10. Social, Ethical & Legal Issues

1. Information on the Internet?

The internet is a rich source of information. You can find out what you want on any subject by search in the internet. from education to travel, from gardening to space flight. There are thousands of pages of every subject you can think of.

Advantages of Access to this Information.

Having access to this information can help you find work, be successful at school and college, and also be a great help in business and leisure.

 

2. Including Everyone?

The social issue arises because not everyone has access to this wealth of information. This means that some people are at a disadvantage in many areas, whether it is work, buying and selling, education or leisure.

There are signs that this problem is gradually being solved as more and more ways of accessing the internet are developed. We can now access this information on the internet from an internet-ready laptop or PC, from internet-ready phones or from public libraries and internet cafes.

 

 

 

3. Networks and Isolation?

There is a worry that some people prefer to communicate using computers rather than meeting people face-to-face. The fear is that people will isolate themselves from others and spend most of their time on the computer system emailing and messaging, playing games, shopping or wandering around the world wide web.

 

 

4. Legal Issues

Using Networks to break copyright laws

People unfortunately use networks to commit crime. Networks can be used to:-

• Hack into business networks and steal or corrupt data.
• Hack into business can cause damage by leaving viruses.
• Commit financial fraud such as stealing money from bank accounts.
• Break copyright law by illegally transferring software, data or other files.

 

Privacy

some people disregard others right to privacy and use networks to send unwanted email, chain-mail, adverts and spam.

There are a number of laws that help to protect people's privacy, personal and business data.

 

 

What you have to do!

Answer the following questions under a heading "Internet Services" either in your "Brain" or a new Word document.

1. What are the advantages of having access to the information held in the internet?
   
2. Why is it important to about making sure that everyone has access to this information.

 

 

What you should be able to do!

1. Explain why having it's an advantage to have so much information available on the internet.

2. Discuss why it's important that everyone should have access to the internet.

3. Describe the laws aimed at protecting people's privacy, personal and business data-