9780130836991

For one-semester courses in Computer Ethics, Applied Ethics, Computers, Ethics and Society, Ethics and Information Systems, Computers and Society, or Social Effects of Technology. Written in clear, accessible prose, this text brings together philosophy, law, and technology. Provide a rigorous, in-depth exploration and analysis of a broad range of topics regarding the ethical implications of widespread use of computer technology. The approach is normative while also exposing the student to alternative ethical stances.

Preface

vii

Historical Overview

viii

Changes in the Third Edition

x

Overview

xi

Terminology

xv

Acknowledgments

xvi

Introduction: Why Computer Ethics?

1

(25)

New Possibilities and a Vacuum of Policies

5

(2)

Filling the Vacuum, Clarifying Conceptual Muddles

7

(4)

Computers Used in a Social Context

11

(2)

Moral and Legal Issues

13

(1)

Are Computer Ethical Issues Unique? First Attempts

14

(2)

Are Computer Ethical Issues Unique? A Deeper Analysis

16

(6)

The Role of Analogy in Computer Ethics

22

(2)

Conclusion

24

(2)

Philosophical Ethics

26

(28)

Distinguishing Descriptive and Normative Claims

28

(2)

Ethical Relativism

30

(6)

Utilitarianism

36

(7)

Deontological Theories

43

(4)

Rights

47

(4)

Virtue Ethics

51

(1)

Individual and Social Policy Ethics

52

(1)

Conclusion

52

(2)

Professional Ethics

54

(27)

Why Professional Ethics?

56

(3)

Characteristics of Professions

59

(2)

The System of Professions

61

(2)

Is Computing a Profession? Are Computer Professionals ``Professionals''?

63

(3)

Software Engineering

66

(1)

Professional Relationships

67

(7)

Conflicting Responsibilities

74

(2)

Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

76

(2)

Collective Responsibility

78

(1)

Conclusion

79

(2)

Ethics and the Internet I: Ethics Online

81

(28)

Three Morally Significant Characteristics

87

(10)

Hacking and Hacker Ethics

97

(6)

New Species of Old Crime

103

(1)

Nettiquette

104

(2)

Policy Approaches

106

(1)

Conclusion

107

(2)

Privacy

109

(28)

Is There Anything New Here?

112

(6)

Understanding the ``Computers and Privacy'' Issues

118

(7)

Reframing the Computers and Privacy Issue---Privacy as a Social Good

125

(4)

Legislative Background

129

(2)

Global Perspective

131

(1)

Proposals for Better Privacy Protection

132

(3)

Conclusion

135

(2)

Property Rights in Computer Software

137

(31)

Definitions

141

(1)

The Problem

142

(1)

Current Legal Protection

143

(10)

The Philosophical Basis of Property

153

(5)

Consequentialist Arguments

158

(3)

Conclusions from the Philosophical Analysis of Property

161

(1)

Is It Wrong to Copy Properietary Software?

162

(1)

Software Copying Is Immoral Because It Is Illegal

163

(3)

Conclusion

166

(2)

Accountability and Computer and Information Technology

168

(31)

Different Senses of Responsibility

173

(3)

Buying and Selling Software

176

(10)

Y2K Problem

186

(2)

Diffusion of Accountability

188

(4)

Internet Issues

192

(1)

ISP Liability

192

(2)

Virtual Action

194

(4)

Conclusion

198

(1)

Ethics and the Internet II: Social Implications and Social Values

199

(32)

Technology and Social Change

200

(4)

Embedded Values, Enhanced and Impeded Values

204

(4)

Democratic Values in the Internet

208

(5)

Summary of the Three Arguments

213

(1)

Is the Internet a Democratic Technology?

213

(5)

Access and the Digital Divide

218

(7)

Free Expression

225

(1)

Overarching and Future Issues

226

(3)

Conclusion

229

(2)

References

231

(4)

Index

235

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PREFACE With the publication of the third edition ofComputer Ethics,I am reminded of the day in 1984 when I received the page-proofs of the first edition. I had just returned home from the hospital after having given birth to my daughter. I had composed the book on an Osborne computer using a word processor--I think it was called WordStar--that has been obsolete for more than 10 years now. Today my daughter, now a teenager, is more comfortable with computers than I am. She spends a good deal of her day sitting in front of a computer screen chatting with friends, doing schoolwork, and exploring the Web. I composed this edition of the book on a laptop computer using a version of MS Word that automatically corrected my misspellings and grammar. And, of course, in writing this edition of the book, I frequently went to the Web to look for resources and check references. While I continue to be cautious in making grand pronouncements about the significance of these technological changes for the quality and character of human lives, the changes that have taken place in these 16 years are awe-inspiring. As I began writing this edition, it was strikingly clear that my primary task was to address the technological changes that have occurred since the second edition, especially the growth and penetration of the Internet into so many domains of life. What are we to make of Web sites, cookies, data mining tools, customized online services, and e-commerce? I have addressed many of these new issues while at the same time holding on to what I continue to believe are the core issues in computer ethics: professional ethics, privacy, property, accountability, and social implications and values. Indeed, you will see that in Chapter 1, 1 continue to struggle with the question at the heart of the field, what is computer ethics? Are the ethical issues surrounding computers unique? What is the connection between ethics and technology? Contemplating the connection between technology and ethics raises an interesting and important question: Does the field of computer ethics simply follow the development of computer technology? Should computer ethicists simply react to technological developments? Wouldn't it be better if the sequence were reversed so that technological development followed ethics? Historically, the field of computer ethics has been reactive to the technology. As I explain in Chapter 1, new technological developments create new possibilities and the new possibilities need to be evaluated. As in the last edition, I build on the idea in Jim Moor's seminal piece "What Is Computer Ethics?" (1985) that new technologies create policy vacuums. The task of computer ethics, he argues, is to fill these policy vacuums. In a sense, the ethical issues are the policy vacuums, and policy vacuums are created when there is a new development or use of computer technology. On the other hand, I want to suggest that it would be better if at least some of the movement were in the other direction--technology following ethics. Suppose, that is, we lived in a world where ethicists (or anyone, for that matter) identified potentially unethical situations or arrangements or ethically better possibilities, and engineers and computer scientists went to work designing technologies to change or remedy or improve the situation. I can think of a few examples when this has occurred, but only a few. Arguably, privacy-enhancing technologies and anonymous re-mailers are cases in point. Perhaps freeware and shareware are also examples. For the most part, however, the ethical issues have followed, rather than led, the technology. Here in very broad brushstrokes is my understanding of the evolution of the field of computer ethics, especially in the United States. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW In the decades immediately following World War II, ethical concerns were raised about computers, though these concerns w

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Computer Ethics

Computer Ethics

0130836990

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