Family and Child Online Safety Blog - SafetyClicks

Safety doesn't always mean protecting against something physically dangerous. Sometimes it is just being careful about things you may not know about at all. This Switched article outlines several ways you might be breaking the law with your technological gadgets. Some may be a surprise to you.

There are a few that are not surprising at all; taking nude pictures with the cell phone, for example. Talking on the phone or texting while driving, even though it was never a good idea, is illegal in many states and cities.

Other ways to break the law with technology made me stop and think.There are a lot of fan fiction web sites that are dedicated to fans building a story further than the original author went. If you are a huge fan of a particular story, this can be a fun way to continue the story with other fans. Apparently some copyrights cover not only the story in its entirety, but also individual components and characters. This means that if you take your favorite character on a new adventure he or she was never on, you could be violating the copyright and could be asked to take it down.

With the advent of digital cameras, people (myself included) are taking far more pictures than ever before). With more and more photographers out there, sites like www.shutterstock.com have evolved, allowing anyone with a good eye for photography to upload images to sell as stock photos. Before you sell or make your photos publicly available, make sure you have the permission of everyone in the picture to use their image. There are model releases available on sites that will buy your pictures.

There are thousands, upon thousands of web sites on the Internet. Most of them (especially those used for personal use) were inspired by something else online, have something from another site, or at least were inspired by another online source. Sometimes it is fine, other times it is a copyright violation. Creativecommons.org has developed a way to share your own creative license, while still protecting what yourself.

Is there anything here you were surprised by? Have you been surprised by any other laws relating to technology?