D
ownload
theft and plagiarism
Copying
material to claim it as your original work is plagiarism. Plagiarism
in term papers, reports, or business presentations is a serious
problem. The Internet makes it easy to plagiarize; you don’t
even have to retype the information, just copy and paste it. Discuss
plagiarism with your children and don’t practice it yourself:
it is illegal.
Consider
whether content on a website is copyrighted. Legitimate sites have
rights to the material or services it offers for download.
Filesharing programs that allow users to illegally download music and
videos are still being commonly used in spite of some much publicized
arrests. Young people (and many adults) don’t seem to realize
that stealing online is the same as stealing from the video or music
store in your town.
Note:
Filesharing programs are also
notorious for infecting machines with spyware, viruses,
and other forms of malware. Be very cautious if you download
programs from these sites!
Music
and video download theft represent only one part of the problem. Two
other aspects to consider are whether you have the right to copy
anyone else’s material for any reason without their permission
– including their thoughts in text, their photos and art in
online images, and so on. You may be committing deliberate
plagiarism.
What constitutes online plagiarism depends on
several factors. First you have to assess the type of site: is it an
educational site, government site, commercial site, or a personal
site? Government information is free to use, but commercial or
personal content is not.
If the information on the site
represents the thoughts and creative output of an individual you are
not free to copy it. If the site is commercial, review their terms to
see whether it offers some material that is free and some that has
restrictions.
