Managing Copyright, Ethics, and Privacy in an IT Environment - Assignment Example

Copyrights, Ethics and Privacy in IT Environment Name Professor’s Name Course name Date Review current Australian copyright law Australian copyright law was established to protect intellectual property rights of various innovative works in Australia. The copyrights apply to creative works that include literary works, dramatic works, musical works, artistic works, films, sound recordings, broadcasts and published edition. Copyrights are independent especially in contents that come as packages. For instance, in digital content, the online site developer has a separate copyright from the content developer. The independence of copyrights must ensure that all the levels of copyright issues are considered. Technically the consideration of copyright issues protects the various skills used to produce such digital contents. In Australia, copyright issues came were introduced by a legislative piece known as the ‘Copyright Act of 2006. The act covers a wide area of copyright issue including those in the digital environment. The act serves to ensure that use copyright materials are fair; innovation is available to the public through the right channel and control access or use of the digital content. Use of Material on the internet Use internet materials require that the five principles of copyrights be considered. The users have to acknowledge these materials and give respect to the material source. However, many people infringe copyrights attached to digital content. As internet users perform daily tasks like downloading content from the internet, they often take little concern on the copyright attached to such content. Internet users often reproduce downloaded content and illegally own the material. Some copyright issues allow reproducing of content only if the author is dully acknowledged. The most common digital materials whose copyrights are infringed include digital music and educational articles. It is challenging to control such infringement of digital content given that the internet is accessed globally. Ownership of copyright in computer software Software developers are considered as innovators whenever they come up with new software capable of manipulating a task. The ownership of software can be traced back to the developers of programming languages such as Pascal, Java, and C+ all have patent rights. The main patent rights recognized by software are the people who assemble these languages to come up with software. Software like web pages often has a copyright symbol at the bottom of the page. In addition, software templates have a copyright that recognizes the owner of the software. Some of the software includes anti-virus, operating systems and other software used to manipulate data. Most computer software’s rights require users to agree to terms and conditions of use and redistribution of the software. General rule Five fundamental principles must be considered when a topic of ownership and copyrights are highlighted (Australian Government, 2013). The principles require that owners of content earn the deserved acknowledgment and respect. It is also important for users to observe incentives and distribution. Promotion of fair access to owners’ materials and provision of terms or condition for use are necessary. The rules and regulations attached to contents must have consistency with international requirements for copyright issues. Specific exception Copyright issues take into account some exceptions that are necessary especially for the digital content. However, it must be understood that exception to copyright is limited to special cases, and Internet users must not take advantage of the exceptions. The idea of exception can be in five dimensions discussed below. Fair use Fair use is a strategy deployed by content authors and owners to prevent exploitation from internet users (The Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force, 2013). The doctrine requires that the line of fairness be drawn and analyzed according without loading a burden on either side of developers r users. It has so far been challenging to determine whether the adoption of a fair use doctrine can record success or failure. The method creates and aspect of flexibility especially for cases of emergent technologies. The online environment has so far recorded significant success in the adoption of the fair use doctrine. Cases linked to copyright issues and fair uses have been solved with evidence drawn from internet search results, cached web pages and digital plagiarism detectors. Not all digital cases have found solutions through this approach as some remain a challenge. Digital broadcasting is one area that utilizes the fair use through format shifting and space shifting. The major pending question requires a response as to whether location affects access to a service that digitally been initially paid for. Library exception Library content is one example of content where the exception has been applied. The measure of library exception is to control the distribution of a digital version of library contents. The technology needs more research and update since digital technologies are also advancing. Content owners and publishers have often preferred that exception only is granted to institutions that are certified to ensure the security of digital copies. Some publishers have so far taken these measures through the establishment of digital libraries whose access is limited to members of certain institutions. Distance education Exceptions to access to digital content have often considered the situation of online distance learning. With online learning, the distance limits the physical distribution of various learning materials from tutors to students and vice versa. In such a case, journals and articles can freely be transferred and accessed at either end without being considered as an infringement of copyrights. However, it is only ethical that the institutions have to use the right channels to acquire these materials before transmitting them digitally. Advanced cases have seen institution create online libraries where registered members can easily access a variety of authentic material. Exception related to disability Some digital content cannot get the audience of certain physically challenged individuals within the society (Australian Government, 2013). For instance, the blind cannot form the audience for the written content, and the deaf cannot create the audience for audio content. The exception of copyrights in these cases allows reproducing online content to create formats that suit all categories of people. However, this exception must only apply to organizations and institutions that are specialized in offering special services to the specialized groups in the society. These contents have to be reproduced with a special request to authors or developers, and the responsible organizations should not be profit oriented. It has been globally accepted that the visually impaired and those unable to use print media should granted free access to online content. The main challenge, in this case, is establishing whether an internet use at the other end falls under a special need category. DMCA anti-Circumvention exception Circumvention is a technique used to limit access to the online material while anti-circumvention allows access to online material. Some online libraries are known to have no interest in making a profit through the delivery of online content. For this reason, anti-circumvention provides some exceptions to enable such sites to achieve the mission of content delivery at low cost. Circumvention also allows law enforcers and government intelligence services to access materials using a range of technologies. Circumvention may be necessary in cases of intelligence information, enhancing privacy and blocking access to adult content by minors. Other cases require special treatment of issues related to copyright. The instances include: Remix The question surrounding remix of original products especially sound products has faced a heated debate in recent years. Remix involves using a unique style of original content to reproduce content a situation that technically alters authenticity of the content. The scenario is rampant on the internet marking the new height in which rights are breached. Furthermore, the current technological development in communication has made the activity of remixing easy. There are high chances that content that has been remixed can serve to replace original products in the market. Orphan contents Some articles cannot be traced back to the authors thus; these works are referred to as orphan work. The word orphan has been used to mean that the authentic owner of the content cannot be identified. The Internet has been a platform through which such anonymous content has been shared with the public. Some sites may use such content to earn referral while others may be used in sites that are non-profit making. However, most orphan contents provide an important avenue for the public to access historical content whose patent rights cannot be attached to a single individual. The Australian government has established an exception for computer programs and software in special cases (Australian Government, 2013). The cases include reproduction meant to help in the learning process, reproduction to create new products that are interoperable and reproduction to make amends to errors. Reproduction of computer programs to enhance security testing has also been included as an exception. Reproduction or communication of copyright material for college students overseas As stated before, there are exceptions related to reproduction of original content and re-distribution. Education institutions are categorized under non-profit oriented institutions fall under the categories favored by exceptions. Institutions are required to ensure that the authors or owners of contents being re-distributed are acknowledged. Copyright measures may only allow redistribution of learning content and not transferring this ownership without consent. Universities can have online libraries with access only granted to members of the institution who understand and agree to terms and condition attached to the online sources. It was also stated before that; a tutor could send copyright material to students. Such a situation may not be regarded as an infringement of copyrights unless the tutor transfers the ownership of this material illegally. Reproduction for publication of an article authored by another person will be considered as a violation of rights. In the case of reproduction and editing to meet educational purposes, copyright owners must be acknowledged through referencing. Infringement of copyright According to the Australian regulation on copyright, copyright is considered infringed in case a person who is not an owner compromises the authenticity of copyright. Reproduction of other people’s property without a license to do so is also considered as an infringement of copyright. It is important to note that terms and conditions attached to copyright may vary depending on the author and the purpose. Staff The entire staff of the institution must ensure that copyright issues are maintained to avoid legal liabilities attached to copyright infringement. The staffs of an institution connected to intranet have the freedom to share material from the school library. Distribution of these materials among the staff members must ensure they adhere to all copyright requirements. The intranet should install security measures that will ensure sharing and communication through the internet does not contribute to infringing on copyrights. The security measure should also ensure that be secure and grant access only to staff members. All staff members should agree to terms and conditions of use or distribution attached to copyright. Students Most students have the urge to explore and learn more especially with the ability presented by the internet technologies. Students can always have the characteristics of being mischievous thus capable of infringing some regulations attached to copyrights. Tutors and technical staff should identify means through which students can be prevented from infringing copyrights. Just like the staff, students also have access to the institution’s portal. Students must also agree to abide by the terms and regulations of copyrights before being granted access to the portal. The terms and conditions should inform students to refrain from illegally redistributing academic materials protected by copyright. Also, they should be aware of penalties associated with plagiarism in academics. Strict security measures relating to subscription and access by students should be updated. Updating The online resource can undergo several kinds of updates to ensure that services delivery is enhanced. The update can include security update, staff data update, student data update and online library resource update. Updating of the student library resource should be done on a regular basis to ensure that latest edition of books is available for students. While updating, the technicians should ensure that all regulations and rules related to copyrights are adhered to. For this reason, the institution should not transfer ownership of any material without the consent of the owner. The organization should acquire relevant licenses to include materials in their online library. Security updates are important in ensuring that piracy and hacking of accounts are avoided. Technical experts should adopt modern technologies to ensure that only members registered at the institution have access to the portal. Equally, the portal should be updated to ensure that accounts of members and login information remain known to the user alone. A good security measure can help detect a mischievous activity that can result in infringement of copyright. Staff information and member login should be updated on a regular basis to ensure that the users who access the portal as staff exist. Failing to update staff register will allow ghost staff to access the portal, and they cannot be held liable for any copyright infringement. All staff members who have resigned or relieved must be deregistered from the portal. Student’s information update is necessary to ensure that new students are included in the portal and allowed access to relevant academic information. Non-students who have finished school, deferred or transferred should also be updated on the portal. It is also necessary to link the student information to the accounting and subscription list for enhanced accountability. Subscription will ensure that only authorized students get access to the student online resources Risk Management Risk management is an important measure of ensuring that all real and potential risks have solution or cushion within the system. Several risks can occur as students and staffs interact with the online resource belonging to the institution. Some of the risks include piracy, hacking, cyber bullying and infringement of copyright issues. However, modern technologies enable system upgrade to ensure that risk management measures are enhanced. Piracy involves taking an original content and transferring authorship rights to earn money or praise. Piracy is considered the most serious infringement of copyright and is punishable by law. The online library can allow downloading of leaning material that malicious individuals can go ahead and reproduce the material. Most of the materials likely to pirated include those articles that have not been published or book reviews, orphan content and disputed content. It may be hard to control such an activity especially after the material gets into the hand of the malicious individual. It is, therefore, advisable to update library resource with a material whose copyright regulations are more flexible and less rigid. Hacking is a common trend in modern error of technology especially when security measure of the institution website is weak. Information technologists should ensure that security measure is updated to prevent hacking or other forms of unauthorized access. For instance, the system should automatically logout in case the user at the other end remains dormant for some time. The password entry area should detect any automatic entry and deny access in such cases. More login details should be demanded apart from the traditional username and password. For instance, the after login, further access to library materials should require unique access codes to deny malicious access. Security measures should be able to prevent anonymous comments or nuisance comments from the site. Online security measures such as Built Security in (BSI) software can reduce vulnerability to sites. However, more enhanced security measures must be included to prevent real and potential risks. Algorithm agility is one extra technology to enhance website security. To apply algorithm security backups, technicians have to understand the existing changes that occur in algorithms (Symantec, 2011). Later the technicians have to select and adopt the right algorithm to enhance system security. More improve algorithms as if ECC may not be user-friendly given the fact that they are browser specific. Technicians can opt for user-friendly algorithms like RSA that can improve both website and user security. Since it is an academic website technicians can program the site to identify the location of all logged in users. The measure can enable tracking and preventing a malicious individual from gaining access to the site. More risk management can be achieved through security style sheet (Oda & Somayaji, 2011). Bibliography Australian Government. (2013). Copyright and the Digital Economy. Retrieved from Australian Government: Australian Law Reform Commisiion.: https://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/final_report_alrc_122_2nd_december_2013_.pdf Oda, T., & Somayaji, A. (2011). Enhancing Web Page Security with Security Style Sheets. Retrieved from SCS Technical Report TR-11-04: https://scs.carleton.ca/sites/default/files/TR-11-04%20Oda.pdf Symantec. (2011). Enhancing Website Security with Algorithm Agility. Retrieved from Symantec US Online Consumer Study: https://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/about/presskits/b-enhancing_website_security_with_algorithm_agility.en-us.pdf The Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force. (2013). Copyright poicy, Creativity and innovation in the Digital Economy. Retrieved from The Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force: http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/news/publications/copyrightgreenpaper.pdf Read More