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A WebQuest for 11th Grade (Current Issues)

Designed by

Andrew DeFratisajd35@zips.uakron.edu

Based on a template from The WebQuest Page

Digital Law: the iPatch of Piracy

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Who amongst us isn’t guilty of downloading a song or movie at some point? Well your best friend Timmy was quite guilty. He had a filled external hard drive that would put Netflix’s database to shame.

Timmy’s parents have gone on vacation for a week, so in typical teenage fashion Timmy planned to have a rambunctious movie/dance party at his house complete with root beer floats and ‘smores! In preparation for the best party of the year, he downloaded Avatar, Transformers, Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” album, Rihanna’s “Talk That Talk” and about 43GB of other works. You called Timmy to finalize what kind of potato chips to bring, only to find that he had been arrested by the FBI!

Ever defiant of the law, you volunteer to defend Timmy from the FBI and get him released before his parents get home! All you have to do is collect evidence about the legality of downloading music and films, and create an argument.

Introduction

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Your job is to produce a Word Document divided into two parts: the argument, and your research. This should be between 3 and 5 pages long, no longer or the judge will throw you out.

Research first: Write a short paragraph summarizing each article you use, in particular what you found valuable or useful out of it and include the hyperlink. Show some form of organization for your research, such as “Laws, Statistics, Investigations and Court Cases.” You should have 5-10 sources.

Then the Argument: using your research, argue whether Timmy had or had not committed a crime by downloading works without paying for them. Incorporate past examples of captured digital pirates, what law may be being broken, and how others have settled out of court. (If you argue he did break the law, he may still be released as it is implied he’s sorry.)

Tip: Read the Evaluation rubric to make sure you are on track for a perfect grade!

Title

The Task

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1. Create the Structure of your paper: The first page should look something like this:

Remember:Font = Times New Roman, Size 12 font, Double spaced. Also

add a page number to the bottom of the document!

The Process (1 of 4)

Hermione Granger2/30/2015Mr. DeFratisDigital Law webquest

Argument: “Guilt is a Strong Term…”

Where as the quick brown fox set the precedent

for jumping over the lazy dog, so Timmy and I doth protest.

Hermione Granger2/30/2015Mr. DeFratisDigital Law webquest

Argument: “Guilt is a Strong Term…”

Where as the quick brown fox set the precedent

for jumping over the lazy dog, so Timmy and I doth protest.

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2. Use the “Insert Page break” option after writing a sentence of argument, and then write (bold an underlined) “Research Page”

3. Begin your research! Start with the following websites, then expand your search on your own – but be sure to only include reliable resources as discussed in class.

CNN Money: “Millions in SOPA lobbying bucks gone to waste”http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/27/technology/sopa_pipa_lobby/

Recording Industry Association of America: “The Laws”http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy_online_the_law

Boston.com: “Judge Slashes Penalty in Illegal…” http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/judge_slashes_p.html

Remember, you are expected to have 5-10 different sources on a number of factors!

The Process (2 of 4)

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4. Read a news article, then on your research page write the “Title” (in quotation marks) followed by the news source. Write a short paragraph identifying what part of the article you found valuable, interesting or intend to quote/reference in your argument, then include a hyper link.

For Example:

The Process (3 of 4)

Research Page

SOPA Sources

1. “Millions in SOPA lobbying bucks gone to waste” – CNN

Money. This site is particularly valuable because of the colors they

have decided to use! (

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/27/technology/sopa_pipa_lobby/)

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SOPA Sources

1. “Millions in SOPA lobbying bucks gone to waste” – CNN

Money. This site is particularly valuable because of the colors they

have decided to use! (

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/27/technology/sopa_pipa_lobby/)

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5. After you’ve compiled your sources, write an informative argument based on your new found knowledge on whether Timmy broke the law and should be thrown in jail. (You can take the position that he should, and if you do good work, they will let him go anyway! For citations, simply include the number from your list of research in a parentheses as below.

6. This will be due in the class email folder by February 30th! For further questions, I will be around the lab to help, and you may ask at the start or end of any class period before the due date.

The Process (4 of 4)

Argument: “Legislative ‘Literation”

Timmy tried to tell the tweens illegal tunes were tawdry.

The recent SOPA protests clearly demonstrate that the public does

not support anagrams of SOAP being legislative works. (1)

Argument: “Legislative ‘Literation”

Timmy tried to tell the tweens illegal tunes were tawdry.

The recent SOPA protests clearly demonstrate that the public does

not support anagrams of SOAP being legislative works. (1)

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Needs Improvement1

Developing2

Accomplished3

Score

__ / 12

Assignment follows prescribed structural guidelines

The assignment has multiple structural issues that show blatant failure to follow directions.

The assignment has some structural issues that may have been accidental but are noticeable. (Such as missing/inaccurate research categories.)

The assignment correctly follows all of the structural guidelines. __ / 3

Argument is well organized, sourced, and makes sense

The Argument portion shows the student has made only minimal effort; may be lacking sources, or shows poor persuasive writing skills.

Argument portion shows sufficient work and effort, but has notable errors in persuasive logic and/or is missing sufficient research.

Argument is well organized, written and researched.

__ / 3

Research portion is well organized and meets requirements

Notable failure to follow instructions, citations may be missing or from obvious unreliable sources, research summaries may show little to no effort.

Research portion shows notable failure to follow instructions but is still overall good, research summaries may need improvement.

Research portion is well organized, meets requirements on number, and summaries are well written.

__ / 3

Student showed work effort in class, behaved, and the assignment was in on time

The assignment was late, or the student showed notable failure to behave during class session.

The assignment was on time, and the student worked on it in class for most of the time but showed notable misbehavior.

Student showed work effort in class, behaved, and the assignment was in on time

__ / 3

Evaluation

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Digital piracy is still relatively new, and an informed citizen of the 21st century should understand the debate, history, punishments, protests and procedure.

This project will also teach the punishments for those that are caught illegally downloading! Many have been fined in the dozens of thousands of dollars up into the millions.

It is also important to understand copyright law, and the value of citations, and why stealing work of any kind is wrong – especially digital.

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This assignment is designed for students who already understand what a persuasive/argument essay is, and have done some background on independent research and identifying reliable resources.

The first day of this assignment should include going over each part of the assignment, and then allowing the students to work individually. Provide time (suggested: one week) out of class for students to complete assignment. After graded, the teacher may want to come up with an answer of what happened to “Timmy.”

6.   Digital Law:   electronic responsibility for actions and deeds Digital law deals with the ethics of technology within a society. Unethical use manifests itself in form of theft and/or crime. Ethical use manifests itself in the form of abiding by the laws of society. Users need to understand that stealing or causing damage to other people’s work, identity, or property online is a crime. There are certain rules of society that users need to be aware in a ethical society. These laws apply to anyone who works or plays online. Hacking into others information, downloading illegal music, plagiarizing, creating destructive worms, viruses or creating Trojan Horses, sending spam, or stealing anyone’s identify or property is unethical.

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