Do you think copyright laws will change in the future? Let’s take a look at Google books. Google began its book-scanning project in 2004, without obtaining permission from copyright holders. The next year, groups representing authors and publishers sued Google claiming copyright violations, beginning an eight-year court battle. In the meantime, Google has continued to scan more than 20 million books, the majority of which are out of print  without compensating copyright holders. They are searchable on the Google Books website, which returns snippets but not entire texts. Some full books are for sale on Google Play through partnerships with publishers. Google also has certain agreements to give libraries and publishers digital copies of their books that it scans.

Although the Judges have ruled in favor of fair use and that Google did not infringe copyright laws  [The Authors Guild, Inc. v Google Inc. 2013 WL 6017130 (S.D.N.Y. Nov.14, 2013)], the case has now been appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by The Authors Guild.

What do you think are the merits and demerits of this case (i.e. is the decision fair or not for the authors)? If Google’s fair use is upheld what do you think could be the repercussions in the future of digital copyright laws?

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Advocates of Freedom of Expression in the Internet see this as a violation of their rights: “When we’re talking about a broadly scoped right to be forgotten that’s about altering the historical record or making information that was lawfully public no longer accessible to people, I don’t see a way to square that with a fundamental right to access to information.” (NY Times)

Where would you side? Argue the both sides and give your opinion.

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“Ashley Madison is the most famous name in infidelity and married dating,” the site asserts on its homepage. “Have an Affair today on Ashley Madison. Thousands of cheating wives and cheating husbands signup everyday looking for an affair…. With Our affair guarantee package we guarantee you will find the perfect affair partner.”

Until, sometime July 20 2015, the website was hacked:
1. Analyze the problem – online privacy vs infidelity (moral norm)
2. Give the pro’s and cons of each side (read other sources too).
3. Where would you personally side (since this is an academic exercise, let us refrain from judging our peer’s opinions morally, but rather in terms of the exercise of critical thinking basing ourselves on the Ethical theories you have learned.)

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Enumerate and describe briefly what for you would be the TOP 3 Greatest Computer/Internet Crimes in the world during this Century (from 2000-2016).

 

Provide links of their nature and damage they caused (either news pages, video, reviews, etc).
And evaluate each (your reason/s why each of your 3 choices wrought the most havoc), rather what makes the crime so special? (in terms of morality, affected users, economic damage).

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