Full Description
Today, it has been said, the world is "flat," as online media allow information to move easily from point to point across the earth. International legal differences, however, are increasingly affecting the ease with which data and ideas can be shared across nations. Copyright law, for example, affects the international flow of materials by stipulating who has the right to replicate or to share certain kinds of content. Similarly, perspectives on privacy rights can differ from nation to nation and affect how personal information is shared globally. Moreover, national laws can affect the exchange of ideas by stipulating the language in which information must be presented in different geopolitical regions. Today's technical communicators need to understand how legal factors can affect communication practices if they wish to work effectively in global contexts.
This collection provides an overview of different legal aspects that technical communicators might encounter when creating materials or sharing information in international environments. Through addressing topics ranging from privacy rights and information exchange to the legalities of business practices in virtual worlds and perspectives on authorship and ownership, the contributors to this volume examine a variety of communication-based legal issues that can cause problems or miscommunication in international interactions. Reviewing such topics from different perspectives, the authors collectively provide ideas that could serve as a foundation for creating best practices on or for engaging in future research in the area of legal issues in international settings.
Contents
Foreword: Considering Legal Issues in Global Contexts
TyAnna Herrington
Introduction: Legal Issues in Global Contexts: Examining Friction Points on the Flat Earth
Kirt St.Amant and Martine Courant Rife
PART I: CHALLENGES AND CONSIDERATIONS
CHAPTER 1. Hiding Behind a Password: Are Online Classes as Private as We Think?
Wendy L. Kraglund-Gauthier and David C. Young
CHAPTER 2. The Power of Slogans: The Rhetoric of Network Neutrality
Brett Lunceford
CHAPTER 3. The Rules of the Game: Real Legal and Economic Implications of Second Life
Marco Antonio Chávez-Aguayo
CHAPTER 4. Dimensions and Policies of Metrication and Communication
Ronald L. Stone
PART II: LANGUAGE AND ACCESS
CHAPTER 5. Legal Literacy for Multilingual Technical Communication Projects
Tatiana Batova
CHAPTER 6. Adapting to the Changing Legal Context: How Executive Order 13166 is Shaping Translation and Localization in Health Care
Nicole St. Germaine
CHAPTER 7. Usable DRM: Sailing the Pirate's Seas for Legal Entertainment
Liza Potts
PART III: OWNERSHIP AND AUTHORSHIP
CHAPTER 8. Workplace Realities versus Romantic Views of Authorship: Intellectual Property Issues, Globalization, and Technical Communication
Pavel Zemliansky and Traci A. Zimmerman
CHAPTER 9. Software Patent Law in Global Contexts: A Primer for Technical Writing Specialists
Annette Vee
CHAPTER 10. Orphan Works and the Global Interplay of Democracy, Copyright, and Access
Martin S. Copenhaver
Afterword: Global Challenges and the Value of Heuristics
Heidi A. McKee and James E. Porter
Contributors
Index
