Webpage3.++Digital+Citizenship+Website+(Software+Piracy)

=Webpage3. Digital Citizenship Website (Software Piracy)=


 * Purpose of Assignment:** The goal of this assignment was to educate students about the concepts of digital citizenship. As children, we are constantly reminded about the value of being a good citizenship and being a responsible person, but, for one reason or another, it seems as though we do not apply these same concepts and ideas to online situations. As such, this assignment is geared toward educating students about what is right and wrong in a digital world. Since this is a particularly broad topic, we were charged with the task of selecting one specific arena or issue and focusing the content of our site on that area to ensure that students are receiving instruction on an area that we deemed necessary.


 * My Process:** The theme that I have selected for this webpage is software piracy as it pertains to digital citizenship. In short, I selected this topic because I believe that it is a very serious and prevalent issue in my particular industry. Several weeks ago, I had a conversation with two employees who were enrolled in my new hire orientation class about software piracy and the reasons that it takes place. One of the employees mentioned that while he did not download software illegally he understood why others did so and did not take issue with their choice to steal software. This, in my mind, clearly illustrates the issue at hand and reinforces the idea that something needs to take place in terms of proper enforcement.

In order to provide valuable information to students, I thought that it was very important that I first educate myself about software piracy and get a better understanding of the issues that are being faced in the software industry. I did this by researching the issue and finding figures about the frequency with which software applications are pirated as well as the financial strain that this places on organizations. After finding that information, I was able to develop the content for the site and provide information that students could utilize to quickly understand the ethical issues associated with software piracy.


 * Reflection:** I really enjoyed this particular assignment because it is something that hits close to home. I work in the web hosting industry and have worked with computers for most of my life. I was in high school when Napster was launched and subsequently shutdown and am familiar with torrents, peer-to-peer networks, and other online methods of obtaining software applications. I felt that this topic was important primary because software piracy is all around us and it is a crime that is not specific a particular culture, class, or type of person. In all reality, people from all walks of life pirate software and see nothing wrong with it. I enjoyed this assignment because I have always found software piracy to be very interesting … particularly when upstanding, law abiding (in their own mind) citizens take part in piracy. I know so many people that would NEVER think of walking into a store and putting a CD into their pocket without paying for it but go home each night and download software, music, movies and games. I have always found this interesting because it hinges on the debates about intellectual property and copyright in the digital realm; this assignment dealt with all of those issues.

Resources: A complete list of resources as well as the page described can be found at []