The Do’s and Dont’s of downloading from the internet

Jun 3, 2020 | Cyber Parenting - Privacy and Identity

Here we offer some advice and best practise for downloading from the internet.

Do’s

  • Download a music track or some other content yourself, so that you understand how it works – ask your son or daughter to help if you’ve not done it before.
  • Recommend that they download content from established online brands like iTunes or the Vodafone Shop – you could direct them to lists of legitimate websites, such as the one Pro-Music provides.
  • Explain that online activity is not necessarily anonymous – a copyright owner might be able to get a court order to force their ISP to identify them.
  • Make the most of Parental Controls and SafeSearch to help protect them from inappropriate online content – they might not be 100% effective, however, and they aren’t a substitute for parental supervision.
  • Check the browser history on your family computer regularly and look for any desktop icons you don’t recognise.
  • Make sure your family’s computer is fully protected against viruses, spyware and other security threats.
  • Encourage your child to create and innovate – content licensed under ‘Creative Commons’ licences can often be enjoyed, remixed and redistributed.

Don’t’s

  • Underestimate how the internet has changed the way young people access and share content.
  • Assume that your son or daughter knows what ‘copyright infringement’ is.
  • Bury your head in the sand if you think they’re too young to be downloading content – it’s better to talk to them before they make any downloading mistakes.
  • Forget the copyright implications if they use downloaded content in their own creations – even if they’re using music or other clips in a video they make, they could be infringing copyright.
  • Ignore the fact that file-sharing networks (like many internet systems) could expose your child to strangers and inappropriate content.
  • Leave it to them to work out… your whole family could be affected if your child infringes copyright online.

Source: Vodafone

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