News Article- Atlanta DJs Arrested for Selling Mixtapes

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003533767

Atlanta DJ’s DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon were arrested in January on felony charges from a warrant under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act. This means basically that the two were arrested for bootlegging music. Federal Agents seized computers and cds so they could be used as evidence. Mixtapes are a vital part of the hiphop community and many of them use and sample different songs from artists of all genres. Hip Hop artists use mixtapes usually to help promote an upcoming album or single. Although they do technically violate copyright laws, most record labels encourage their rap artists to create mixtapes. This is ironic considering the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is filing lawsuits against people who violate copyright laws

November 27th- Copyright II

On November 27th we finished up our conversation on copyright that we started two days earlier on the 25th. We watched some videos on Duke University Law School’s website. Each video had people familiar with the copyright laws discuss what they know and understand about copyright within music and movies. One thing that I found interesting is how people are making “mash-ups” of two artists and are able to sell it without the permission of the artists. I think underground and mainstream musicians should have the right to sample for free as long as they aren’t making money off of it and are just using it to get they’re name out there.

Library Organization

Our September 18th class covered the topic of Library Organization. In that class we discovered what the term “wiki” means. A wiki is a website that is able to be changed by its’ user. Currently the most popular wiki site is www.wikipedia.org, which is an editable online encyclopedia. We also learned about the Dewey Decimal system. This is the system that many libraries use. However, there is also another system called the Library of Congress system. This is used by the Library of Congress (obviously) and other libraries around the US.

Facebook Changes Policies and Procedures

Facebook.com recently announced that they would patrol and monitor sites that were being abusive, harassing, pornography, and inappropriate contact. Facebook users can now report people who are doing these things. Recently Facebook.com has been hounded by the US government for being a site for pornography and sexual predators.
Facebook’s problems are really nothing new. As a Facebook user, I know there always people online that I have no idea who they are and they want to add me as a friend, but to be safe and not freaked out by some people I just don’t accept their friend request.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,138533-c,kidsteens/article.html

News & Information Cycle

In the class on August 30th we learned about how online personas can compromise a persons chance at a job or other such opportunities. We read an article about how someone had certain things on their facebook.com profile that prevented him from getting a job. We also read a story another article that discussed how some athletes are being compromised by pictures they have on facebook.com and myspace.com. What people need to learn is that whatever someone puts on the internet is public. Nothing on the internet is private.

Netiquette

In our August 28^th class we discussed the topic of netiquette. Netiquette is the proper way to act and behave one self on the internet. In the class we discussed flaming and how people’s lives can really be affected. Flaming is when a user maliciously attacks another member of the internet usually through forums or comments on someone’s blog. We read an article about a lady who wrote on her blog and people disagreed with what she said. She received death threats from people who did not agree with what she said. This is a little ridiculous considering it’s just words on the internet.

Kansas High School Plagiarism Scandal

Another ordeal about plagiarism arose in Kansas in 2002 when members of school board decided no to overturn their decision about a Kansas high school. It all started when a teacher at Piper High School said she would not change the grades for 28 students that cheated and plagiarized a biology project. She resigned instead of changing the grades like the school board demanded.

Plagiarism seems to happen mostly in schools. Although that’s not always the case (see CBS NEWS Plagiarism Post) most cases happen in schools. I was taught from sixth grade on the proper way to cite the research I had found and not to plagiarize.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/04/03/plagiarism.dispute.ap/index.html

CBS News Plagiarism

ABC News reported that CBS News producer was fired for plagiarism. It pertains to a video essay that was done on CBS.com by anchorwoman Katie Couric. ABC News revealed that information had been taken from the Wall Street Journal. CBS News spokeswomen Sandra Genelius was quoted as saying “We were horrified” and “It was almost verbatim.”

This article just proves that plagiarism is not only schools. It affects even “prestigious” news corporations. From what Sandra Genelius was quoted as saying  “It was almost verbatim” which means it could have been a word-for-word plagiarism.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=3028148

Plagarism and Citing Sources

The class on October 12^th covered plagiarism. In that class we learned that there different types of plagiarism which are word-for-word, mosaic, and paraphrase. Word-for-word is when a person copies someone copies the work of another the exact same way that they wrote it. Mosaic is when some takes parts of another person’s work but puts some of their own ideas in it. Lastly, paraphrasing is when someone uses someone else work but puts it in their own words. All this instances consist of someone not citing where they found the work. Citing was another thing we learned about it class. There two main ways of citing, one being MLA and the other being APA. Citing lets others know that your work is made up of others and that you acknowledge that you are using someone else’s ideas. UNCW’s website has a section on how to cite different  types of works such as websites, magazines, newspapers, books, etc.

Midterm Exam

On the night before I felt pretty confident that I would do well on the test. I reviewed my notes and worksheets a few more times before so I knew I would do well. When it came time to take the test, the answers came to me quickly because I was prepared for it. It didn’t even take me that long to complete like I thought it would, and that gave me additional time to review a little more for a quiz in my next class.  The test was pretty much everything we had covered in class and studied my notes helped me know it even better.