Copyright and Web Publishing

Copyright
Designing this web page is different from simply writing an essay for a class because any site on the Web is considered published, thus I am more restricted in what I can include (Porter, 2000). For example, I wanted to include photos of slate markers, but I accidentally deleted the image file of the slate monument. If this site were not going to be published, the Fair Use Doctrine states that I could include a copy or a printout of a photo from someone else without permission, provided, of course, that the use were a one-time deal and were for a class (MacKnight, 2000). But because this site is published, I can't do that. Fortunately, I can provide a link to an external site because linking, for the most part, is still allowed without obtaining permission. However, according to Kirsner (1997), who examined court cases filed against news services and search engines that "frame" external documents called up in their sites, the freedom to link may also become restricted.

Web Publishing
The number of web pages has grown exponentially, and most of those new pages are commercial. Although the commercialization of the web is troublesome (and certainly annoying when doing a search for noncommercial information), what bothers me more is the commercialization of education.

I created this web site using Dreamweaver. I chose Dreamweaver because it is the web-authoring program that the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has in its public access labs and, more importantly, because the Office of Information Technology (OIT) offered workshops this fall in how to use Dreamweaver. Any instructional setting that uses computers is, unfortunately, involved in the business of pedaling software, which is why computer companies and software designers are so eager to sell and/or give their products to schools. In a recent essay, Faigley (1999) quoted a British newswriter who summed up the thinking of the computer executives, "Give me a child of seven and I will give you a Microsoft user for life" (p. 129).

I would like to think that UMASS doesn't intentionally or willingly choose this role, that of pandering for corporations, but at the first Dreamweaver workshop I received a packet, "Introduction to Dreamweaver 3.0," where on the first page of text after the table of contents, I read this message:

Where can you purchase Dreamweaver?
Dreamweaver can be purchased at the University Store for $99 (OIT, 2000).

I'm not sure how an instructor and an institution can avoid inadvertent commercialization, but I do think that shameless promoting of products could be curtailed. As well, if an instructor were to emphasize the basic principles underlying a program's workings and that it is possible to transfer knowledge gained from working with one program to another, then perhaps students--or their parents--would not feel forced to buy a certain program.

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