AP CSP topic 5.5
Legal and Ethical Concerns
Creators own the intellectual property they make, like code, music, and images, and copyright law protects it. Licenses tell others how they may use a work: Creative Commons lets creators share with conditions, and open source software lets anyone view and change the code. Using someone's work without permission or credit can be illegal or unethical. Easy copying and sharing online make these questions more important.
Legal and Ethical Concerns vocabulary
- Intellectual property: Creations of the mind, such as code, music, writing, and images.
- Copyright: A legal right that protects a creator's work from being copied without permission.
- Creative Commons: A set of licenses that let creators share work under conditions they choose.
- Open source: Software whose code is freely available for anyone to view, use, and change.
AP-style practice questions
Try each one, then open the answer. To save your progress, take this quiz in the interactive course.
1. A student finds a photo online with a Creative Commons license that requires attribution. Which of the following is the correct way to use it in a project?
- (A) Use it and give credit to the creator as the license requires
- (B) Use it without credit because it is online
- (C) Change the colors so it becomes the student's own
- (D) Never use any online photo
Show answer
(A) Use it and give credit to the creator as the license requires Creative Commons lets you use work if you follow its conditions, such as giving credit.
2. Which of the following best describes open source software?
- (A) Software that cannot be changed
- (B) Software whose code is freely available for others to view, use, and modify
- (C) Software that is always free of errors
- (D) Software that only runs online
Show answer
(B) Software whose code is freely available for others to view, use, and modify Open source code is shared so others can study and build on it.
3. Which of the following is an example of a legal concern in computing?
- (A) Sharing copies of a paid movie online without permission
- (B) Choosing a variable name
- (C) Using a loop instead of copying code
- (D) Testing a program with edge cases
Show answer
(A) Sharing copies of a paid movie online without permission Distributing copyrighted work without permission violates copyright law.
4. A developer's app quietly collects users' contacts without asking. Even if it is legal in some places, why is this an ethical concern?
- (A) It makes the app slower
- (B) Users did not agree to share their private information
- (C) It uses too much battery
- (D) It requires an internet connection
Show answer
(B) Users did not agree to share their private information Collecting personal data without consent violates users' privacy and trust.