The
legal effects of the IT industry
The
law has a massive impact on the IT industry because without it we would have
effective search engines or online shopping destinations because people would
hack everything there are to hack out of a website.
There
are three laws against internet crime.
The
first law is:
The
data protection act (1998)
The
DPA is a government based law passed to ensure that personal data is secure and
is kept private, however keeping data in things like address books is legal and
although there is no mention of the work “private” in the act it is there to
ensure the privacy of the individual. Anyone can get hold of personal information
but in order to use it legally they need consent from the person involved and for
the purpose of the question.
These
are some other things that fall into the DPA.
o
The
government protects personal data on computers.
o
Companies
can only use the information they hold on an individual for its intended
purpose.
o
Hacking
and viruses lead to corruption of data
o
Copyright
gives the creator of some types of media to control how it is used and
distributed.
The
second law for data is:
The
Computer Misuse act.
The
CMA is there to ensure safety and privacy while on a computer which is
connected to the internet. If there is unauthorised to computer material then
the punishment is 6 months imprisonment or a fine, the maximum fine is £5000. If
there is unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission
then it is punishable by 6 months imprisonment or a maximum fine. The final
part is unauthorised modification of computer material and is subject to the
same as the crimes above.
This
protects peoples’ data from:
o
Hacking
o
Unauthorised
transfer or copying
o
Copying
software
o
Email
and chat room abuses
o
Pornography
o
Identity
and financial abuses
o
Viruses
The
third law is:
The
copyright law
There
is lot of confusion in the topic of copyright and plagiarism because they have
either never heard of plagiarism or don’t have background knowledge of the copyright
act, and then have a huge shock when they are being shown a fine. There is
typically a minimum requirement for something to be copyright protected and
this can also come at a cost. There is also a little confusion between a piece
of work being unique means that it needs to be copyright protected however they
evaluate it by originality not unique.
This
is to prevent:
Limitations
imposed by copyright
o
Giving
a copy to a friend
o
Selling
the software illegally etc.
Prevention
of the software policy.
o
Agreement
between companies wishing to use the creator’s item.
o
Certain
pieces of software require a unique licence key before the installation can
continue.
The
federation against software theft (FAST)
Good start. Now please expand on what is covered by DPA, Copyright, Computer misuse and how people are protected.
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