Netiquette

Netiquette is also known as cyberethics or digital citizenship. It is the list of basic rules by which one should follow at all times while online. The basic concepts are to be polite and respectful to everyone online, but it goes more in depth than that.




Scenario #1 – A student sends a harassing e-mail to another student. The receiving student
retaliates with a “flaming e-mail.” Is this the appropriate response? If not, what would be?
This is not the appropriate response to receiving a harassing email. If you receive an email that you deem to be inappropriate, then it should be reported to a teacher (if in school), or you should respond in a polite manner, such as with an apology (if the email was for a reason), or you should wait to talk to the person face-to-face instead of responding in a bad way.

Scenario #2 – When hanging out with friends, one of the students makes a call on their cellphone and carries on a conversation while still within the group. Is this ok? Why or why not?
Calling people and continuing to talk in a group is not polite. You should always give someone full attention. The correct thing to do would've been to excuse yourself from the group, talk on the phone and then return and ask what you've missed.

Scenario #3 – A student logs on to a free file sharing website and downloads a song they just heard on the radio. Is this ok? Why or why not?
This is a method known as pirating, and it is illegal. Downloading a song from a website instead of buying it isn't legal, and shouldn't be done-The song is cheap enough to buy on iTunes, or if you're really that desperate you could go on one of the numerous sites that play music.

Scenario #4 – A student follows a questionable link to a website and downloads a malicious script which releases a Trojan Horse virus on to the school network. Is the student to blame? Why or why not?
The student is to blame, because the student followed the link instead of asking the teacher if that link was safe first.

Scenario #5 – An hour before class, a student remembers that a writing assignment is due. The student goes to the library, logs on to a website, and copies/pastes the information. Is this ok? Why or why not?
This is called plagiarism, and it is against the rules to do. Most information on the web is copyrighted- it  can't be copy and pasted. If a student is caught doing this in most schools, he/she will have to talk to the principal, and maybe go to courts for it. The penalties are very severe.

Scenario #6 – At home, a student uses a software package to copy movies and games from DVD’s for his or her friends. Is this within fair-use laws? Explain.
This isn't within the law to do. Most movies and games have the FBI notice on them- that notice isn't just for show! You're not supposed to copy movies or games onto DVDs for friends.

Scenario #7 – A student logs into the school website to download the syllabus they lost. Are they breaking any rules or laws? Explain.
Actually, the student here is perfectly fine. Logging onto the school website just to get homework information is fine, as long as they make sure to tell the teacher later on that they did. Hacking the school website, on the other hand, is illegal and not fine. Of course, the student could've just asked the teacher for another copy of the syllabus in the first place...

Scenario #8 – Students spend a good amount of time in class creating a web page for a school sponsored fundraiser. However, there website is not usable by certain individuals with disabilities. Was this disrespectful or wrong of them?
This was disrespectful, for sure. They should've let anybody view the webpage- leaving out certain individuals like that is like banning some people from sitting at your lunch table, or leaving some people out of your group on purpose. However, most people with disabilities like this already have a program or piece of hardware to counter their problem and therefore should be able to view the webpage anyway.




Netiquette is important because if one person doesn't follow the list of rules, then it could end badly for everyone involved in a project or assignment. If they don't follow all the rules, then they could get into serious legal trouble or at best just get a 0 on an assignment. Following the netiquette rules makes everyone like you more for using good grammar and spelling. We study this in class to make sure our blogs are good and to make sure we don't break any rules, spoken or unspoken.