Copyright Infringement Is A Crime
Become proactive in stopping this Internet virus. The following is an egregious website example of someone doing an online copy and paste of text from one site to another.
Important E-business Legal Issues
Not only is this unethical but it can have major eBusiness legal ramifications. With Internet access open to anyone the Web is providing a very quick way of doing research online. People are taking advantage of the quick copy and paste commands and trying to pass off written works as their own. This type of activity is on the rise for students, professionals, and even some university professors are "Guilty of Plagiarism". This is considered a form of theft.¹
This particular site had copied over 90% of the text verbatim from our Internet ethics page. Click on this link to see the full size saved picture. In addition to this page they also produced a second page with the exact same wording. Additional investigation displayed content from their other pages and links which have a pattern similar to what this example shows, covering a broad professional spectrum of articles. Note: (on 2/20/05, articles were reportedly removed and replaced)
It seems as though webmasters and even writers think they can copy and paste text off other websites to their hearts content. It is rather easy to prove who has the original copy of the web page in question. Search engines keep a cache of the pages that are cataloged on their web site. In fact search engines can be subpoenaed to share that information with the courts.
EBusiness websites are not the only areas where copyright protected information is being pillaged. This can be seen in various multimedia news articles, Newsletters, and even Blogs.
It is not hard to tell if something is plagiarized. Taking works that are not your own and then publishing the article online as though it were your own is copyright infringement. Even attorneys have been involved in copyright infringement offenses. The legal AND monetary consequences can be quite severe. Consequences involving monetary retribution and "there is also a provision in the law for criminal penalties and imprisonment if the infringement is serious enough."³ An additional note to be aware of is, once an offence is committed and published online or in print, it can come back to haunt a person forever.
It is important that companies police the Internet themselves and use popular search engines to check published articles online. Check also into the trade journals of what ever particular field that your company is involved in.
If you do include information in websites that use substantially the same words, thoughts, or ideas of another, then it would be prudent to give credit to the person or organization in the form of footnotes and hyperlinks, including quotes when citing passages from the original source. Not giving credit where credit is due could hurt you.
For more information related to these legal issues or eBusiness websites and the importance of following all the ethical, legal, and regulatory issues on B2B sites visit us at www.pwebs.net including more info on marketing ethics. Additional e-business info for B2C, emarketing strategies, and supply chains can be found at our Internet marketing and advertising resources page. Marketing differences between B2B and B2C plus the ABC's of B2B and B2C can be found at: http://difference-between-b2b-b2c.blogspot.com.
Important privacy policy note.
Organizations, footnotes, and suggested reference reading material:
1. Avoid Plagiarizing, http://www.wctc.edu/web/student/library/reference/plag.php, Waukesha County Technical College
2. Consider The High Cost of Plagiarizing, http://www.ip-lawyers.com/MICHAUDF.PDF, by: R. R. Michaud & T. A. Johnson, of: McCormick, Paulding & Huber LLP,
3. Using Someone Else's Ideas Can Cost You Big, http://www.njsbf.com/njsbf/student/eagle/winter03-2.cfm, New Jersey State Bar Foundation
4. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, United States Copyright Office
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Honesty, Integrity, and Trustworthy
Business Marketing And Advertising Ethics B2B + Ethics Values To Live By On The Net
Honesty
"Honesty the best policy" When dealing with customers and clients, not following this policy comes back to bite people time and time again.
Integrity
Do not be swayed by shortsightedness. If you see a potential for a quick buck, ask yourself if this really is a proper way to go about doing something. Businesses have been guilty of shortsightedness themselves. They have extracted a quick buck at the expensive of their integrity and consumers' wallets.
Trustworthy
Remember, when working with clients, he or she is placing web site trust in you. Hold onto that trust dearly and don't do anything that would harm it. They are trusting you to help them out on the Net. Remember this saying: Tell it like it is and do it with style! Customers will appreciate it. See: Business Ethics
We provide a great Internet solution for companies. Contact Professional Web Services today about Internet marketing services, online advertising strategies, ethical SEO - Search Engine Optimization, and Web branding solutions.
*Note: This site automatically logs the browser's domain name, and IP address. No info is ever released & used strictly for our internal use only. View entire importance of web ethics, & our insurance of online privacy policy.
Advertising And Marketing On The Internet - Honesty by PWEBS's James A. Warholic -- Is your business website information out of date? If so, you may be guilty of false advertising especially when it applies to the consumer market place. Read why, from a B2B and B2C legal standpoint about the importance of having your website up to date.
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