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Social and ethical issues related to multimedia systems
Copyright
Copyright refers to the legal protection for people who express ideas and information in a variety of forms. The most common forms resemble the data types that are used in multimedia system: writing, visual images, music and moving images. Computer software is also protected by copyright laws. It is important that when you use data that is not your own it is acknowledged correctly and the author recognised and/or compensated.
Appropriate use of the Internet
Appropriate use of the Internet is an; issue of concern throughout society and many organisations monitor online activity users and have guidelines that users are expected to follow. Now that multimedia content is so readily available online, there is even more unease about whether people are being responsible while, for example, at work or school. Many organisations, therefore, have guidelines regarding, for example, the; creation, transmission, downloading of any offensive or obscene material.
The merging of radio, television, communications and the Internet
Increasing improvements in digital technology is blurring the lines between the traditional formats of radio, television and the Internet. Digital broadcasting is the catalyst for a new media delivering more diversity in content and a crossover between television, radio and online content.
The integrity of original source data
The quality of a multimedia system will depend significantly on the integrity of the data it contains. It is important to cross-reference material; - particularly if it is sourced from the Internet.; Unlike books, which must generally comply with the editorial policy of the publisher, there are few barriers to publishing on the web. As a rule, government and educational sites (particularly universities) are reliable whereas online documents that have unverifiable information are more likely to have questionable integrity.
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