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Effects of Moderate Use A moderate amount of computer use and game playing doesn't seem to affect social development. The social behavior of moderate computer users and nonusers was roughly the same in terms of sociability and relationships with friends and family. However, heavy computer users tended to believe they had less control over their lives than their classmates, a possible indication of inadequate socialization. Increased Hostility and Aggression After the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, researchers and educators paid more attention to violent video games such as Doom, the daily game of choice for one of the two teenage killers. Many studies show that violent TV shows increase aggression and hostility in both children and adults. It appears the same is true of computer games. The key variable appears to be a preference for violent games, rather than the amount of time a child plays such games. Even playing Mortal Kombat for a short time increases a child's hostility and aggression. Violent computer games also desensitize children, who show less empathy and willingness to help others, according to research cited in "The Future of Children." Brain Drain In a small study of 18 Chinese university students, published in the "PLos ONE" journal and reported on Mail Online, kids who played games on their computers at least eight hours a day, six days per week showed alarming amounts of atrophy in parts of their brain, as measured by MRI scans. The scans also found abnormalities in the white matter of the brain, which coordinate communication between different areas of the mind. On Mail Online, Dr. Aric Sigman of the Royal Society of Medicine called the July 2011 report a "wake-up call." Experts fear that in addition to cognitive damage, heavy Internet use might reduce the inhibitions and decision-making ability of children, leading to damaged relationships with family members, peers and authority figures.

Internet, as most of us know, is a large network of networks, which communicate with each other by means of data packets. Internet is regarded as the largest information base. Today, Internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. We depend on the Internet to update ourselves about current news and rely on the communication platform it offers to get in touch with our near ones. The information from all around the world is just a click away, thanks to the Internet. Internet has surely affected the society positively. With the onset of the Internet, access to information has become easy. Internet has served being an efficient and organized storage of information. Internet search engines are the best information retrieval systems that are functional over the Internet. Typing in a simple search query to a search engine fetches you thousands of search results. Moreover, the ranking strategies adopted by the search engines ensure that the most relevant results are delivered to you on priority. The search engines crawl over all the information that seems relevant to your search query. They retrieve the most relevant results in top order, thus helping you fetch the required information with great ease. Information is truly a click away! The Internet provides some of the most effective means of communication. Emails and instant messages have made online communication possible. Social networking and blogging websites and online discussion forums have proved being popular platforms of expression. People in different parts of the world can collaborate over the Internet. They can exchange views, share information and work together over the Internet. It was the development of the Internet that made online education and distance learning possible. Professionals working in physically distant locations can collaborate their efforts, thanks to the Internet.

Often, people who are victims are also bullies. Before you feel too bad for yourself, take the quiz below to find if you, too, are part of the cyberbullying problem! Rate yourself on the following point scale according to if, and how many times, you have done the below activities. Give yourself 0 points if you’ve never done it, 1 point if you have done it 1 or 2 times, 2 points if you have done it 3-5 times, 3 points if you have done it more than 5 times.

Between cell phones, social media Web sites, and online gaming, children today seem to have more outlets for interacting with each other virtually than they do for interacting with each other in person. However, with all of the good social interaction that is done as a result of these technologies also comes the bad. In addition to the physical and verbal bullying that may take place at school, cyber-bullying in the form of harassing text messages and derogatory posts on children’s Facebook pages is now commonplace. Even though it may not take place in person, the emotional and psychological effects of cyber-bullying are just as destructive. Since new media and cell phones are harder to track and monitor, parents need to take preventive measures that can help minimize the effects of cyber-bullying on their children. 

Copyright Infringement means using the original piece without the permission of the copyright holder, as such or in parts (without attributing the part to the owner). According to the US copyright laws, one can face heavy penalties in cases of copyright infringement. The infringement may also lead to a jail term or a penalty followed by a jail term.

Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Services (1996) Michigan Document Services was involved in creating packages of study material for the students of the University. A professor supplied the course material and Michigan Document services, a photocopying organization, took photocopies of the material and converted it into a booklet for sale to students at the University. There was a clause of "Fair use" in this case. The photocopying company could have paid a nominal fee to the University and then used the material. This was available to anyone who wished to use the material. However, the photocopying company paid for only the original and then started making photocopies of the study material. The court considered that it was not "fair use" and penalized the photocopying company. A & M Records vs. Napster (2001) This is one of the most famous cases of copyright infringement related to the music industry. As peer to peer file sharing increased, Napster started a website. This website offered downloads of songs of all genre – new and old. You may know someone who used it. A & M Records brought in a joint copyright infringement case which accused Napster of stealing music and making it available to people worldwide. Before closing the site in 2002, Napster had to settle USD26 million to different recording companies and songwriters. It could have even more if Napster had not apologized and folded the site. Several websites still thrive on offering free music to people who can download it at no cost. As mentioned in our article on "Internet Ethics and Copyright Laws", the music industry faces most copyright infringement cases. The Napster case, though an example of the consequences, still does not act as a deterrent for other music websites that offer free music downloads. We hope these famous copyright infringement cases have clarified what is considered copyright violation to some extent. If you still have any questions, please free to contact us using the comments facility.

Each person’s Internet use is different. You might need to use the Internet extensively for your work, for example, or you might rely heavily on social networking sites to keep in touch with faraway family and friends. Spending a lot of time online only becomes a problem when it absorbs too much of your time, causing you to neglect your relationships, your work, school, or other important things in your life. If you keep repeating compulsive Internet behavior despite the negative consequences in your offline life, then it’s time to strike a new balance

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights. It is a form of intellectual property (like the patent, the trademark, and the trade secret) applicable to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete.[clarification needed][1]

Given the absence of face-to-face clues, written text can easily be misinterpreted. Avoid the use of strong or offensive language and the excessive use of exclamation points. If you feel particularly strongly about a point, it may be best to write it first as a draft and then to review it, before posting it, in order to remove any strong language.

If someone states something that you find offensive, mention this directly to the instructor. Remember that the person contributing to the discussion is also new to this form of communication. What you find offensive may quite possibly have been unintended and can best be cleared up by the instructor.

Although electronic communication is still young, many conventions have already been established. DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS. This is regarded as shouting and is out of place in a classroom. Acronyms and emoticons (arrangements of symbols to express emotions) are popular, but excessive use of them can make your message difficult to read. Some common ones include: