Week12 - Module 6: Social and Ethical Issues, 23rd of Oct 2007

Lecture Summary

Today's lecture discussed the importance of having anti-virus software and how to protect our computers and files from viruses, spam emails as well as protecting our personal information. As the (www) is freely accessible to anyone at any time we need to be aware that not everyone is trustworthy and the (www) is not always a safe place. We need to protect ourselves from people who try to hack into our files in order to steal information, personal details and evan money from online bank accounts. Justine recommended that our anti-virus programs be updated at least once a week and for those who are connected with broadband, installing a firewall is also a good option to consider. I didn't realise that some email attachments can contain viruses, lucky for me I rarely open them but it is a good thing to be aware of. Justine also covered the issue of copyright and how important it is to consider at university when we retrieve information for academic purposes.

Workshop Summary

Task 1- Visit the following website: http://www.copywright.org.au/ and list the sheets that will be useful to your undergraduate studies.

Sheet 1- Education and Training

I chose this sheet because I intend to study education as my undergraduate course and I thought it would be useful. Reading through it, I realised that evan photocopying something which states copyright is an offence, without the consent of the person who issued the copyright. Copyright is usually owned by the person who produced the document. Copyright laws enable academic students or teachers to copy video and audio files but only after administrative requirements have been met. If the copyright contract has expired then the term has no standing. The copyright act does have some schemes which enable educational institutions to copy documents for the purpose of providing education. There are many useful conditions outlined on this page which states the kinds of material educational institutions have the right to copy as long as the guidelines are followed correctly.

Sheet 2- Libraries, Galleries and Museums

The library will be an important part of my undergraduate course, libraries contain some of our main academic resources. This page explains the difference between lending and renting, lending allows a person to borrow copyright material for a period of time without payment. On the other hand renting requires a fee and refers to audio or visual recourse's. Copyright owners can state whether their material can be reproduced and copied for certain purposes. This therefore allows us to use pictures out of books and to borrow items from a library. There is a lot of terminology which is hard to understand in these information sheets; however I think I am beginning to understand the main points and the important aspects of the copyright laws.

Sheet 3- Websites, internet, software, databases

The internet will also be a major source of research as a university student and often I wonder what it is that I am aloud to copy and paste. Often sites will state whether their copyright act allows you to copy and paste any material from their page. Be aware that not everything posted on the web is genuine and whilst you may think you can copy something from a site which does not contain copyright, you may actually be infringing the act if you are copying a document which has been plagiarised and copied from the original document. The copyright act of 1968 allows copyright to cover drawings, pictures, maps, reports, poems, journals to name a few and depending on the circumstances the act may be applied differently to each.


Task 2- Look at the US Dept of Justice's Intellectual Property cases and write a summary in reference to US vs. Sankas case.


John Sankas developed ways to unscramble computer codes which allowed he and his associates to hack into important files from major businesses and organisations. The group was known as DrinkOrDie, using scrambled code names the team thought their activities could never be traced. Sankas code name was HellFire spelt backwards. Their level of hacking gave them access to important information and movies, games, plans to name few which they could release without consent before the organisation or company could do it themselves. This is stealing and as a result John Sankas was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment in a federal prison. The case emphasises the fact that if you commit copyright piracy you will be caught and you will suffer the consequences. The Us customs service seem very determined to crack down on groups such as DrinkOrDie and there have been a number of cases and people who have been prosecuted and will continue to be prosecuted because piracy is a serious crime and violation of privacy.

Task 3-Write a plan to protect yourself against attacks on your privacy and security in reference to viruses, Trojans and personal information.

My Plan includes the following:

* Be aware of your passwords, never use personal information as your password because hackers can easily access these details. Use letters, numbers and different signs, mix and match and created phrases that stand for something which is in you own interpretation and change your password regularly.

* Change the Administrator account name because this allows hackers access to personal details.

*It is important to know how viruses work, they attach themselves to files, in an email for example, they are spread through attachments and each time the attachment is opened the virus begins to spread.

* Install an anti-virus system and update it regularly, so that you are up to date with the latest protection. These systems check for viruses in your computer and any emails or files which you receive containing a virus will be detected.

*Such anti-virus systems include, Macro Virus protection, Unix and commercial software to name a few. There are a range of systems which offer a range of protection for different programs and PCs.

* Never open spam emails and avoid opening pop up advertisements.

*Trojan horses appear as normal computer programmes, such as in the form of an online game and as you play the game it is doing damage to your computer without your knowledge.

* Install a Trojan anti-virus system, an example of one is the Spy-ware doctor which was named best of the year 2005-2006

*Be aware that email attachments in the form of .DOC, .EXL and so on are quite safe, however be aware of jpg, exe and com which are risky and should not be opened without a virus check.

In summary it is important to protect your PC and your personal files against hackers, viruses and Trojans but before this is possible you need to understand your PC and what the best software is for your individual purpose according to what software you use. Install ant-virus software and update it regularly, avoid spam and email attachments that are from unfamiliar people.

Summary of the Readings

There were six readings in this weeks tutorial all of which covered the same topics discussed in the lecture and activities. The readings contained material on how to protect your privacy, basically do not give your details to people you meet on the internet, use anti-virus protection, change your passwords regularly and so on. The readings also discussed the concepts of viruses, worms, email attachments as well as offering information and history on the development of the internet. It is important to be familiar with the copyright regulations and ensure you protect yourself from plagiarism and infringement.