Copyright, Design and patent act
The main provisions of the Act as related to ICT-(http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/part/I/enacted)
How this affects the way in which we use information is how it provided property rights will varies descriptions of work. This includes:
Original literary- Which includes written work which is spoken or sung which also takes into account a table or compilation, and a computer programme.
Dramatic work- Includes a work of dance or mime
Musical acts- an original composition piece consisting of the music, words or actions intended to be sung, spoken or performe
Artistic work- graphic work, logos, sculptures, buildings etc.
Sound recordings and films- a specific recorded sound, a piece of spoken literary, dramatic or musical work in which sounds are reproduced or produced.
Broadcasts
The declaration gives the author the copyright, entitling them to subsidies to when they are used. however if it is made by an employee during the course of employment the ownership shall be the rights of the employer. This duration lasts 50 years or till the end of the calendar year in which the author dies
The main benefits of the Act for individuals and groups in the information age-
The conservation of original work is vital as it gives credit where it is due and helps to avoid plagiarism. without copyright protection it would be easy for many to exploit and in fact mutilate important information. It provides royalties towards the author meaning they are entitled to pay if another person would like to take elements of their work or use it in any way, for instance when a song is played on the radio, some royalties should be paid towards the author of the song. An example of this would be the dispute between Oasis's Noel Gallagher and musical comedian Neil Innes, as the single 'whatever' was credited to have been written by Noel however due to similarities royalties of $500,000 had to be paid to Neil. And with such vast access to content within the information age, it may also give a sense of authenticity for many pages can be cloned and ultimately it is the user who can be exploited.
The disadvantages of the Act for individuals and groups in the information Age.
This might include restricted use of information or subject to arguments over the rightful authors rights and to disputes to how much information is necessary to take action into consideration. Name claiming can be an issue as websites will be created in the intent to gain royalties from being sold off to the people intending to use that copyrighted name. By the amount of content that is created it is hard to grasp how far these laws should entail, and not hinder the progression of technology but also not become to liberal. This can cause massive confusion towards the expansion of technology and make way for unnecessary digressions.
Computer misuse Act (1990)
The main provisions of the Act as related to ICT-
Was put into place to secure computer material against unauthorised access or modification; This affects:
A Person('s) being guilty to causing a computer to perform any function in the intent of acquiring programs or data off any given computer
He's aware of the intentions to gain access to secure and unauthorised material at the time of the act
Unauthorised modification of the computer or software with malicious intent and requisite knowledge for example; To impair the operation of the computer, To hinder access or prevent them access to any program or data within the computer.
Exploiting this can see the convicted liable to a large fine or imprisonment.
The main benefits of the Act for individuals and groups in the Information Age-
The obvious benefits that proceed is that it offers security towards owning a computer, it also allows punishment for hijacking peoples computers as ultimately in the modern age most personal details can be accessed though such technological mediums like: Desktops, tablets and smartphones. it can also deter dangerous tampering that might cause the computer or in fact the user harm. It insures that accessing data is an individualist thing and we've established in this age that password protecting everything is a necessity this includes the invention and progression on online banking and has seen the Chip and Pin technology been created for good use, to prevent fraud. It allows people to use computers with confidence in the knowledge that It can maintain such a personal level.
The main disadvantages of the Act for individuals and groups in the information age-
for the inexperienced individual, detection for such a process can be difficult if not impossible. With that can cause to massive privacy invasion. It's also very hard to determine the seriousness of each case as it can be deliberated into many different situations from fraud to stealing someone's game account. A good example of this would be Gary McKinnon, a Scottish born hacker in whom hacked US military computers in order to allegedly uncover ‘UFO’ activity. McKinnon himself being severely autistic led to much controversy as the severity of such a case would entail the rest of his life in prison for his‘harmful’ hacking of US federal systems which caused a vast amounts of money in correcting his efforts ($700,000). Although a serious case, under the circumstances it raises a huge moral issue that could not be envisioned through other means of breaking the law.
Regulations of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)
The main provisions of the Act as related to ICT-
(http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/contents/enacted)
Created to make provision about the interception of communications including the acquisition and disclosure of the communications and way surveillance can be carried out and the access of the data found through the encryption or passwords that may have been decrypted. Meaning that it is an offence for a person to intercept any communication without lawful consent by means of: Postal services, public communications (such as Mobiles and landlines) and through material found on computers.
The main benefits of the Act for individuals and groups in the Information Age-
It offers protection from people who would be willing to gain information through intrusion through the computers. But it also allows access to information if needs must but only through lawful action. In this age where many would hound in on one another for advertisement purposes; For example cold calling, it makes sure that such people could abuse these technologies and therefore maintain privacy. It is ultimately there to uphold freewill as is sated by law by the UN. Other countries however do not have this liberty such as North Korea or China where these kind of technologies are used to exploit, monitor and control their people; Computer searches are monitored for appropriate use, mobiles are not uncommonly bugged to make sure they have no adverse opinion of the government. However this is not all a bad thing, and we do have some form of monitoring system that are used in order to find certain people of whom are very dangerous to society; an example of this would be in the USA ‘trigger words’ that is a word in which creates a warning message in which may be focused on by such organisations as the FBI in order to stop terrorism or to locate hackers.
The main disadvantages of the Act for individuals and groups in the Information Age-
The way in which this can be interpreted can be tricky and without full lawful acceptance can prove to have adverse results; for example if you were to monitor someone suspicious with prior knowledge or admittance from anyone with the power to give you lawful consent the evidence is in turn corrupt and you are liable for breeching another'sfreewill.
The health and safety at work act act (1974)
The health and safety act of 1974 does in fact affect people in the information age, the health and safety act ensures that people are safe from malicious acts against them when working on a computer, these could include viruses that steal personal information or hackers in the same intention, the workplace needs to act against these by taking proper safety precautions when using computers, many businesses block access to certain websites to avoid any unwanted software being installed on the machines. Antiviruses are normally installed onto the computers to add a further layer of protection and firewalls have to be installed to block out any unwanted connections. With the increase in computer use, a number of health and safety concerns related to vision and body aches and pains have arisen. Many problems with computer use are temporary and can be resolved by adopting simple corrective action. These kinds of problems occur when using computers for long periods of time, some of these problems would be: continual or recurring discomfort, aches and pains, throbbing, tingling, numbness, burning sensation or stiffness. Laptops can present particular problems due to small screens, keyboards and inbuilt pointing devices (e.g. a small portable mouse or touchpad). Prolonged use of laptops should be avoided based on this act. If using a laptop as a main computer (i.e. use as a normal desktop computer in addition to use as a portable), it is advisable to use the laptop with a docking station. This allows an ordinary mouse, keyboard and monitor to be used with the laptop. According to the health and safety act, Keyboards should:
-Be detachable and adjustable (with legs to adjust angle)
-Allow your forearms to be parallel to the floor without raising your elbows
-Allow your wrists to be in line with your forearms so your wrists does not need to be flexed up or down
-Include enough space to rest your wrists or should include a padded detachable wrist rest (or you can use a separate gel wrist -rest which should be at least 50 mm deep)
-Be placed directly in front of the monitor and at the same height as the mouse, track ball or touch pad
-And chairs should Support the back - and have a vertically adjustable independent back rest that returns to its original position and has tilt adjustment to support the lower back
-Allow chair height to be adjusted from a sitting position
-Be adjusted so the back crease of the knee is slightly higher than the pan of the chair (use a suitable footrest where necessary)
-Be supported by a five prong caster base
-Have removable and adjustable armrests
-Have a contoured seat with breathable fabric and rounded edges to distribute the weight and should be adjustable to allow the seat pan to tilt forward or back.
Health and safety (display screen equipment) regulations (1992)
•This act focuses on display screens, a display screen is a screen is a device or equipment that has an alphanumeric or graphic display screen, regardless of the display process involved; it includes both conventional display screens and those used in emerging technologies such as laptops, smartphones and touchscreens. The act ensures that workers must carry out a risk assessment of workstations used by employees in order to reduce any identified risks. Employers must also ensure that employees take regular and adequate breaks from looking at their screens. (The CompactLaw Risk Assessment Form recommends a five-minute break to do alternative work, either at an employee's desk or away from their desk every 30 minutes.) and must ensure that employees are aware of their entitlement to yearly eye tests, with the cost of the eye test met by the employer in full. A "competent person" must carry out any eye test - this means a qualified optician. It is advisable for an employer to keep written records of who receives free eye tests, the dates and costs of the tests. Most opticians can provide individual reminders every year of when an employee's eye test is due. Employers must provide their computer users with adequate health and safety training for any workstation they work at. This basically entails showing employees how to properly adjust their chairs and desks (if adjustable) and the correct way to sit and work at their workstations. So as you can see, most of these problems can be easily resolved if the equipment used is tuned correctly, so it is essential that the correct equipment is given to the employers or tuning them correctly may not be possible, this does come at a cost to the business as some of this equipment can be expensive, although leaving the problems uncorrected can lead to there being unproductivity in the workplace, and increased staff absence due to injury. In serious cases this can (and does) lead to claims against employers. This is usually a double blow for the employer with loss of productivity leading up to a claim and the costs of defending or settling a claim when it is made.
Data Protection Act (1984)
The Data protection act gives individualsrights as data subjects. These rights include giving access to data stored about them,a right to have inaccurate information corrected or removed and to claim compensation if stored information is misused. The act was designed to protect individuals who have information about them held on computer. The act obliged organizations holding personal data to register with the Data Protection Registrar and agree to abide by the principles of data protection outlined in the act. These principles include: obtaining and processing data fairly; ensuring accuracy and relevance of information; and taking effective measures to prevent unauthorized access to data. Individuals have the right to be told if a third party holds information about them, obtain a record of that information, and require correction if necessary.
•In order to comply with the Act, a data controller must comply with the following eight principles
•The data should be processed fairly and lawfully and may not be processed unless the data controller can satisfy one of the conditions for processing set out in the Act.
•Data should be obtained only for specified and lawful purposes.
•Data should be adequate, relevant and not excessive.
•Data should be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
•Data should not be kept longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.
•Data should be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subject under the Act.
•Appropriate technical and organisational measures should be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
•Data should not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
Freedom of Information Act 2005
The main provisions the freedom of information act which relates to ICT are as follows. Firstly the freedom of information act gives people the right to speak about their personal views. This means that the general public can use ICT for example social networking, blogger and Wikipedia to share information about themselves and others without being scared of being persecuted. Using ICT the freedom of information act can help the general public get more knowledge about political issues such as how their local authorities allocate their money. This can means that the public can voice their opinion and give them a grater role to play in their society as a whole.
The main benefits for individuals of freedom of information is that this gives them the knowledge that they can voice their opinions without having the fear of prison. This means that the younger generation can become more important and giving them a feeling of self belief that they know that their view won’t be tarnished. Groups in the information age can help make changes into society because if enough people are passionate about their beliefs then society will have to listen. A very powerful example of a group of people protesting to get freedom of information is the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. In September 2012 after years of protesting the families of the 96 people who died has finally got the information that they wanted. This is a major event that has taken years to finally come to light and this just show how the freedom of information act works.
The main disadvantages of the freedom of information act for firstly personal reasons is most importantly that social networks can use your information. If people put their personal information of social networking sights such as Facebook then the owners have the authority of using your information. This means that any information can be used without your consent. Also personally anyone can speak their view about any subject what so ever. This would mean that resists can speak about their view without being afraid because of freedom of information. As a group this could also have a problem such as radial extremist groups being set up. This can cause problems such as treats to society and this can’t be stopped because of freedom of information. These are just some disadvantages that freedom of information has.
The Communication Act 2003
The communication act is to do with the obtaining information from use of the internet without paying for it. If this person was found out then they would get fined for this offence. With the increase on usage of the internet more people are using the internet to obtain information without paying for it. A good example of this is downloading songs. With the music industry starting to become about downloads instead of CD’s there is now a widespread of people not paying for their music but illegally downloading songs. This is a massive problem but the police don’t at the moment have any way of properly stopping this so now there will be a further increase until there is a better way of stopping this from happening.
The main benefit that this law gives to a group is that the person that gets found out from doing this will get prosecuted. But with ICT technology becoming greater and greater this means that catching the people who violate this law is getting harder and harder. This means that unless the government put a higher price to committing this crime then no one will listen. Therefore for and individual in the music business it is becoming a daily occurrence which no one is stopping. Therefore for the producers of music they will have to start becoming even more protective so that their songs don’t get illegally downloaded.
A disadvantage of the communication act is that some information might be hidden because it isn’t legal produce. An example of this would be, with this act being so weak there isn’t a need for it. Especially for ICT the law doesn’t seem to apply because of the whole system of the internet. When something has been put onto internet it cannot be removed and once it has be produced then it can be reproduced. This means that there won’t be ever a actual arrest and prosecuted because these systems can’t be removed. Therefore there needs to be a better way of persecuting people who don’t pay for an example images will cause less people to commit this crime.
The Digital Economy Act 2010
This act has radicalised the way that the whole pirating system will become properly. Their system now can pin point the actual copyright which means that these people will be persecuted for their actions. This therefore will result in less people actually partaking in this illegal activity and this will stop the whole system happening again.
For the actual song writers this is the moment that they have been dreaming of. Their time and effort has thus fare been ignored and people have been taking their efforts for free. But with this new system now songwriters can be happy in the fact that their songs will now be protected and less and less people will be illegally downloading song because of the fear of being prosecuted.
The only disadvantage was that this actual law wasn’t introduced earlier. This would of saved so many song writers of a lot of money and they must of felt betrayed by their fans. Therefore this is the disadvantage but the actual law is a great one. It is just the fact that if there was this law 2 or 3 years before then less people would have stopped when it first started.
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