AUTHOR
Porfirio Barroso

ABSTRACT

In Aristotelian terms, Morals are defined as conformity to socially accepted standards of conduct and Ethics are defined as conformity to codes of moral principles. Taking into account the interpretations of other authors, we define Ethics as a philosophical, normative, theoretical and practical science that encompasses both one’s individual and social aspects, in terms of the morality of human acts, according to reason, always with honesty as the ultimate goal.

Cyberspace has become the catchword for the interactive communications environment of the Internet. Increasingly, people’s relationships, jobs and money will gravitate to cyberspace, giving rise to novel ethical issues.

Cyberethics refers to the application of classical ethics to the latest Information Communication Technologies, including the Internet. It involves the way computers pose new versions of standard moral dilemmas, exacerbating old problems and forcing us to apply ordinary moral norms to uncharted realms.

The fundamental principles of cyberethics are Privacy, Property, Access and Accuracy. They imply a new set of responsibilities for both professionals and users of the Internet.

Privacy is one of the basic supra-rights of every individual. Thus, the protection of the right to privacy is among the most worrisome aspects of the Information era. How can the inalienable right of each person to keep secret whatever he considers part of his own personality and human dignity be guaranteed in an information-oriented society, in which the rights to information are regulated and the preferential nature of the freedoms concerning information is legislated? How can we defend the private lives of people without limiting creativity and the growth of technology and vital innovations in information?

With respect to property, the increasing use of Web-based electronic publication has created new contexts for the terms piracy and plagiarism. As the cost of publication decreases in electronic media, we need fewer copyright protections. Plagiarism is the failure to abide by standards that ensure that information can be verified and traced to its sources. Since Web sources are often volatile and changing, it becomes increasingly important to have clear standards for verifying the source of all information.

Computers are tools used to achieve the goals of an organization or an individual. But who should have access to this powerful resource? What limitations and rules should govern the availability of information? How can access and usage be legislated and regulated in such a way that the Internet and other information technologies lead to a more humane world? In our society, we are obliged to compete for many of the things that we need and want. Those who have access to powerful tools are in better condition than those who do not. Thus, the fact that computers are widening the gap between rich and poor is a major concern.

Responsibility for children’s access to the Internet is, in itself, a matter of Ethics; irresponsible access for children can have cognitive and developmental effects. Some children have access to their parents’ computers and connections to the network. Moreover, the connection of schools and academies to this new source of knowledge is inevitable. An application for use in schools that would provide access only to those pages previously examined by parents or teachers is already under development. There are also a number of other strategies for keeping children away from Internet pornography.

Should an individual be able to gain access to the information that is held on him or her in a database?

In Western democracies, free access to information is generally regarded an inherent right. However, it also means having the power to destroy or amend outmoded data. Who owns the data on an individual? And who is responsible for its accuracy, one of the principal pillars of all informative processes. In cyberspace, the concept of accuracy exists under new conditions and requires new forms, exigencies and applications. Its distortion is associated with new dangers.

When a person discloses private data to an organization, accuracy is obviously an ethical issue. The literature of computer ethics is replete with cases in which individual persons have been harmed by virtue of the inaccuracy of the data about them. Errors in databases can be attributed to several factors, including the lack of accountability for failure to update information and correct errors. Although data about individuals may be accurate at the time it is gathered, the subject’s circumstances may change over time. There is often no provision for old data to be destroyed, meaning that an individual may carry past burdens into the future.

Perhaps the concepts of privacy, property, access and accuracy are merely the expression of a pragmatic, narrow-sighted ethics that confronts only the most urgent problems. Nevertheless, they signify the core of the attempt to construct the history of the Internet and the development of ethical doubts and concerns with respect to its use and the consequences.

Present-day humanity can not envision its future separately from the evolution of the new information and communication technologies, among them the Internet. But these technologies will only achieve human sense when they uphold an exquisite respect for the rights and liberties in which human dignity materializes.

These circumstances suggest that the use of the Internet should be legally regulated to guarantee basic individual rights. However, it would be naive to assume that legislation is the remedy to these problems. What is needed, above all, is a reinforcement of the professional pledge and ethical responsibility on the part of Internet professionals, users and, in particular, servers.

In conclusion, the cybersociety in which we live needs an Ethics of the Internet. Certain ethical demands on the professionalism and responsibility of the internauts are essential, and can be extrapolated from the guidelines for the communications media. Internet ethics depends more on the receiver or navigator than on the transmitter. Thus, both legislation and a code of ethics are necessary to this network.

AUTHOR

Maria Bakardjieva
Faculty of Communication and Culture
University of Calgary
Canada

Andrew Feenberg
Philosophy Department
San Diego State University
USA

ABSTRACT

The objective of this paper is the further development of the concept of “virtual community” in the context of Internet design and use. We understand “community” in the strong sense as a scene of long-term interactions on which a large share of human development occurs. As such it is a fundamental human value and deserves a prominent place in the field of computer ethics.

The practice of virtual community is also related to the prospects for democracy in the information age. The democratization of the Internet involves not merely the economics of participation, but also the ability of ordinary people to express themselves and pursue meaningful experiences in the virtual worlds created by computer communication. We believe the vitality of online community is one significant index of the democratization of the Internet.

Unlike work-oriented groupware, community applications on the Internet have emerged spontaneously for the most part and there has been little study of how different types of software impact online community life. But we believe that the adequacy of the software support for network communities will be among the decisive factors determining whether they will succeed in becoming a widely accepted means to reliable and consequential relationships and cooperative action with others. Without such support, network communities may remain in the category of those technical possibilities that emerge for a short historical instant and then fall into oblivion. As commercial interest in online community begins to emerge, groupware intended for community-building proliferates on different platforms and in different formats. A new field of software development – “groupware for community” – is starting to take shape.

Our research, funded by the US National Science Foundation, aims at contributing to this new field by focusing attention on the ethical dimensions of online community. We address three central questions:

1. How familiar moral concepts are reconstructed as the basis of online community in the unusual network environment.
2. How experiences with computer networks relate to the everyday lives of users.
3. What technical features and designs of computer networks support and facilitate the activities and values identified in (1) and (2).

In the first part of the paper we review the history of community practice and the evolution of groupware for community on computer networks. We identify the contexts in which such practices and groupware have emerged and the actors involved in their social construction.

The study reported in the second part of the paper examines in depth one particular virtual community – a self-help mailing list. The research methodology includes observation and discourse analysis of the verbal interactions in this online community and online and off-line interviews with its moderator and participants. The data are used to understand what participation in virtual communities means to these people, as well as how it fits into the larger picture of their lives. Relationships between the specific groupware community members utilize and the ethical quality of their interactions are identified and evaluated.

Our analysis reveals that the existence of voluntary online communities, such as the one we examined, is critically dependant on the emergence of a reliable system of ethical norms. In fact, people turn to their virtual community because it represents an ethical environment they can predict and control as opposed to the precarious ethics of their surrounding world. Software can help or obstruct the emergence and maintenance of ethical norms in a decisive way. The lack of flexibility and community-friendliness in mailing-list software sometimes creates serious difficulties for participants in upholding the ethical standards of their community. We identify some of these difficulties and propose ways in which they can be eliminated by alternative software designs. We provide guidelines for designers and organizers who face the challenge of constructing viable virtual communities.

AUTHOR

by Barbara Hilkert Andolsen and Alan A. Andolsen

ABSTRACT

In a computer enabled society, control of knowledge will be the most important form of property rights in the future. It will be a major source of wealth in the post-industrial economies. Intellectual property holders in the wealthiest nations will work to control the use of knowledge in ways that may be detrimental to the well-being of the less developed nations.

In this paper, we will examine a controversial form of property right in the United States – the business methods patent. Until recently, an applicant for a patent had to show that the idea behind the patent could give rise to a tangible object. However, with the advent of computer technology, US courts were forced to grapple with the question whether computer software was sufficiently tangible to receive patent protection.

Patents are governmentally sanctioned monopolies granting the patent holder exclusive control over the use of the patented object or process for a specified period of time. The patent holder may demand a licensing fee or refuse to allow others to make use of the patented object or process at all. Under present US law, there are few “constraining [legal] doctrines” that curb “the proprietary rights associated with granted patents.”(1)

As a result of a 1998 Federal Circuit court ruling,(2) persons may now apply in the United States to patent distinctive, useful methods for conducting business. One of the most talked about business methods patents has been Amazon.com’s patent on its “one-click” method for conducting an Internet purchase. During the critical 1999 Christmas shopping season, Amazon was able to use its patent protection to prevent its competitor Barnes and Noble from implementing an equally convenient method for finalizing an Internet purchase. In granting business methods patents, the United States Patent Office, under the guidance of the federal courts, has departed from the practice in Europe under the European Patent Convention which declares that “schemes, rules and methods for . . . doing business” cannot be patented.(3)

Roman Catholic social ethical teachings bring an important perspective to questions of property rights, including patents on business methods. The Roman Catholic approach stresses the social origin of intellectual property and the social obligation to benefit the entire community that is binding on the owners of intellectual capital.

Catholic tradition places an emphasis on the sharing of property in ways that meet the basic needs of all persons. The most ancient way to express the insight that property must serve the needs of all members of the community is the concept of the universal destination of the goods of creation. According to this teaching, God created the earth with its rich natural resources to benefit all human beings. As John Paul II declares, “man, using his intelligence and exercising his freedom” transforms the resources of nature into the goods necessary for survival and even comfort. (Centesimus Annus 31) While the emphasis in the doctrine of universal destination of the goods of creation has often been on God’s generous provision to humanity of natural resources, God is also the creator of the human person with all the person’s innate intellectual gifts.

This emphasis was somewhat mitigated by an emphasis on the right to private property when the social teaching of the Catholic Church was first declared. In Rerum Novarum, Leo XII vehemently defended a strong individual right to private property. He adopted an analysis of the genesis of property rights that was very similar to that of John Locke. Leo also envisioned human beings mixing their labor with bountifully available land, and their labor creating crops and other goods. These tangible objects become the legitimate property of the ones whose labor brought the useful goods into existence.

Throughout the twentieth century, Catholic popes have steadily curbed the rights of property owners by asserting powerful moral claims on behalf of the whole community – without directly challenging Leo’s teaching on the right to private property. One important advance on Catholic thought was John Paul II’s concept of a “shared workbench” elaborated in Laborem Exercens. The human person, laboring to transform the goods of the earth, brings forth not just consumer goods, but all of our tools. The human person creates technological implements out of the resources of creation.

According to John Paul II, technology is based upon an unfolding interplay of natural resources and human effort within human history. This approach intersects with the more traditional notion of a patent as valid only when its creator can give tangible form to the new idea. John Paul II emphasizes that work rarely follows the individualistic model of one person struggling to subdue nature. Instead most human work, including innovative business methods, especially software, is the product of human teamwork.

In Centesimus Annus, John Paul explicitly approves the entrepreneurial rights of the person who foresees new human desires and finds innovative ways to satisfy them. Entrepreneurs and innovators increase the welfare of the community and deserve a fair return. However, that return is must be carefully balanced against social claims on property rights. [Centesimus Annus, 32] In addition, if property rights are used in a way that limits the ability of others to engage in creative activity or diminishes the good of the community, then that form of property is morally illegitimate. As boldly stated by John Paul II, “the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone.” [Laborem Exercens, 14] The only legitimate moral purpose for patents is to balance the inventor’s claim for a just return on ingenuity and effort with the community’s claim to a share of the return generated in an interplay between social knowledge and individual creativity.

REFERENCES

(1) John R. Thomas, “The Post-Industrial Patent System,” Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal, 10 (Fall 1999).

(2)State Street Bank & Trust C. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. 149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998).

(3)Convention of the Grant of European Patents, as amended by Decision of the Administration Council of the European Patent Organization of December 21, 1978, art. 52.

LOCATION:
Gdansk, Poland

DATES:
18-20 June 2001

HOSTED BY:
Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics Technical University of Gdańsk,
Gdańsk, Poland

IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility
De Montfort University, UK
Research Center on Computing and Society Southern Connecticut State University, USA

CONFERENCE DIRECTORS:
Professor Terrell Ward Bynum, Southern Connecticut State University, USA
Professor Henryk Krawczyk, Technical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
Dr Stanislaw Szejko, Technical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
Professor Simon Rogerson, De Montfort University, UK
Professor Bogdan Wiszniewski, Technical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland

Continue reading “ETHICOMP2001 – Gdansk, Poland”

AUTHOR
Xiaojian Wu, Simon Rogerson and N. Ben Fairweather

ABSTRACT

For more than a decade, the necessity and imperatives of addressing ethical issues relating to Information Technology (IT) and Information System (IS) development have been articulated and seriously debated by both philosophers and many alerted IT professionals (for example; Moor:1985 ,Johnson:1994; Langford:1995; Maner:1996). Much of this work has been devoted to the conceptualisation of computer ethics, emphasising the identification and clarification of the problem domain and the status of this suggested new discipline, if anything, in the philosophical circle. Very limited contributions could be singled out in terms of the practical implications on the ethical application of IT and development of computer-based information system. It is just not enough to treat the issues at a superficial level. Ethical issues must be considered and addressed against real life scenarios when it comes to addressing computer technology. The ethical development of information systems is but one of those sensitive scenarios associated with computer technology that has a tremendous impact on individuals and social life. The importance of such issues cannot be overstated. Nonetheless, since computer ethics is meant to be everybody’s business, this can often result in it being interpreted as nobody’s business. Therefore, an effective while still practical moral framework needs to be established in order to put computer ethics on a sound base for further exploration.

When ethical problems or issues related with IT/IS have been put forward and recognised, the most needed work is to find an effective way out of such dilemmas. Currently, among popular solutions are those that introduce codes of conduct and ethics, those that calling for the relevant parties to give IS development procedures and products a secondary review, and those that focus on the importance of ethical training for practising or potential IT professionals. While such actions and measures will contribute ultimately to the abatement of the problems, the immediate or direct impacts are however less effective or attractive. Based on Rogerson’s (1995) arguments concerning information ethics, we further the work in this regard through formulating a working definition for addressing IT/IS related ethical issues at a practical level. In the paper, we will make some speculations and suggestions by focusing on the features of applied ethics, i.e. value-driven, action/agent-oriented and situation-determined, to construct a Practical Moral Framework (PMF), for information system development. The proposed PMF aims to define the scope and means of consideration for ethical IS development rather than proposing any universal moral constraints. On the one hand it inherits the strength of the code of ethics/conduct while effectively avoid critics on the ambivalence of moralism; one the other hand it is flexible enough to accommodate different even contrasting moral viewpoints towards IS development process and outcomes. Just like setting rules for playing a game, it defines scope of rules while leaving the choice of particular rules or restraints to the engaged parties. The PMF thus deliberately leaves the concrete contents open to the option and consent of various parties to IS development by simply highlighting the scope and means of ethical considerations.

Within the PMF, it is necessary to firstly ascertain principal values which underpin the IS development profession and the associated professional practices. For this end, efforts need to be made in specifying relevant value characteristics, particularly those thorny issues commonly confronted in any areas of applied ethics such as: moral absolutism vs. relativism, universalism vs. reflectivism and monism vs. pluralism. Then we will identify crucial IS development base and actions. It is here that we pay attention to debates on action-oriented ethics or agent-centred ethics in terms of IS development process and outcomes. We will justify the favour to the behaviour school and proceed on to start explorations over three action-centred features, namely, process vs. product, personal vs. professional and essential vs. accidental, of IS development. Specific development steps or phases also need to be analysed and checked for moral charges as against the identified value list, thereby highlight ethical hotspots of the development. Finally, we need to consider those ethical values and actions against specific contexts in view of the character of situation-determined. Basically, the issues are comprised of dilemma on private engagement against public working environment, or localised vs. nationalised or globalised considerations. For computer technology and information ethics, the trend and impending impact of globalisation must be explicitly acknowledged and accommodated at this stage, even though the IS development usually tends to focus too heavily on a restricted sphere out of immediate effects, effectiveness and so on. With the help of PMF, the intended new horizon (Rogerson:1996) of consideration for ethically enhanced IS development will become less ambiguous and so should provide valuable practical guidance.

References

1. Johnson, D.G. (1994) “Computer Ethics” (2nd edition) Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
2. Langford, D. (195) “Practical Computer Ethics” London: Mcgraw-Hall
3. Maner, W. (1996) “unique ethical problems in information technology” Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol.2 no. 2. PP 137-154
4. Moor, J. (1985) What is computer ethics?, Metaphilosophy Vol 16 No 4, pp 266-279
5. Rogerson, S. (1995) “IS IT ethcal” IDPM Journal Vol.5 no.1, 1995
6. Rogerson, S. (1996) ” New Horizons” IMIS Journal September 1996

AUTHOR
Paul Whysall

ABSTRACT

In this paper, the impact of the Internet on ethical aspects of retail activity will be addressed. Two main elements are presented, reflecting two contrasting perspectives on the broad theme. Firstly there is the use of the Internet by those who seek to expose, criticise and influence retailers’ practices. Secondly there is the use of the Internet by retailers in ways that may be seen as having ethical implications.

The first main section of the paper will examine the concept of ‘Internet vigilantes’ (cf. Badaracco and Useem, 1997) in relation to pressures placed on retailers for more ethical performance. It is argued that a major change has occurred in the ways in which the ethical standards and performance of retailers can be scrutinised and publicised as a result of the Internet. Freedom of access to global audiences through the World Wide Web means that widespread exposure for criticisms of corporate performance can be achieved using relatively modest computing resources. In the area of retailing, this has increased significance, given that it also coincides with an era in which it is widely argued that there has been a shift of power to consumers. The combination of ethically aware consumers with increased power to influence retailers, and the Internet’s capability and traditions for global campaigning represents a major threat to any retailer who should be perceived to be acting unethically. It is suggested that a spectrum of attempts to influence retailers through Internet campaigns can be demonstrated, from ‘lone voices’, to co-ordinated campaigns, to new initiatives by well-established groups: Initially, examples of individuals using the Internet to expose perceived shortcomings of retailers will be examined, notably through Jon Entine’s widely reported criticisms of The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry’s and the like. The use of the Internet as a co-ordinative forum will be explored, with examples such as the ‘McLibel’ case and anti-Wal Mart campaigns in the United States. Internet-focused campaigns, such as the Netherlands-based ‘Clean Clothes Campaign’ and animal rights campaigns will be discussed. The extension to the Internet of the activities of established campaigning groups such as major charities (e.g. Oxfam’s Clothes Code site) and religious organisations (e.g. Christian Aid’s campaign against UK supermarkets’ sourcing policies in the Third World) represents a welding of new technology to well established practices.

Through a review of these and other examples, it is concluded that the Internet offers greatly increased potential for ethical scrutiny of retailers, and for that scrutiny to be increasingly conveyed to articulate and informed consumer segments. However, it also has a potential for irresponsible use and, should that be seen to be occurring, then calls for tighter regulation and legal intervention are likely to increase.

Conversely, for retailers the Internet also presents new opportunities. The second main part of the paper addresses ethical considerations of retailers’ use of the Internet. Several examples of major retailers publicising their ‘good works’ and ‘good intentions’ through Web sites will be cited. A feature of these is that in several cases there is a focus on children, educational themes, and the young. While this is a reasonable reflection of Internet users, perhaps, for some it may encourage the view that responsible activity is to be demanded, and if that is not perceived then there are likely to be calls for regulation and intervention. The activities of less scrupulous traders, often dealing in goods which, to many, may appear anti-social (e.g. weapons, pornography) is seen as posing a potential threat to legitimate traders. In conclusion, it is argued that the critical, liberal and open traditions of the Internet are one of its strengths, but only through responsible use will those traditions escape calls for greater regulation or more intervention.

References

Badaracco, J.L., Jr. and J.V. Useem, 1997, ‘The Internet, Intel and the Vigilante Stakeholder’, Business Ethics. A European Review, 6(1), 18-29.