Computers+&+The+Law

=Computers and the Law= =CyberEthics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace=

The rapid development of the Web and the entire Internet economy is not without its social costs. If it is easier to publish and spread truthful and valuable information, it is also easier to spread libel, falsehoods and inappropriate material. If it is easier to reproduce and share digitized information instanteously, it is also easier to violate copyright protection. And if it is easier to build personal relationships with consumers, it is easier to monitor consumers' behaviour and invade their personal privacy. Thus the internet's vast capabilities can be misused to undermine private property and mock our traditional sense of moral propriety.

The internet is a challenge to legal systems, which have had a difficult time keeping up with this borderless global technology. In the past the internet was an unstructured electronic terrain, a frontier with few rules and restrictions. But now that cyberspace has become a widely used forum for economic transactions and social interactions, many argue that anarchy must yield to some type of order and that news laws must be crafted to restrict and punish asocial users. //__Source__: Cyberethics & Morality and Law in Cyberspace, Richard A Spinello//

Some of the laws that exist to govern information in cyberspace are explained below.

The Data Protection Act (1998) Daniel Flowers

The Computer Misuse Act Chirag

Copyright Law & Plagiarism Rusteen

The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 Finlay

Software Piracy Laws Issac

Freedom of Information Act 2000 Guy

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Raheel

__** Your Task: **__ Find out the following and update your page on the wikispace...
 * 1) What does the law cover?
 * 2) Where does the law exist? What country?
 * 3) Who does it protect?
 * 4) What are the consequences of breaking this law?
 * 5) Find a relevant news example that discusses the law