Short on time? This page is the recap. For explanations and worked examples, use the full study guide.
Recap
- Material created on a computer is the intellectual property of its creator or an organisation.
- Easy digital copying raises concerns about ownership, value and use; measures should safeguard intellectual property.
- Plagiarism: using someone else’s material without permission and presenting it as your own; it may have legal consequences.
- Legal ways to use others’ work: Creative Commons, open source, open access, permission. Always cite material created by others.
- Using computing to harm individuals or groups raises legal and ethical concerns, as do computing in social and political issues, the digital divide, biased algorithms and monitoring devices.
- Legal = what the law requires; ethical = what is right or fair; they can differ.
Key relationships
| Question | Answer to look for |
|---|---|
| May I use this? | A licence or permission allows it |
| What must I do? | Follow the licence conditions and cite the creator |
| Is it plagiarism? | Used without permission and presented as my own |
| Open source vs open access | Programs vs research output |
| Legal vs ethical | Law versus fairness; may differ |
Assumptions and conventions
- Laws differ between countries; answer with concepts, not legal rulings.
- Use stakeholders, benefits, harms and safeguards to give a balanced answer.
- State both permission and credit when asked how to use material.
Mistakes to avoid
- Assuming online material is free to use.
- Mixing up permission and credit.
- Forgetting that open-source licences have terms.
- Giving only one side of an ethical question.
- Saying something is ethical because it is legal.
- Failing to cite free material.
Two quick worked examples
1. A student wants a song for a video. It is fully protected, so the student must ask the owner’s permission, or choose music released under a licence that allows reuse and follow its conditions, such as credit.
2. A company’s software lets users download films without paying creators. Stakeholders: creators (lose income), users (get free access) and the company. The concern is about ownership and fair payment, and a safeguard could be licensing agreements that pay creators.
A revision routine
Write the difference between plagiarism, permission and credit in your own words. Take four items you might use in a project (a photo, a song, a code library, a research article) and decide for each what you would need to check and do. Then analyse a monitoring device by stakeholders, benefits, harms and safeguards, keeping your answer balanced.
Quick self-check
- A student copies a paragraph from a website into an essay with no mention of the source. What is this called? (Plagiarism.)
- A photo is released under a Creative Commons licence that requires credit. What must you do? (Credit the creator and follow the other conditions.)
- Is a legal activity always ethical? (No; something can be legal but still raise ethical concerns.)
Next: practice questions.