Nov.+10

Class Summary:

** iGoogle ** Today in class, we began by discussing our iGoogle assignment and why it is important and relevant to our lives. In order to not be taken advantage of, a person should be aware of the world around them. As an example, we discussed the growing problem of the 1% of wealthy individuals controlling a large portion of all of the income in America. We must understand enough about politics and their applications in order to form a resistance to policies that are harmful to interests of young people.

** Media Law ** Because information exchange is changing so rapidly in today’s society, conflict arises from the unknown. Many of the media laws of today are outdated. These changes include: 1. “Local” information has now become global, reaching around the world through the web. "Local" media is now global. 2. Private and public information is now difficult to separate; who is a public figure and who is private is also more difficult to define. 3. Media is no longer fixed in the sense that, with the click of a button, information can be taken off of the web and become as if it has never existed.

Next, we began to talk about specific areas in which the old laws simply are not up to par including libel, copyright, and privacy.

//Libe//l- Libel is a written statement, which criticizes an individual falsely, that makes a claim while implying or stating that it is factual. Slander, the spoken form of libel, is also a problem in today’s society for media organizations, and for anyone who publishes. Media corporations hire lawyers and train their staff about how to avoid this issue in the first place; ordinary people who participate in publishing online need to be aware of these laws as well.

//Copyright//- Copyright is the producer’s legal rights to their intellectual works which allows it to be protected from thievery. In simple terms, the moment an individual puts any form of work (pictures, music, writings, books, or works of art) it is automatically published and protected. An exception to these procedures is anything that is labeled “fair use.” This may include anything that is used for the purposes of education, commentary, parody etc. Creative work that is not copyrightable includes fashion, jokes, directories, recipes etc.

//Privacy//- We will be discussing privacy next class. -Kim Mahoney

(//Thanks for the summary, Kim! I made just a few edits. Donica//)

To be a good citizen, to have things to talk about, to be informed. And, because without it, you as an individual, and as a group, will be taken advantage of. See, for example, this presentation in income inequity in America: [|Here's a jarring guide to wealth and inequality in America].
 * Why pay attention to news?**


 * Powerpoint for today:**

For Wednesday, your assignment is to work with your group to:
 * Assignment that was due today**:

(1) Write a description of your topic stated in the form of an assumption or hypothesis. Post this on your group Ning page.

(2) Develop a set of questions and key words to guide your search for information about your topic.

(2) Gather at least 50 links (more for larger groups) to relevant information that will answer your questions. Post the links on a Delicious page; the easiest way to do this is to create a new Yahoo login and a Delicious account that everyone in your group shares.

(3) Post a link to your Delicious page on your group Ning page. If you want, you can create a RSS feed of your Delicious page and post that on your group page.

The final assignment description is here.

Class absences will cost 2 points starting Wednesday, Nov. 3.