CIS 200Professional and ethical issues in

computing

Edited by Rawan T. Khasawneh

Cyberethic

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Compute

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Internet

ethicsInformation

ethics

Cybertechnology

What Is Cyberethics? Cyberethics is the study of moral, legal, and

social issues involving cybertechnology. As a field of applied ethics, it: examines the impact that cybertechnology

has for our social, legal, and moral systems. evaluates the social policies and laws that

we frame in response to issues generated by the development and use of cybertechnology.

What Is Cybertechnology? Cybertechnology refers to a wide range of

computing and communications devices – from standalone computers, to

"connected" or networked computing and communications technologies, to the Internet itself.

Cybertechnologies include: digital electronic devices; networked computers (including servers,

desktops, laptops, etc.); stand-alone computers.

Cybertechnology (Continued) Networked devices can be connected

directly to the Internet. They also can be connected to other

devices through one or more privately owned computer networks.

Privately owned networks include both:

Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs).

Why the term cyberethics? Cyberethics is a more accurate label than

computer ethics, which can suggest the study of ethical issues limited either to:

a) computing machines, b) computing professionals. Cyberethics is also more accurate than

Internet ethics, which is limited only to ethical issues affecting (only) networked computers and devices.

The Evolution of Cybertechnology and

Cyberethics: Four Phases

1940s We start noting the meaning of ‘computer’

Before World War II A person who calculated numbers

After World War II Calculating Machine

1980s More than a machine! New kind of medium for communications!

Computer technology emerged in the late 1940s, when some analysts confidently predicted that no more than six computers would ever need to be built.

Informal noting of related ethical and social issues

Phase #1 (1950s and 1960s)

Huge Mainframe

Unconnected Computers

Stand-alone machines

Phase #1 (1950s and 1960s)

AI “Giant Brain!’’ Can machine think? If so, Should we invent thinking machine? Intelligent entities! Our sense of self!

Phase #1 (1950s and 1960s) Privacy threats and the fear of Big

Brother National database!! Electronic records

!! How citizens’ personal information

will be used?! It might be used to monitor and control

the actions of ordinary citizens ARPANET !

Phase #2 (1970s and 1980s)

Connected Computers

Computers Networks

LANs & WANsPrivately Owned

Information Exchange

Phase #2 (1970s and 1980s) Personal Privacy

Much more WORRIES about: The amount of collected personal information Ways of usage Private sector and the commercial DB

Information Exchange

Intellectual property Software programs proprietary

duplication

Phase #2 (1970s and 1980s)

Computer crime Remote computer terminal usage Computer systems in large

organizations can be disrupted

Phase #3 (1990-present)

Internet Availability

World Wide Web

Web-based Technologies

Phase #3 (1990-present) Free Speech

Can Internet users post any message they wish on:

Publicly accessible websites?! Their own personal web pages?!

Will they be protected by free speech or freedom of expression?

Phase #3 (1990-present) Anonymity

Should Internet users be permitted to: Post anonymous messages on web pages? Be allowed to navigate the web anonymously

or under the cover of a pseudonym?

Jurisdiction No clear national or geographical

boundaries! Where Internet crime will be prosecuted?

Phase #3 (1990-present)

Trust E-commerce Doing online business (personal and

financial information) Public vs. private aspects of personal

information that has become increasingly available on the Internet

Social networking sites Interactive web-based forums

Phase #4 (present to near future)

Computing devices will soon be a part of our clothing and even our bodies

Biotechnology

Pervasive/Ubiquitous Computing • Ambient Intelligence

• Wireless technology• RFID

Phase #4 (present to near future)

Web 2.0

miniaturized and integrated into ordinary objects

less visible as distinct entities

The Evolution of Cybertechnology and Cyberethics (Continued) In Phase 4, computers are becoming less

visible as distinct entities, as they: a) continue to be miniaturized and integrated

into ordinary objects,b) blend unobtrusively into our surroundings. Cybertechnology is also becoming less

distinguishable from other technologies as boundaries that have previously separated them begin to blur because of convergence.

The Evolution of Cybertechnology and Cyberethics (Continued) Additional ethical/social concerns associated with

Phase IV include controversies that are made possible by the following kinds of technologies:

autonomous machines and sophisticated robots (used in warfare, transportation, care for the elderly, etc.);

nanocomputing and nano-scale devices; artificial agents (including “soft bots”) that act on

behalf of humans and corporations; AI-induced bionic chip implants (that can cause us

to question what it means to be human vs. cyborg).

Table 1-1: Summary of Table 1-1: Summary of Four Phases of CyberethicsFour Phases of Cyberethics

Phase

Time Period Technological Features

Associated Issues

1 1950s-1960s Stand-alone machines (large mainframe computers)

Artificial intelligence (AI), database privacy ("Big Brother")

2 1970s-1980s Minicomputers and PCs interconnected via privately owned networks

Issues from Phase 1 plus concerns involving intellectual property and software piracy, computer crime, privacy and the exchange of records.

3 1990s-Present Internet and World Wide Web Issues from Phases 1 and 2 plus concerns about free speech, anonymity, legal jurisdiction, virtual communities, etc.

4 Present toNear Future

Convergence of information and communication technologies with nanotechnology research and bioinformatics research, etc.

Issues from Phases 1-3 plus concerns about artificial agents ("bots") with decision-making capabilities, AI-induced bionic chip implants, nanocomputing, pervasive computing, etc.

Are Any Cyberethics Issues Unique Ethical Issues?

Traditionalists Uniqueness Proponents

Their opinions Traditionalists:

Nothing is new Crime is crime and murder is murder

Uniqueness proponents: Computers have brought in new issues Cybertechnology has created (at least

some) new and unique ethical issues that couldn’t have existed before computers

What is wrong with their views?

Traditionalists: Underestimate scope and scale issues

i.e. Cyberbullies can bully multiple victims simultaneously (scale) and globally (because of the scope or reach of the Internet). Cyberbullies can also operate without ever having to leave the comfort of their homes.

Uniqueness proponents: Overstate the effect of the technology

on ethics. i.e. Maner opinion: computers are uniquely fast, uniquely malleable, etc. So, there may indeed be some unique aspects of computer technology.

What is right with their views?

Traditionalists: No new ethical issues have been

introduced by computers.

Uniqueness proponents: Cybertechnology has complicated

our analysis of traditional ethical issues.

The Uniqueness Debate (Continued) Proponents of the uniqueness thesis tend to

confuse unique features of computer technology with unique ethical issues.

Their argument is based on a logical fallacy:Premise. Cybertechnology has some unique

technological features.Premise. Cybertechnology generates some

ethical issues.Conclusion. (At least some of the) Ethical

issues generated by cybertechnology must be unique.

The Uniqueness Debate (Continued)

So, in analyzing the issues involved in this debate, it is useful to distinguish between any:

unique technological features; (alleged) unique ethical issues.

Alternative Strategy for Analyzing the Uniqueness Issue Moor (2000) argues that computer

technology generates “new possibilities for human action” because computers are logically malleable.

Logical malleability in computers means that they can be molded in ways that allow for many different kinds of uses.

Some of the unanticipated uses of com- puters have introduced policy vacuums.

Policy Vacuums and Conceptual Muddles Policy vacuums are “voids” or gaps in

our laws and policies. One solution might seem simply to fill

the voids with new or revised policies. Some policy vacuums cannot easily be

filled because of conceptual muddles. In these cases, conceptual muddles first

need to be elucidated before clear policies can be formulated and justified.

A Policy Vacuum in Duplicating Software Consider again Scenario 1-5 (in the textbook)

involving the duplication of software. In the early 1980s, there were still no clear

laws regarding the duplication of software programs, which had been made easy because of the avaioability of personal computers.

Because there were no clear rules for copying programs, a policy vacuum arose.

Before the policy vacuum could be filled, a conceptual muddle had to be elucidated: What, exactly, is software?

Three distinct perspectives of applied ethics (as applied to cyberethics):

1. Professional Ethics:• the purpose of cyberethics is to identify and analyze

issues of ethical responsibility for computer/information technology (IT)professionals.

2. Philosophical Ethics;• cyberethics is a field of philosophical analysis and

inquiry that goes beyond professional ethics.

3. Sociological/Descriptive Ethics.• Descriptive (and sociological) investigations report

about “What is the case.“