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Justin, Demi, Selena, Rihanna - and COPPA By Lesley Fair October 4, 2012 - 1:29pm It's not likely we'll succumb to Bieber Fever.  We're of a generation more susceptible to the Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.  But a company that ran official fan websites for pop stars may be feeling the effects of an FTC law enforcement action alleging violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and COPPA Rule. The defendant, Artist Arena, operated authorized sites for Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and the mononymous recording artist Rihanna.  (It is, too, a word.  Ask Cher or Fabio.)  Visitors to BieberFever.com, DemiLovatoFanClub.net, SelenaGomez.com, or RihannaNow.com could join fan clubs and subscribe to online newsletters.  Fan club members also had access to social networking functions, like creating personal profiles, posting on walls, or "friending" other members.  Of course, to take advantage of those features, people had to provide personal information. The details of the registration process varied depending on the site, so you'll want to read the complaint for the specifics.  But the 25-words-or-less summary is that Artist Arena allegedly collected kids' names, addresses, email addresses, birthdates, gender and other info without properly notifying parents and getting their consent.  According to the complaint, the company violated COPPA by knowingly registering over 25,000 kids under 13 and collected and maintained personal information from almost 75,000 other kids under 13 who started the sign-up process, but didn't finish it. What about Artist Arena's promises that it wouldn't collect children's personal information or activate kids' registrations without parental consent?  The FTC challenged those claims as false. The settlement imposes a $1 million civil penalty, bars future COPPA violations, and requires the company  to delete the information collected illegally. Looking for specifics on COPPA compliance?  Visit the BCP Business Center's Children's Privacy page.  

one has the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with anyone from anywhere and anytime. Unfortunately, many users have not been taught how to make appropriate decisions when faced with so many different digital communicatio

communicate with other people. In the 19th century, forms of communication were limited. In the 21st

Digital Citizenship

a Denver-based company has created a Facebook application for youth to report violations to Facebook officials and connect to safety and crisis-support organizations. SafetyWeb's application, launched Monday, links teens to organizations including the U.S.-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and Facebook's abuse reporting process.

When their child clicks the Find Help application, they are directed to phone numbers and links for reporting incidents.

1.) Participation — unlike classroom settings, you can’t just “show up” and expect to pass the class. An online class is a community, and as such all are expected to participate. Discussion posts, opinions and feedback should be thoughtful and well-articulated so that everyone can enjoy a fun learning experience. 2.) Procrastination — do not wait until the last minute to do your work! Taking an online course means working with technology, and sometimes it can fail you. Work ahead of schedule so that any problems can be taken directly to the instructor for help, without losing time. 3.) Sharing — ideas, opinions and experiences should be shared with the whole community. Classmates may post questions on the Discussion Board, which you may be able to answer. Don’t keep information to yourself; in a community, everyone works together for the good of the whole. 4.) Proofread – before you press the SEND button, think about what you have written; you can’t take it back! A response to a classmate, a discussion post, an email to the instructor, make sure that you have said what you meant and that you mean what you said! 5.) Express — classmates and teachers cannot “see you”, so you have to be clear. Sarcasm, concern and other emotions are lost in an online environment if there is not enough information to back the statement up. 6.) Feedback — give feedback to your classmates and be open to theirs. Online classes function best when everyone is involved in the learning process. 7.) Respect — do not put down anyone’s ideas or thoughts, also state your own opinion in a way that is not hostile or overwhelming. Respect your classmates and they will respect you! 8.) Caution – be careful about statements that may come off as derogatory, racist or inappropriate for the classroom setting. If you wouldn’t say it in person, don’t say it online. 9.) Cheating – treat the class like an in-room course. Do not cheat, it only hurts your learning opportunities. 10.) Work hard! — to get the most out of it, you’ve got to put your best into it! Work hard and achieve results!

How Students Use Technology to Cheat

Academic dishonesty—ahem, cheating—has only gotten easier in the digital age. Students have Wolfram Alpha, Google, and crowdsourced question-and-answer sites like Quora at their fingertips. Students have cameras on their phones that let them take pictures of a test in an instant. Even Microsoft Word has built-in functionality that helps them game the system.

There's an old saying that students who cheat in their academic work are only cheating themselves. Today's professors still largely agree with this statement, with one telling me that it's like weight-training: "I can give them the information and I can coach them through the process, but if they don't put in the work, they will never see results."

The latest form of identity theft doesn't depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid's number long before the little one even has a bank account.

"If people are obtaining enough credit by fraud, we're back to another financial collapse," said Linda Marshall, an assistant U.S. attorney in Kansas City. "We tend to talk about it as the next wave."

Online companies use computers and publicly available information to find random Social Security numbers. The numbers are run through public databases to determine whether anyone is using them to obtain credit. If not, they are offered for sale for a few hundred to several thousand dollars.Because the numbers often come from young children who have no money of their own, they carry no spending history and offer a chance to open a new, unblemished line of credit. People who buy the numbers can then quickly build their credit rating in a process called "piggybacking," which involves linking to someone else's credit file.Many of the business selling the numbers promise to raise customers' credit scores to 700 or 800 within six months.If they default on their payments, and the credit is withdrawn, the same people can simply buy another number and start the process again, causing a steep spiral of debt that could conceivably go on for years before creditors discover the fraud

What is Fair Use?Fair use is a concept embedded in U.S. law that recognizes that certain uses of copyright-protected works do not require permission from the copyright holder. (See Title 17, section 107) What Determines Fair Use?The following four factors are used to determine if a use is fair: The purpose of the use (eg. commercial vs. educational)* The nature of the copyrighted work The amount of the material used (the greater the amount copied, the less likely it is fair use) The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work * Not all uses in an academic context are automatically considered fair use!  Fair Use in AcademiaThe Fair Use Doctrine is probably the most important exemption to copyright protections for educational settings, allowing many uses of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching and research. The complexity of fair use and its importance in academia make it imperative that every member of NYU-Poly understands how to make judgements concerning fair use. Review these Common Scenarios to help you determine whether or not fair use is appropriate. Tools to help you Determine Fair Use Fair Use Analysis Tool:  guides users through the process of determining if a use is fair. Developed by The University of Minnesota Libraries. Fair Use Evaluator: helps users collect, organize, and document the information they may need to support a fair use claim, and  provides a time-stamped PDF document for the users’ records. Developed by the American Library Association, Office for Information Technology Policy.