Ethics for the Information Age

Description

1. Catalysts for Change

2. Introduction to Ethics

3. Networked Communications

4. Intellectual Property

5. Information Privacy

6. Privacy and the Government

7. Computer and Network Security

8. Computer Reliability

9. Professional Ethics

10. Work and Wealth

Appendix A: Plagiarism

The New Normal: Evaluating Social and Ethical Concerns in the Information Age

New technologies have brought us many benefits, but they have also raised many social and ethical concerns. The authors view in Ethics for the Information Age is that we ought to approach every new technology in a thoughtful manner, considering not just its short-term benefits, but also how its long-term use will affect our lives. A thoughtful response to information technology requires a basic understanding of its history, an awareness of current information-technology- related issues, and a familiarity with ethics.

In the Seventh Edition, Quinn provides an impartial look at the problems technology both solves and creates. As in previous editions, he presents information in a manner that leads you to arrive at your own conclusions on crucial ethics questions. Weaving in a vital dose of IT history, the new topics keep the book relevant and can function as either a sole reference or a supplemental guide for computer ethics courses.

Computer ethics content reflects the latest developments and has been updated in each section.

 

Chapter One covers three main objectives to prepare students for the course:

• To get the reader thinking about the process of technological change.
• To present a brief history of computing, networking, and information storage and retrieval.
• To provide examples of moral problems brought about by the introduction of information technology.

 

Chapter Two is an introduction to ethics and presents the pros and cons of nine different theories of ethical decision making.

• Five of the theories in this section— Kantianism, act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism, social contract theory, and virtue ethics—are deemed the most appropriate “tools” for analyzing moral problems in the remaining chapters.

 

The Intellectual Property section in Chapter Four is entirely reorganized around six important themes:

• The differences between intellectual property and tangible property and the problems that surface when applying Locke’s theory of property rights to intellectual property.
• How intellectual property is protected by trade secrets, trademarks, service marks, patents, and copyrights.
• The concept of “fair use” as a compromise between the interests of creators of intellectual property and the interests of the public.
• Piracy and how the digital representation of intellectual property enables perfect copies to be made and distributed in unprecedented amounts. Companies selling these products are therefore faced with “doing the right thing” (obtaining a legal copy) or “doing the wrong thing” (obtaining a pirated copy).
• The concepts of copyright and patent which are extended to computer software, but present problems when issuing software patents.
• The open-source movement and stimulating creativity where the current system of intellectual property protection is viewed by some to inhibit it. This movement will make it easier for artists, musicians, and writers to use the Internet as a vehicle for stimulating creativity and enhancing collaboration.

 

The Seventh Edition adds new coverage of the latest developments in ethics. Some of the topics include:

• The practice of employers accessing social media to learn more about job candidates.
• The growth of the “gig economy” which constitutes of temporary positions with independent workers for short-term engagements.
• The “right to be forgotten” by the search engines you use and the European Union court order requiring Google to suppress certain search results.
• The rise of revenge porn and the rights associated with that content.
• The prevalence of fake online reviews and efforts to filter them out.
• The continuing debate over mashups and if they’re a violation of copyright law.
• Breaches of privacy caused by corporations releasing large data sets that were not correctly anonymized.
• The “smartphone patent wars” meaning the licensing and litigation in an ongoing business battle by smartphone manufacturers.
• The Open Internet Order released by the Federal Communications Commission to preserve net neutrality.
• The responses by China and South Korea to the increasing Internet addiction of many of its youth.
• The use of darknets by criminals, political dissidents, and others interested in illegal

NEW! Computer ethics content reflects the latest developments and has been updated in each section.

NEW! Chapter One covers three main objectives to prepare students for the course:

• To get the reader thinking about the process of technological change.
• To present a brief history of computing, networking, and information storage and retrieval.
• To provide examples of moral problems brought about by the introduction of information technology.

NEW! Chapter Two is an introduction to ethics and presents the pros and cons of nine different theories of ethical decision making.

• Five of the theories in this section— Kantianism, act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism, social contract theory, and virtue ethics—are deemed the most appropriate “tools” for analyzing moral problems in the remaining chapters.

NEW! The Intellectual Property section in Chapter Four is entirely reorganized around six important themes:

• The differences between intellectual property and tangible property and the problems that surface when applying Locke’s theory of property rights to intellectual property.
• How intellectual property is protected by trade secrets, trademarks, service marks, patents, and copyrights.
• The concept of “fair use” as a compromise between the interests of creators of intellectual property and the interests of the public.
• Piracy and how the digital representation of intellectual property enables perfect copies to be made and distributed in unprecedented amounts. Companies selling these products are therefore faced with “doing the right thing” (obtaining a legal copy) or “doing the wrong thing” (obtaining a pirated copy).
• The concepts of copyright and patent which are extended to computer software, but present problems when issuing software patents.
• The open-source movement and stimulating creativity where the current system of intellectual property protection is viewed by some to inhibit it. This movement will make it easier for artists, musicians, and writers to use the Internet as a vehicle for stimulating creativity and enhancing collaboration.

NEW! The Seventh Edition adds new coverage of the latest developments in ethics. Some of the topics include:

• The practice of employers accessing social media to learn more about job candidates.
• The growth of the “gig economy” which constitutes of temporary positions with independent workers for short-term engagements.
• The “right to be forgotten” by the search engines you use and the European Union court order requiring Google to suppress certain search results.
• The rise of revenge porn and the rights associated with that content.
• The prevalence of fake online reviews and efforts to filter them out.
• The continuing debate over mashups and if they’re a violation of copyright law.
• Breaches of privacy caused by corporations releasing large data sets that were not correctly anonymized.
• The “smartphone patent wars” meaning the licensing and litigation in an ongoing business battle by smartphone manufacturers.
• The Open Internet Order released by the Federal Communications Commission to preserve net neutrality.
• The responses by China and South Korea to the increasing Internet addiction of many of its youth.
• The use of darknets by criminals, political dissidents, and others interested in illegal peer-to-peer file sharing.
• Recent Supreme Court rulings that indicate software, as a class, is worthy of patent protection.
• The passage of the USA Freedom Act to reform the Patriot Act in light of Edward Snowden’s revelations.
• The emerging power of data brokers who collect and aggregate consumer information and create detailed profiles of individuals.
• The diminishing use of direct-recording electronic voting machines in the United States.

UPDATED! Theend of chapter: Summary; Further Reading and Viewing; Review Questions; Discussion Questions; In-class Exercises are revised and updated.

UPDATED! Provocative questions raised at the end of every chapter, together with in-class exercises, provide opportunities for students to express their viewpoints.

UPDATED! End-of-chapter interviews with leaders from industry and academia provide important new insights and perspectives into ethical topics.

UPDATED! The “Further Reading and Viewing” sections contain lists of recent magazine and newspaper articles, television interviews, documentaries, and other videos available on the Internet. Most of the videos are only a few minutes long and could fuel interesting classroom discussions.

UPDATED! The facts and figures are updated throughout the book maintaining cutting edge material.

For courses in Computer Ethics.

 

The New Normal: Evaluating Social and Ethical Concerns in the Information Age

New technologies have brought us many benefits, but they have also raised many social and ethical concerns. The authors view in Ethics for the Information Age is that we ought to approach every new technology in a thoughtful manner, considering not just its short-term benefits, but also how its long-term use will affect our lives. A thoughtful response to information technology requires a basic understanding of its history, an awareness of current information-technology- related issues, and a familiarity with ethics.

 

In the Seventh Edition, Quinn provides an impartial look at the problems technology both solves and creates. As in previous editions, he presents information in a manner that leads students to arrive at their own conclusions on crucial ethics questions. Weaving in a vital dose of IT history, the new topics keep the book relevant and can function as either a sole reference or a supplemental guide for computer ethics courses.

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