Legal,+Ethical+and+Other+Implications

Legal, Ethical, and Other Implications

Fathom offers students with a great tool to create, manipulate, and model data with. It is a powerful tool, one that any student would be lucky to use in their classrooms. Thought Fathom is program well ahead of the curve, it is not without it's problems. Like any program, Fathom does yield some legal, ethical and other problems that users should be aware of when using Fathom.

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Legal Implications
 With any software package, legal implications reside. Even if you are a "big fan" and use the software regularly, if you have acquired the program illegally, it is no different than illegally downloading music.



All jokes aside, Fathom does come with some serious legal implications. Found below is a list of potential legal implications that one may run into with Fathom:


 *  Breach of license agreement
 *  Copying/burning discs
 *  Creating a ISO –so that the disc is not needed to run the program
 *  Overreaching the physical or geographical scope in which you may use Fathom
 *  Site license can only be extended to home computers of teachers and instructors
 *  Free Trials—having them extend past 60 days (loopholes)
 *  Websites that provide a serial number to illegally download and “own” Fathom
 * Plagiarism –students may pass off a “sample” document as their own work

Ethical Implications


 Just as //Fathom// has many legal implications, it also has some ethical implications that both instructors and users need to be aware of when using this program. This will ensure that the data program is not only used effectively in the classroom, but also appropriately. Here are some issues that are of concern when it comes to ethics:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Assumption that all students have computers at home to run the program/use the files/make new files
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Illegal downloading and/or copying of files
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Extending a Free Trial past the time period it is supposed to be offered in
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Assuming that everyone has the money to buy the program on their own (when applicable)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> If collecting data in surveys, such as //Fathom Survey// or through other surveying mediums, inappropriate questions may be asked
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Students may “share” files, change the name of the document and submit these as their own (PLAGIARISM!!)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Sample products can be used as reference/be altered and submitted as their own
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Students may generate and present graphs with inappropriate material/share it with the class
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Assumption that all students will have the latest version of Fathom (Often, older versions are cheaper and //Fathom// seems to only grant updates to those who are running Fathom from the server, not individuals who have purchased the disc)

<span style="color: #ff9200; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other Implications (Known Issues)
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">There are some "other" implications that //Fathom// brings to the table that fall under neither the "legal" or "ethical" categories, but are still worth mentioning:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Must have the disc (or be running a 60 day trial) in order to use
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Updates must be done often—program is always changing, specifically the addition of sample documents
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Early versions of Fathom have trouble opening PC created files on a Macintosh, and vice versa (the program will not launch to open files)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Text size (for charts, graphs, etc) is not adjustable in the program itself. Text boxes, however, can be adjusted
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">To use Fathom Surveys, the latest version of Fathom need to be installed (will not work on older versions of Fathom)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">They advertise that you can copy tables from URL’s, but if the structure of the tables are not produced in the website, then they will not copy into Fathom (Safari is one of the web browsers with this problem)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">There is no sure way for Fathom to determine whether or not a block of cells copied from Excel (or any other program) contains attribute names or not. Therefore, attributes may be produced in several rows.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Fathom has system requirements: Windows (98 or later), Macintosh (Mac OS 10.1.5 or later)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Cannot create summary tables, works best with raw data
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Trial version is available. Fully functional, except that it does not allow printing, saving, exporting, or copying and pasting into other applications
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Fathom uses its own specific programming language (though easy to learn)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The set up on a PC and a Mac looks different

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Warning
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Fathom can be considered a Type I and Type 2 technology depending on how it is used. Used in conjunction with other technology applications, such as surveying websites and data generators, it can yield some very powerful Type 2 products. Be weary of using Key Curriculum Press lesson plans without first examining them and identifying them as a Type II technology.