Laws, Guidelines and Procedures for Safe and Secure Internet Use

How Copyright Laws Affect Internet Use

The same copyright laws apply as with physical content. If you want to use a picture, video or piece of text from the internet you must have permission from the content creator first. If I did not do this then there could be serious consequences.

Consequences of Breaking Copyright Law

There are many consequences of breaking copyright laws, however the most common include:

·         Monetary Fines

·         Loss of property (of whatever breached copyright, like a book with copyrighted images that don’t belong to you)

·         Loss of employment

In some countries, copyright infringement (using copyrighted material to make a profit) can result in civil or criminal punishment (such as community service or imprisonment) if the guilty party is taken to court by the copyright owner. Equipment used by the guilty party may also be seized. For example, if a computer was used to aid in using the copyrighted images, it has the potential to be confiscated as an accessory to the crime.

I wanted to use this picture, however the Initials at the bottom of the photo made me wary of breaching copyright laws. because if this I used a different image instead.

Replacement image

Data Protection Act
The data protection act gives rights to people who have their data stored, and responsibilities for those who store, process or transmit this data. The person who has had their data processed have the right to:

• View the data an organisation has on them.
• Request that incorrect information is changed. In some cases compensation can be rewarded.
• Require that data is not used in a way that could be seen as harmful.
• Require that their data is not used for marketing.

Computer Misuse Act

Based on the ELC's recommendations,Sections 1-3 of the Act introduced three criminal offences:

• Unauthorised access to computer material, punishable by 6 months' imprisonment or a fine "not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale" (currently £5000)
• Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences, punishable by 6 months/maximum fine on summary conviction or 5 years/fine on indictment
• Unauthorised modification of computer material, subject to the same sentences as section 2 offences

Troubleshooting Internet Connection Problems

Whilst using my computer, I lost connection to the internet. I did not know what to do, so I went on the Windows Support Centre website (on my phone using 3G) to see if they could help me with my problem. I found a page called "Troubleshoot network connection problems".

1. First I tried to use the "diagnose and repair" function. However it couldn't find a solution to my problem. 
   
2. As my computer is connected using a wireless dongle, the only cables to check were on the router itself. After checking the router I found that a wire was loose. After securing it I attempted to connect my pc to the internet. this time it worked.

By using Windows' support centre I managed to fix my connection issue quickly.

Sharing information sources with others

minilogs.com is a website where you can make folders that stores internet bookmarks. this can be shared or made public so that others can access the bookmarks stored in the log. this lets me share useful websites with others.

This screen shows the minilogs Chrome plugin which is used to add webpages to a log, or create a new log.

This screenshot shows the log containing bookmarks relevant to my school work.

This screenshot shows the search page on minilogs. By searching my username my profile came up. from there i could acess my public logs, this 

Managing Downloads

The following screenshots will show me downloading a file online and saving it in an appropriate location.

I had to save the picture in a different location because I cannot access the downloads folder on school computer. The download manager In Chrome is useful as you can quickly see how long your download has left by the toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Above is evidence of me downloading other file types; a PowerPoint document and an .mp3 sound file. It also shows me saving the files in an appropriate location.