CSCI 1300 Blog: Jason Hardin's Talk

Jason Hardin's talk about copyright and plagiarism was very interesting to me. I have a general idea of what the two topics mean, but have never really understand the true meaning of the two words. My understanding was that they both had similar meanings, but I found out that copyright pertains to the law while plagiarism is more academic. One thing I found interesting was when copyright was actually started. I had no idea it was formed in 1790, when the Constitution was written.
The other topic I knew some about but not extensive amounts was the campus base file sharing. They send us e-mails about sharing music and things but I never knew how serious it could get. Some kids have been sued for having illegal files, and sometimes Trinity can't do anything to help them. I can see how some students may find that sharing music isn't a big deal, since a lot of people do it. You never think you will get caught. However there are alternatives to sharing music such as the higher opportunity act that obliges colleges to provide an "alternatives for illegal downloading". This is something new, but useful to students who are at universities. I believe that students should not share files, since it does not follow copyright laws and also since it could damage your computer by getting viruses from other people.