Transcript 0495807958_251495

Chapter Twelve:
Computer Ethics
and the Internet
Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings (10th ed.)
Julie C. Van Camp, Jeffrey Olen, Vincent Barry
Cengage Learning/Wadsworth
What Is Computer Ethics?
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James Moor: “analysis of the nature and social
impact of computer technology and the
corresponding formulation and justification of
policies for the ethical use of such technology”
Examination of policies and guidelines for
how to behave ethically in the computer and
internet environment
Ethical reasoning methods to chart wellreasoned path to decision making
Issues in Computer Ethics
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Freedom of Expression on the Internet
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Defamation
Obscenity and pornography
Inappropriate material for children
Privacy
Intellectual Property and Plagiarism
Computer Crime
Technological “Divide”
“The Constitution in Cyberspace:
Law and Liberty Beyond the Electronic Frontier”
Laurence H. Tribe
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Goal: mapping the text and structure of the
Constitution onto the texture and topology of
cyberspace
Five axioms (assumptions) shaping American
constitutional law and how to adapt them to
cyberspace
Proposal: The Constitution, as a whole, protects
people, not places
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Constitutional principles should not depend on
technological method or medium of information
“Free Speech in Cyberspace”
Richard A. Spinello
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Free speech and content control: major moral
problem of Information Age
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Pornography in cyberspace
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Legislation and court decisions
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Hate speech
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Anonymous speech
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Spam as commercial free speech
“Is it Moral to Make Copies
of Software for My Friends?”
Bernard Gert
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Can illegally copying software be justified?
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Is the law is clearly unjust?
Is it morally justifiable to break morally acceptable
laws to benefit oneself or friends?
Is the law morally unacceptable?
Ethical reasoning does not require an intimate
knowledge of the nature of software
“Cyberstalking, Personal Privacy,
and Moral Responsibility”
Herman T. Tavani and Frances S. Grodzinsky
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Cyberstalking: what it is and how it differs
from ordinary stalking
Our privacy rights regarding Internet search
engines and public records
The moral obligations of all internet users to
others who are being cyberstalked