Ethics, Computing, and the Internet

Censorship or Empowerment?

The Hacker Ethic 9

1. Access to computers—and anything that might teach you somethingabout how the world works—should be unlimited and total. Alwaysyield to the Hands-on imperative!2. All information should be fre e .3. Mistrust authority—promote the decentralization.4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such asd e g rees, age, race, or position.5. You can create art and beauty on a computer.The Ten Commandments of Computer EthicsComputer Ethics Institute1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.2. Thou shalt not interf e re with other people’s computer work.3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files.4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.6. Thou shalt not copy or use pro p r i e t a ry software for which you havenot paid.7. Thou shalt not use other people’s computer re s o u rces without authorizationor proper compensation.8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellectual output.9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you arewriting or the system you are designing.10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure considerationand respect for your fellow humans.

The Hacker Ethic1. Access to computers—and anything that might

teach you something about how the world works—should be unlimited and total. Alwaysyield to the Hands-on imperative!

2. All information should be free .3. Mistrust authority—promote the decentralization.4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not

bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.

5. You can create art and beauty on a computer.

Computer Ethics(Computer Ethics Institute)

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s computer work.

3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files.

4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false

witness.

Continued6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software

for which you have not paid.7. Thou shalt not use other people’s computer

resources without authorization or proper compensation.

8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellectual output.

9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing.

10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.

Framing questions:

• How much responsibility should faculty assume for students’ behavior?

• How much trust are we willing to place in students?

• What are the legal ramifications if students come across content that is deemed inappropriate?

• What is and is not appropriate and for whom?:• Whose definition of appropriate are we

embracing?

How do kids learn ethical behavior?

(Willard, 2000)

• Recognition that an action has caused harm.

• Social disapproval.

• Punishment by authority.

More likely to waiver from personal moral code if:

• Limited chance of detection/punishment.• Will not cause perceptible harm or is small

in comparison with personal benefit.• Harm is to a large entity (corporation) and

no specific person will suffer.• Many others engage in behavior.• Entity/person harmed has engaged in unfair

actions.

How do technologies affect ethical behavior?

• Technology does not provide tangible feedback.

• Technology allows us to become invisible.

• Others?

But yet..

How do we impress upon young people the importance of respecting Microsoft's copyrights in their software when Microsoft has used its monopoly position to suppress the creation of competitive products and overcharge for its own products?

How do we encourage young people to avoid sites that promote pornography,

hatred, and violence on the Internet when our message that such material is

unacceptable is so totally undermined by the messages they are receiving from the

entertainment media?

• How do we impress upon young people that it is unethical for them to hack into a computer system to leave their mark, when dot.com companies are hacking into their computers, leaving marks, and using those marks to track and record personal and private activities, all without their permission? Why is it when an individual hacks into company's computer to leave a mark it is considered a crime, but what a company hacks into an individual's computer it is considered good business?

How do we let our youth know that they are valued and

important, when in the eyes of the dot.com world they are merely private lives to be

profiled, eyeballs to be captured, and pocketbooks to be lightened?

Fear and emotional triggers

• Decentralized architecture of Internet empowers individuals

• Schools are accustomed to controlling information and resources

• Students have the technology skills

• Who has the power….?

Accessing inappropriate content

• Acceptable Use Policies *

• Filtering or blocking software *

• Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

Accessing inappropriate content

• District Liability*

Protecting Student Privacy

• Recognition and credit vs. issues of safety*

Student e-mail

• What are we really concerned about?

Plagiarism

• Easier now, but a new concern?

• New boundaries

Creating content

• What happened to monarchies and the Catholic Church in the century after the invention of the printing press?

Democracy and Reformation

• Who decides who is allowed to create content?• Muncie Community Schools’ policy on teacher

web page creation.