CISB 412 Social and Professional Issues

Understanding Ethical Issues in Networking

Reference• Materials used in this presentation are extracted mainly from

the following texts, unless stated otherwise.

Michael J. Quinn “Ethics for the Information Age”, 3rd edition. Pearson 2009

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this lesson you should be able to– Identify issues that come with networking especially

the use of world wide web.– Apply the ethical principles on the issues to establish

morality of the action

Networking• Description• What comes with the territory?

– Email SPAM– Pornography– Children and the web

• Web Filters

– Identity theft– Online Predators– Internet Addiction

Issues in Networking

• Work in your team• Refer to the handouts and prepare for a brief

presentation to address the question(s) asked

Email Spam• Email spam, 3 important attributes

– anonymity: the sender’s identity and address are concealed – mass mailing: spam email is sent to a large number of

recipients and in high quantities – unsolicited: the individuals receiving spam would otherwise

not have opted to receive it• Amount of email that is spam has increased

– 8% in 2001, 40% in 2003, More than 50% in 2004• Spam is effective

– More than 100 times cheaper than “junk mail”– Profitable even if only 1 in 100,000 buys product

Email Spam

• How firms get email addresses– Opt-in lists– Dictionary attacks

• Spammers seek anonymity– Change email and IP addresses to disguise sending

machine– Hijack another system as a spam launch pad

• Spam blockers– Attempt to screen out spam– Have led to more picture-based spam

CAN SPAM Act of 2003• Took effect January 1, 2004• The law divides emails sent by business into three

categories– Transactional email messages related to a commercial

transaction or ongoing business that have already been established

– Commercial email messages to which recipients have presumably consented (by explicitly request or by not opting out)

– Unsolicited commercial email messages

CAN SPAM Act of 2003Emails Categories Must meet these

requirementsTransactional email messages related to a commercial transaction or ongoing business that have already been established

• message header, sender, organization and information must be correct•Must not disguise the identity of the computer from which the message was sent

CAN SPAM Act of 2003Emails Categories Must meet these

requirementsCommercial email messages to which recipients have presumably consented (by explicitly request or by not opting out)

•must meet all the above requirement •must inform recipient can opt out from the mailing list•Must provide internet based mechanism to opt out•Must contain postal address of the sender

CAN SPAM Act of 2003Emails Categories Must meet these

requirementsUnsolicited commercial email messages

• must meet all the above requirement• must include clear notice that it is an advertisement• if it contains explicit materialism must include in the subject line

CAN SPAM Act of 2003• Critics call it “You CAN Spam Act”

– Spam still legal, as long as regulations followed– Opting out can have harmful consequences – it

confirms your email is valid– Spammers can avoid prosecution by locating outside

United States

World Wide WebHow we use it?• Shopping• Promoting business• Learning• Exploring our roots• Playing games• Entering virtual worlds• Paying taxes• Gambling• Blogging• Lots more!

Apparent issues with WWWPornography• Description - Printed or visual material containing

the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity.

• Different opinions– Pornography is immoral (How do you explain that

from Kantianism viewpoints?)– Adult pornography is moral (How do you explain

that from Utilitarianism viewpoints?)

• Censorship : An attempt to suppress or regulate public access to material considered offensive or harmful.

• Direct censorship– Government monopolization– Pre-publication review– Licensing and registration

• Self-censorship— A group deciding for itself not to publish material• What are the benefits and harms of Internet

censorship?

Apparent issues with WWW

Children and the Web• Many parents believe they ought to protect their

children from exposure to pornographic and violent materials on the Web– Web Filters– Child Internet Protection Act

• Libraries receiving federal networking funds must filter pages containing obscenity or child pornography

• How do you see this Act from act utilitarianism viewpoints?

Apparent issues with WWW

Breaking Trust• Identity Theft• Chat Room Predator• False Information

Apparent issues with WWW

Internet Addiction• Is it real?• Factors contributing to addictive behavior• Some liken compulsive computer use to pathological

gambling• Traditional definition of addiction:

– Compulsive use of harmful substance or drug– Knowledge of its long-term harm

Apparent issues with WWW

Questions?