you hit 6Publish6 you will
immediately lose control o#er those words. The 7athy )ierra case is a good e$ample, maybe what was supposed
to be a (oke 8e#en if a 9uite harsh one: ended up damaging her career and arousing a discussion on the whole
blogosphere.6 ;. 6/ontrol the comments0 anything that is published on your blog is your responsibility; that means
that you should control not only the information that you include on the posts and articles but also what your
readers add through the comments. <irst of all you could create a comment policy and attach a link to the
comment form. This will ensure that readers are aware of what they can and can not say in a comment. =. 6>i#e
credit where credit is due0 always reference your sources. If you do not want to mention an e$ternal website on
your content (ust add a link at the end of the post saying 6?ia0 .eference.com6. This practice is not only
important under an ethical point of #iew, but it also ensures that readers can e#entually dig to the root of the
facts. )econdly e#en if you are using free templates or open source software like @ordpress make sure to credit
the authors.6 A.6 3isclose professional relationships0 if you work for a company or institution disclose it on the
6&bout6 page. E$plicitly declare that the #iews e$pressed on the blog are yours and not the ones from your
employer 8unless you are blogging for that employer, ob#iously:. & good e$ample of such disclosure can be seen
on Tech/runch. /heck the bottom of the 6&bout6 page and you will see that 'ichael &rrington discloses all the
companies that he participates or has in#ested in.6 B. 63isclose sponsored posts0 sponsored re#iews represent an
efficient way for ad#ertisers to build bu!! and for bloggers to earn money. It is essential, howe#er, that you make
your position regarding those posts transparent in front of your readers. <irst of all you can insert a disclosure
notice at the end of the sponsored post. )econdly you can create a dedicated page on your blog outlining how
sponsored re#iews will be treated and what the readers should e$pect from them.6 C. 6"e transparent with
affiliate links0 many affiliate marketers use techni9ues like 6link cloaking6 so that readers are not able to identify
affiliate links. @hile this method might increase your re#enues on the short term it will probably be a bad idea
o#er the long run. & decei#ed #isitor is a lost #isitor. <ocus and on creating #alue for the reader and you will not
e#en need to hide your affiliate links; if people belie#e in your work they will certainly accept your recommend6
D 2--E Toolwire, Inc. &ll rights reser#ed.