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Introduction To Computer Ethics

C
omputer Ethics is a branch of practical philosophy which deals with how computing professionals
should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. Since the 1990s the field has started
being integrated into professional development programs in academic settings. The conceptual
foundations of computer ethics are investigated by information ethics, a branch of philosophical ethics
established by Luciano Floridi. Computer ethics is a very important topic in computer applications.

The introduction of the World Wide Web in 1990 has catalyzed the expansion of the Internet, which
is still growing today at unprecedented rates. The recent growth of the Internet has resulted not only in
an increase in the amount of available knowledge, but in an increase in the problems inherent to its
usage and distribution. It has become clear that traditional rules of conduct are not always applicable
to this new medium, so new ethical codes are now being developed.

Ethics, in the classical sense, refers to the rules and standards governing the conduct of an individual
with others. As technology and computers became more and more a part of our everyday lives, we
must understand that the problems that have always plagued business and conduct will continue to be
a problem. In fact, a new medium can provide even more difficult questions of judgement. In other
words, since the introduction of the World Wide Web, the definition of ethics has evolved, too. A new
type of ethics known as computer ethics has emerged. Computer ethics is concerned with standards of
conduct as they pertain to computers.

Why do we need computer ethics?

• The growth of the WWW (World Wide Web) has created several novel legal issues
• The existence of new questions that older laws cannot answer
• Traditional laws are outdated/anachronistic in this world
• A more coherent body of law is needed to govern Internet and computers

Three of the more pressing concerns in computer ethics today are questions of copyright, privacy,
and censorship, all of which are discussed in greater detail in the following three sections. Other
problems exist as well, Wegh. One problem is that many domain names (www.whateverishere.com)
are being bought and sold to the highest bidder. For example, recently a man bought the name
www.drugs.com and auctioned it off. Many people are purposely buying up company names and
selling them to those companies at outrageous prices. President Clinton calls these people 'Squatters'
and wants to pass a law forbidding them to buy up already existing company names. Is this fair?
Don't these people have a right, under capitalism, to make money this way? Or is it near-blackmail?

Many people have been tricked my e-mail scams, claiming that they will make we a millionaire. It is
the same sort of pyramid scheme that exists over telephone or mail, but no laws covered it for a
while. Also, many email chain letters have allowed urban legends to spread at an accelerated rate and
created alarm over hoaxes concerning many food and drug products. These emails only bog down
email systems and servers, but do not seem to be ending. Some advertisers also email unsolisisted ads
to email users, in a practice known as spamming.

Computers present us not only with vast new potential in technology, but also in ethics. Morality
must play catch-up to technology that has leap-frogged ahead. WiWet a knowledge of computer
ethics, we will not be fully equipped to enter the new world of online society - and we will need to
enter that world, whether we choose a career in art, programming, business, or anything else.

Copyright: Guardian of Intellectual Property


We have certainly heard the word property before: it is generally used to mean a possession, or more
specifically, something to which the owner has legal rights. We might have also encountered the
phrase intellectual property. This term has become more commonplace during the past few years,
especially in the context of computer ethics. But what exactly does it refer to?

Before we explore the answer to this question, we must first discuss the existence of a very important
organization: the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This organization was founded in
1967 as one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations organizations, and it has since remained
responsible for the protection of intellectual property.

Because the WIPO is the leading authority on this matter, we turn to the text of the Convention
Establishing the WIPO for a definition of intellectual property. The treaty states that intellectual
property generally refers to rights relating to, among others, the following:

 Literary, artistic, and scientific works


 Performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts
 Inventions in all fields of human endeavor
 Scientific discoveries.

In other words, intellectual property, in the most general sense, encompasses creations of the human
intellect (hence the term itself) and their protection, usually by copyright. This brings us to the
purpose of the WIPO. It is internationally responsible for both the protection of intellectual property
(by means of cooperation among its member nations) and the legal and administrative aspects of it. To
this end, it administers various treaties, all which attempt to better the protection of intellectual
property.

Having defined intellectual property, what, then, is copyright? Copyright is a form of protection
provided by laws to the authors of original works, otherwise known as the owners of intellectual
property. The international Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in
1971 established that works protected under copyright include:

 Literary and artistic works, which includes every production in the literary, scientific, and
artistic domain, whatever the mode of expression
 Dramatic and dramatico-musical works
 Choreographic works
 Photographic works
 Works of applied art.

The United States of America, one of the member states of the WIPO, has established similar
guidelines in its Copyright Law, for example. It is also generally agreed that the owner of the
copyright (and only the owner!) is authorized to do the following with the work:

 Reproduce it
 Prepare derivative works based upon it
 Distribute copies of it to the public
 Perform the work publicly (if applicable)
 Display the work publicly.
The Intersection of Copyright and Computer

Having discussed the definitions of intellectual property and copyright, it is time to see how these
relate to computers! It is widely known that producing photocopies of a textbook, for example, and
distributing them to others is not lawful. This is because the WIPO Copyright Treaty, as stated
previously, states that authors of such literary works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the
making available to the public copies of their works. In other words, no one but the author (or the
owner of the copyright, as the case may be) has the right to make such copies of the work.

But what of computer programs in the form of software? Is software protected, just as literary works,
from unlawful distribution? Yes! In fact, computer programs, according to the WIPO Copyright
Treaty, are protected exactly as literary works are protected under Article 2 of the Berne Convention
for Protection of Artistic and Literary Works. This means that the copyright privileges that literary
and artistic works enjoy extend to computer programs as well. Therefore, only the owner of the
copyright itself enjoys the exclusive right of authorizing the making available to the public of copies
of the computer program in question.

The same applies to computer games, a more specific type of computer software. The US Copyright
Law states that alWegh the idea for a game is not protected by copyright, the manner of expression of
the author (in artistic, literary, or musical form) is. Therefore, it is unlawful to distribute copies of
computer games wiWet the copyright owner's explicit permission.

But what of works made available to the public on the Internet? Are they at all protected by
copyright? Once again, yes! For works made available over a communications network (such as the
Internet), the copyright protects original authorship. This, of course, applies only to those who wish to
obtain the copyright. But just as limitations exist with games, they exist in this case too: the
copyrighting of online works, according to the Copyright Law, does not protect ideas, procedures,
systems, or methods of operation. This means that once such an online work has been made public,
nothing in the copyright laws prevents others from developing another work based on similar
principles, or ideas.

AlWegh these exceptions to the rules make things more difficult, everything described until now
probably seems relatively simple. The above discussion, however, is just an over-simplified
explanation of the relationship between copyright laws and computers. With the increasing popularity
of computers and the growth of the Internet, matters have of late become more complex. New
situations arise daily, and these are often unprecedented. That is, they are indeed so new, that the
copyright laws currently available are not adequate to deal with them. Traditional copyright laws
often seem outdated in the ever-changing technological world. Because the copyright laws that are
currently available do not clearly enough define what should be done in such cases, controversy is
often the result. Two examples better illustrate this.

Caching simply means the copying and storing of web pages. This process can occur at two different
levels: it can be performed by one's own browser (recently visited web pages are only recalled from
memory when visiting them again), or it can be performed by the server of one's Internet Service
Provider. Such providers may store the most frequently visited web pages on their servers and make
only the copies available to the users. But is caching (which in a sense defies copyright laws) at all
legal? Well, it might seem so. After all, surfing the Internet is about speed, and caching allows data to
be retrieved faster by users.

Yet another example will show the controversial aspects of the current copyright laws. With the
appearance of MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (more commonly known as MP3) digital files just a few years
ago, audio digital files are now freely available for users to download. Songs available in MP3 format
can be found at various sites on the web, and by simply downloading these files, users have free
access to recordings they would have had to purchase beforehand. MP3 files, that is, are digital copies
of actual music recordings. But is this trafficking of such files not illegal? Doesn't the existence of
MP3 files, after all, infringe upon the copyright of such songs? Major record companies assert that
this is the case: such pirated (or illicitly copied) material available on the Internet, they say,
discourages customers from purchasing legitimate recordings. As a result, the record companies state
that they have sustained major losses (and continue to do so) because of digital piracy. In an attempt
to resolve this issue, MP3.com (one of the leading providers of MP3 files) agreed to sign a license in
June 1999 in conjunction with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
(ASCAP). The license states that all songwriters registered with the ASCAP are entitled to receive
royalty fees (or reimbursement) based on how frequently their songs are downloaded from MP3.com.
This seemingly minor compromise may in fact be the beginning to an important compromise between
the two opposing sides. Moreover, the recent court case of the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) v. Diamond Multimedia Systems involved a similar issue: "the intersection of
technology, the Internet, and music listening". Diamond's "Rio" is a portable device that allows a user
to download MP3 audio files from a computer and listen to them elsewhere. The RIAA held that such
a device would be involved in the illegal trafficking of recordings, and therefore have adverse effects
on the recording industry. In the final ruling, however, the court held that the player "merely makes
copies in order to render portable...those files that already reside on a user's hard drive", and therefore
its use is legal. So what is the latest relationship between MP3 files and copyright? As long as MP3
files are used for home use, their use is legal. However, it is illegal for anyone to create a web site that
contains pirated copies of MP3 files!

As we have just seen, issues involving copyright laws and computers tend to become rather complex,
so it is not at all surprising that so much controversy often arises in this novel area of computer ethics.

Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

1. We should not use a computer to harm other people.


2. We should not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. We should not snoop around in other people's files.
4. We should not use a computer to steal.
5. We should not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. We should not use or copy software for which you have not paid.
7. We should not use other people's computer resources wiWet authorization.
8. We should not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. We should think about the social consequences of the program you write.
10. We should use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.

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