Particular attention should be paid to Internet-related problems, such as infringement of intellectual property rights, inappropriate use of social networking services, replying to suspicious e-mails or opening attachments, and virus infection (leakage of personal information) through access to suspicious sites.
Crimes using the Internet are becoming more diverse and shrewd, and more and more students are getting involved in various kinds of trouble. Take measures to prevent damage, such as taking anti-virus measures and not accessing suspicious sites, and at the same time, use the Internet with consideration for social rules and common sense.
The majority of cases involving the Internet that are problematic for universities are infringements of intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property rights include patent rights, utility model rights, breeder’s rights, design rights, copyrights, and trademark rights, but the scope of what is considered illegal has expanded in recent years. For example, downloading, which can be done with a single click. In some cases, this simple act constitutes copyright infringement. Illegally file-sharing songs, videos, etc. is also a criminal act.
For example, penalties of “imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than 10 million yen, or both” are prescribed for copying music from commercially available music CDs for others without the right holder’s permission, or for releasing music on the Internet (making it available for downloading) without the right holder’s permission. In addition, it is illegal to download music knowing that it has been illegally released. Among them, as of October 1, 2012, downloading music knowing that it is sold on commercial CDs or distributed over the Internet is subject to criminal penalties. The Copyright Act provides for penalties of “imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine of not more than 2,000,000 yen, or both” for illegal acts by individuals as described above.
The idea that “You won’t get caught so long as you don’t tell them” does not work. There are organizations all over the world, including Japan and the U.S., that are constantly watching to see if anyone is illegally sharing files.
Virus e-mails are sent with a variety of subject lines. These are the kind of programs that, when executed (double-clicked) on an attached file, infect your computer with a PC remote control virus. Some viruses are not detected by virus checking software.
Accessing suspicious sites is not prohibited at your own risk, but you must be fully aware of the risks associated with it. In particular, carelessly clicking on links or downloading software from a site can be extremely dangerous.
In addition, unauthorized applications for smartphones to extract personal information are rampant, and there have been incidents in which tens of thousands of personal information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses, have been leaked. Review the applications on your smartphone and use them with caution.
Cautions
Illegal or dishonest acts are not acceptable in the first place, but in the past few years, there have been many cases of confessions of criminal acts through social networking services (LINE, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). It may seem unbelievable, but some of students have actually posted such things as drinking and smoking by those under the age of 20, shoplifting, sexual harassment, and cheating (cheating on university exams).
Many of them may not understand that SNSs are open to the world, or they may be overconfident about the anonymity of the Internet. However, there are many cases where even fragments of personal information can be pieced together to identify individuals. Also, please be aware that information published on the Internet will remain on the Internet and cannot be completely deleted. Even if you have limited the scope of your publication or have only published it for a short period of time, it may be stored by recipients who see the postings, or it may be spread without your notice.
Before posting, please carefully and thoroughly check whether the content is acceptable for dissemination.
In communication, the slightest use of language can cause misunderstandings, discrepancies, and conflicts. And when you are communicating with an unspecified number of people using only text, it is not surprising that a “flame war” may break out at any time. Moreover, once the flames start, repeated comments become fuel for the flames to burn even more fiercely.
When communicating information, express your intentions as clearly and rigorously as possible. When receiving information, on the other hand, do not read between the lines, but only take what is written. If misunderstandings still arise, it is important not to continue further text-only communication.
If you have gotten into trouble or are about to get into trouble while using the Internet or other services, consult your faculty office immediately.