Young people on the Internet may do something illegal or unethical without necessarily knowing they are doing so. Plagiarism, unauthorized copying of songs, games and software, and the sending of ambiguous or hurtful messages (cyberbullying) are examples of activities that the Internet and other new communications technologies make easy. That’s why it is important for parents to be aware of these ethical questions, so they can teach their children to behave responsibly on the Internet.
Copyright
The downloading or exchange of songs and software using the Internet, the use of photos found on the Internet, or the copying of articles from the daily online newspapers may constitute a contravention of the Copyright Act.
According to the law, the creator of a work has “the sole right to produce or reproduce the work or any substantial part thereof in any material form whatever” [1] or to authorize the reproduction of the work. This means that no one has the right to copy a work that is not his/her own creation, unless the author gives explicit permission to do so.
Even when there is no explicit use of the phrase “protected by copyright” or the sign “©” on a Web page, the searcher is not authorized to copy the text or the photos found on that page. According to the Canadian law, the author does not have to register a work or make mention of copyright to have the work protected. Texts, images, films, music, and animation are automatically protected as soon as they have been finalized and put in any material form or medium whatever.
Copyright ensures symbolic recognition and compensation for the work of creation, which, in turn, encourages the creation of new works. [2] Infringement of copyright and illegal reproduction, on the contrary, deprive creators of some of their income. If their income is too small, they will have difficulty producing new works.
In order to encourage as much access to knowledge and cultural products as possible, there are exemptions to the law that are considered to be fair dealing. The law allows persons, under certain conditions, to use a work protected by copyright for “private study or research” [3] or to write a review of the work. It is possible, for example, to make a copy of a work for private use that excludes the possibility of its use for commercial purposes or for distribution. One can also, legally, use a passage from the text of another author in one’s own text as long as the author is identified and a complete citation of the work is given.
Plagiarism and Infringement of Copyright
To take the work of another person as one’s own, to neglect to cite the source or to omit the name of the author of a text used in one’s own work – these acts constitute infringement of copyright. Plagiarism is a contravention of the Copyright Act for which a person can be punished.
The Internet has made plagiarism easy. It is quick and easy to copy a text from a work or encyclopedia on the Net, to reformat it with a word processing software and to submit it as an assignment to the teacher. For this reason, schools have noticed a large increase in the number of cases of plagiarism in recent years.
Most students know that it is illegal and dishonest to present the work of another person as one’s own, but few know how to correctly cite a work taken from the Web. However, a quotation that is not identified or given a reference is also an act of plagiarism.
It is necessary to inform young people of what they can and cannot do when they are preparing a school assignment or preparing a Web page. This instruction will allow them to avoid penalties, because in most schools, a paper that has been plagiarized, in part or as a whole, will receive a zero. The positive side of this instruction is that it develops the ethical sense in young people. As well, according to a study by Joy H. McGregor and Denise C. Streitenberger, entitled Do Scribes Learn?: Copying and Information Use, young people who have received instruction on how to do research and the importance of intellectual rigour are less likely to plagiarize or cheat. [4]
Thus, a young person should know how an idea used in a text is protected by copyright, and how the idea, if it is copied, should be cited. In contrast, raw information and ideas that are found in the public domain may be used without acknowledgement of the source. A young person can, for example, use one or more texts and take from them the information to be used in the assignment. If this information is expressed in the words of the student, the work is considered legal and legitimate. The Guidelines for Copyright put out by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) provides a list of examples of protected and unprotected copyrighted works, as well as examples of the infringement or non-infringement of the Act.
Netiquette
Laws that apply in real life also apply in cyberspace; the same rule applies to issues of courtesy and respect for others. Some social conventions have been added for behaviour on the Net, because of the particular nature of this communications technology.
Known as Netiquette, these rules have been developed to guide surfers in cyberspace. They remind us that although the distance on the network, created by the technology, is real, the people to whom we are talking are human beings and deserve our respect.
Various guides for appropriate cyber behaviour are available on the Web. They all contain the same basic rules and the same objective: to make the use of the Internet as pleasant as possible for surfers. Respecting these rules benefits everyone.
In e-mails, as well as in chat rooms and online discussion groups, brevity and clarity are encouraged. Since writing is more difficult to understand and interpret than conversation, it is a good idea to be explicit about the tone of the message through phrasing (e.g. I am kidding) or through signs (a smiling face). For the same reason, Netiquette recommends caution, when making a humorous, ironic or sarcastic remark, because it can be easily misinterpreted. Courtesy and respect are never out of place!
[1]. Department of Justice Canada. Copyright Act (Chap. C-42). Article 3.1. Viewed online, April 29, 2004.
[2] The Copyright Forum. Discussion Paper On Digital Copyright Issues. June 2001.
[3] Department of Justice Canada. Copyright Act (Chap. C-42). Part III, Article. 29. Viewed online, April 29, 2004.
[4] Joy H. McGregor and Denise C. Streitenberger, Do Scribes Learn?: Copying and Information Use. Viewed online, April 29, 2004.
THE ISSUES
Internet Security
Cybermarketing and Personal Privacy on the Internet
Research and the Evaluation of Online Information
Internet Citizenship
BECOMING INVOLVED
Web Awareness for Parents
Web Awareness for Young People
