Computer Ethics

by Johnson, Deborah G.

• ISBN13: 9780130836991
• ISBN10: 0130836990
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

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

Excerpts

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