Law and media
Question 1
This is the right that is accorded to individuals in relation to communication. This is to mean that people are allowed to express their thoughts, views and beliefs without trepidation or dread of retaliation from the government or any form of censorship (Meiklejohn, 2004). This term also means that individuals are allowed to gather, receive and send information freely without restrictions of the channel used. However, the government is allowed to put limitation to this right if the speech is related to vilification, defamation, pornography, public security, public nuisance, false swearing or oppression (Schulhofer, 2012).
People that are employed in state or local governments; including teachers, human resources in a facility, police officers or clerical employees are in most cases restricted from speaking out against the government or the place of employment (Meiklejohn, 2004). It is also vital to note that all government employers are required to deal with their employees in order to provide efficient services to the public. It is also critical to note that employees who speak negatively against an institution that renders its servicers to the public would cause the people not to appreciate the services offered and could lead to closure or lack of confidence to the public (Meiklejohn, 2004).
It is also critical to note that the first amendment allows public freedom of speech to public employees and not to private employees (Schulhofer, 2012). This is because the bill of rights is only relevant to governmental actions. This is to mean that a private employer has the right to discipline their employees concerning what they speak as he considers fit. The private employer is allowed to fire an employee whose speech is inappropriate (Schulhofer, 2012). The university employees work for the private employer and therefore they do not have a free speech as long as they work for the university.
Question 2
Intellectual property refers to things that are fashioned and produced form one’s mind. Such things include works of art, writings, ciphers, images and pictures that are used in business. It is vital to note that intellectual property is protected by law in form of patents, trademarks and copy rights (Bosworth et al 1986). These enable people to gain credit and acknowledgements and also for financial benefits to the inventors. Ensuring that there is a balance between the wellbeing of the inventors and the interests of the consumers; the intellectual property helps to ensure that there is an environment that allows thriving and development of creation, invention and innovation (Lindberg, 2008).
A patent is an authority that is granted by the government to exclude others from manufacturing, selling or using an invention apart from the sole creator (Lindberg, 2008). Some of the companies that enjoy patents are Toshiba, apple and Coca cola among others. The basic idea of patents in business is a good one because it has allowed the inventors to have limited monopolies over a technology in order for it to build on the creation (Lindberg, 2008). This is to mean that advanced technologies are made in order to spur further innovation instead of them remaining to be business secrets.
Nevertheless, the aspect of patent protects has been crippling innovation instead of growing it. Statistics state that by the year 2008, the profits received from patents for American companies totaled to $4 billion whereas the litigation costs totaled to 14 billion (Lindberg, 2008). This is to mean that there have been challenges because people value the prizing of the patent rather than the quality of the patent. Another issue is the increased rise in uncertain patents especially in field such as software and models in business (Lindberg, 2008).
From this we can see that it is crippling the growth and development in innovation because inventors are not allowed to venture into such models that have been issued with patent protection yet the stated companies are not doing anything to better the creation (Lindberg, 2008). This has been a challenge that needs to be reformed due to the tremendous growth in technology that allows new or modified technology all around the globe.
Question 3
Defamation can be termed as the public proclamation of a statement that lowers the state of n individual before people (Keller, 2009). This can also be termed as libel or slander if the information is publicized in print form or is broadcasted to other people. Slander is to mean any communication that is verbal or in gestures. For a statement to be termed as defamatory, it must actually cause harm to the reputation of the person (Dwyer, 2012). In this case, defamation on new media would be to speak ill of the new media that would cause harm in terms of people losing the confidence to purchase or low sales. In law, the extent of the fault primarily depends on the plaintiff. This is to mean that the extent of defamation can be measured by the effects of the statements on the individual.
It is vital to note that in some cases the plaintiff is entitled to damages. Some of the rules involved in defamation are duty of care where the employees are entitled to have dutiful care to the organization and its products (Dwyer, 2012). Defamation would cause lack of this care and therefore lead to harmful effects to the organization. Breach of duty also applies to defamation in terms of where for harmful statements to occur one must have violated the duty of carev(Dwyer, 2012). For employees to avoid cases of defamation then every grievance should be reported to the relevant authorities in the organization in order for it to be rectified (Keller, 2009).
Question 4
Promotion is involved in marketing but is specifically involved in communication to the target customers. This is a critical process because it enables consumers to be aware of the products in the market, be fascinated about the product and create interest in them to purchase the product (Crosby et al, 2011). This can be achieved through advertisement of the product. In this case the target customers are the students. One of the major questions that need to be asked is what type of media do the students use regularly?
With the target audience the main channel to use is internet. This can be done through the social media such as face book, twitter and online discussion groups among other channels (Crosby et al, 2011).. Information about the drug can be explained in one of the social media platforms because it will allow many students to be aware of it and also create the interest to buy. Appealing advertisements can be a cause of attraction to the students to buy the drug (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2011). The above forms of advertisement will create the awareness and also explain the benefits of the drug to the students.
This will also create satisfaction and contentment to the food and drug administration regulatory body in the states because it will ensure that the drug has been advertised using the right means and is of great importance to the students (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2011). This will ensure that the company is confident about the firm’s records thus keeping the FDA happy.
Question 5
Organizations should ensure that working hours for employees should be used in carrying out work related activities. However, there are some cases where the employees use the working hours for other things that are not related to the work. In this case the organization should evaluate whether the working hours balance with the amount of work issued to the employees (Chaney & Martin, 2007). In this case policies about the use of social media should be placed and implemented because this behavior can affect the productivity of the company.
Employees in a private organization are not entitled to free speech and therefore bad mouthing the supervisor and lying against the company is a violation this right (Taylor & Emir, 2015). Laws in regard to the first amendment allow the employers to discipline such employees to their discretion. This is because this would bring negative effects to the company especially in things that are not true. The supervisor is also entitled to damages as a result of defamation (Taylor & Emir, 2015). However, this will depend on the extent to which he is affected by the statements.
It is also evident that the time used to do this is during working hours and therefore the employer has a right to discipline the employee (Chaney & Martin, 2007). In this case the employer is allowed because the employee is using working hours for non work related activities and also spoke negative about the company. This information could risk the company in the public by destroying the confidence or portraying a bad public image of the company. Loyalty was lacking in this employee and therefore the employer is allowed to terminate her employment contract at will.
Question 6
Social media has of late become very common where everyone is using it including employees in the work place. It is also critical to understand that companies can be held responsible for any officially permitted and authoritarian issues that crop up as a result of employees using social media for defamation or discrimination purposes (Breakenridge, 2012). Companies are also facing the risk of employees leaking very sensitive company information or customer information to the public. The risks associated with this are far much beyond the whether the employee carries out the offense during working hours or off working hours (Joosten, 2012). This is because the employee is identified as part of the company at all times.
Content is one very important aspect of social media. This is because the content is what determines the outcome of the information after it reaches the public (Breakenridge, 2012). The information that is passed on social media should be analyzed in order to avoid such risks. I believe that if the content of information is evaluated then risks such as defamation would be avoided.
Sample bill
Bill Number –
Purpose- it is to reduce the risks of defamation and any other challenge that is caused by wrong information on social media to the public.
Be it enacted by the media and maws regulatory body
Section 1: For the purpose of this bill, the effects shall take place immediately.
Section 2: All companies shall ensure that there are policies in relation to the use of social media for all employees.
Section 3: All information that is posted on ay social media platform shall be analyzed to ensure that it contains minimal risks to company.
Section 4: Any person that violates the policies that relate to the use of social media shall face disciplinary actions that lay at the discretion of the employer.
Signature:
Question 7
Face book can be termed as an online communications service that was launched by Mark Zuckerburg in the year 2004 (Wankel et al, 2010). It is used for social communication between people from all over the globe. It is also vital to note that face book provide a plat from where people can put their genuine lives online. This is because the plat form allows people to provide accurate and realistic information about their lives and also provide genuine interactions with acquaintances (Pride et al, 2012).
It is evident that face book has approximately 1.6 billion users from all over the world. This shows that this site has the highest number of users as compared to other social network sites (Wankel et al, 2010). It is also clear that face book is available in different languages as compared to other sites thus enabling users to connect with friends across geographical borders (Wankel et al, 2010). The number of people using face book is still expected to grow as the usage of mobiles continues to increase.
Face book provides diversity usage because it puts much emphasis on the exchanges among acquaintances and family and is also shoving interaction through sharing photos, games and the sharing of status (Pride et al, 2012). It is also evident that face book has grown in many diverse regions whereas sites such as MySpace have not grown in various regions.
Face book offers a wide range of activities such as showing people of upcoming birthdays, create business connections, act as an advertising plat form, and invite people of worldwide events among other activities (Pride et al, 2012). This has caused many people to prefer face book the the use of other social network sites. This has caused it to be the leading social network site in the world.
Question 8
The use of email is an electronic exchange of information in digital form from a sender to multiple people (Wallwork, 2014). Emailing is functional from the internet or through processor networks. An email message constitutes of three parts which are the envelope of the message, the header and the content of the message. In most cases expressive information is very vital such as the subject of the message and the date of submission (Curran, 2009). An email spam can be termed as spontaneous mail that contains nearly identical information as an email and is sent to numerous people.
When information is marked as spam, the recipients may not read it as it is considered to be junk and therefore the essence of communication is lost. There are several ways to ensure that a message is not flagged as spam;
- Ensure that any information that is sent to the customers will always provide them with an allowance to exclude themselves from the mailing addresses (Curran, 2009). This will help to ensure that the information is only available to the required users only.
- The information systems department of the company should reflect on using services such as the constant contact to send out newsletters or any information from the company to the customers (Wallwork, 2014). This service ensures that the emails are sent out safely without the risk of being flagged as spam.
- The company should also refrain from sending out large attachments or sending out messages that are entirely composed of pictures (Wallwork, 2014). This is because it may be mistaken for an advertisement and therefore be considered as a spam.
- The company should also plainly affirm the use of beacons and web bugs in the public privacy policies (Wallwork, 2014).
- The company should ensure that all mails are sent to active accounts. This is because inactive accounts are prone to being converted to traps by dishonest and corrupt mailers (Curran, 2009).
Question 9
It is vital to note that the right to privacy is deemed to be an international rule. This is to mean that everyone is subject to privacy in relation to family and home issues (Cross, 2014). In this technological era, the right to privacy is being threatened. It is vital to understand the normal internet transaction in order to view how privacy can easily be lost through the internet (Bennett, 2004). We can also see that the opportunities that allow people to post ay thing on the internet has greatly affected privacy in internet.
Information about users can be retrieved through cookies, IP address and click streams among other internet features (Bennett, 2004). These can give information about the user such as the sites they visit, the geographical location and also their personal information. The use of personal information on sites such as face book, twitter and other social; sites also reveal the personal information of an individual. This is because the users willingly provided such information for others to see (Bennett, 2004).
There are various ways in which privacy can be maintained through the internet by using a private and protected social network (Cross, 2014). This will ensure that information is encrypted and allows the user to remain anonymous to other users. The use of firewalls is also critical in ensuring privacy. This is because they keep the computer clean and without viruses that could corrupt the computer (Cross, 2014). As discussed earlier, cookies can be a threat to privacy but can also help to maintain the privacy if users regularly delete the cookies and log out from any social site account when they are not using it. From the above it is possible to maintain privacy through internet despite the threat associated with technology usage.
Question 10
The use of media across the internet to distribute information has become increasingly evident even in the court system. The use of smart phones have also impacted the media in courts as they work efficiently just as computers (Wolf et al, 2003). Any information that is available on the computers is also available on the smart phones. This shows that smart phones have played a larger role in shaping the interaction in the 21st century. Information has become handy as one is able to be updated on the news from all around the world in a very short time (Federal Judicial Center, 2001).
It is vital to note that the federal courts do not allow the recordings of court proceedings to be taken and shown to the public (Wolf et al, 2003). However, pictures and recordings can be used to provide evidence in courts. It is vital to note that the smart phones come in as being useful especially in ensuring that past court cases can be available to the public after the court hearings (Wolf et al, 2003). This is vital to ensure that instead of court rulings to be stored in paper form, the court can store the information on the smart phones.
The courts also use the smart phones to keep the general public on the latest court news and the developments in the courts (Wolf et al, 2003). As a result of the use of smart phones, the lawyers, litigants and state agencies are able to assess all court news and information on the smart phone (Wolf et al, 2003). This makes it easier to access and distribute information.
References
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Crosby, R. A., DiClemente, R. J., & Salazar, L. F. (2011). Research Methods in Health Promotion. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.Top of Form
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