Since this week's discussions are about Facebook and internet privacy, I thought I'd share this podcast featuring the thoughts of Denise Howell (a California lawyer who specializes in technology-related legal matters) and her guests on those subjects ... Here are links to the relevant parts of their discussion:
0:29:30 - Two creators of the Twitter account "omgfacts" are suing each other over which one actually "owns" the account and its two million-plus followers. This case brings up the issue of online ownership and what it actually means to "own" an account and the stuff that's created for that account; whose intellectual property is it (and is there such a thing as "copyright of tweets")? Collaborative efforts like this within the social-media realm may give rise to other ownership/legal issues in the future (which is something that librarians might need to be aware of).
0:47:38 - This talk was more about for-profit businesses, but it may still be applicable here ... If a librarian creates a Twitter account for their library, does their employer actually "own" the intellectual property created therein? Even if the librarian maintains it on their own time, they're using "company" equipment/resources.
0:57:04 - Privacy and the workplace (when people apply for jobs, some potential employers are now asking for their Facebook passwords in order to nose around and see what they're up to!)
1:00:48 - Story about a school teacher who posted private photos of herself drinking alcohol on Facebook, but the pictures still managed to find their way to members of her school district and led to her termination ...
1:15:20 - Do we need new laws on the books to govern social media in regards to privacy issues? It is voluntary, after all (no one's forcing people to have a Facebook account), but it's getting so ubiquitous that it may cause problems down the road ...
1:29:17 - Could you be liable for embedding an infringing YouTube clip on your blog (not uploading copyrighted material yourself, but just linking to it)?
Really don't think that it is right for a potential employer to ask for FB passwords. WRONG!!! That should be a freedom of speech violation!
ReplyDeleteI do know a Vice Principal though how NEVER allows herself to be holding a drink in a photo--her job was recently eliminated due to budget cuts anyway...