Ethics in the Information Age Second Paper Assignment Due: July 22
General Directions:
Write an essay explaining and supporting your views on one of the following topics. (There are seven to choose from.) Write a total of 4-6 pages, typed, double-spaced. Write as clearly and concisely as you can. Explain any technical terms you use. Pretend that, instead of being read by a teacher who has read all the class readings, your essay will be read by an intelligent and well-informed person who has read no such material, and who needs to have the issues explained in a way that does not assume any acquaintance with academic writing about ethics or about the social policy issues you are discussing. Answer mainly in your own words. Put quotations in quotation marks (and use quotes sparingly). When you borrow a phrase or argument or idea from another writer, give them credit.
Make sure that your paper has a clear thesis and that it provides reasons to support that thesis. Devote some of your space to explaining and responding to opposing views. (Since these topics are controversial, there are almost certainly people who would disagree with your position. What arguments would they be likely to make? How might they criticize your position and your arguments? How could you respond to these criticisms?)
See the paper writing guides linked on the class website for lots more guidance.
Specific topic options:
1. Discuss all or part of the “Principles for Fair Commerce in Digital Products” recommended by Americans for Fair Electronic Commerce Transactions (AFFECT). Are these ethically justifiable principles? Or do they place unreasonable burdens on people who write and sell software?
Freedom and culture:
2. Freedom of expression is an important value in our society, but not an absolute one. What limits to freedom of expression are appropriate for the Internet? Here are some possible positions on this issue: “Because there is no practical way to prevent underage users from accessing websites, nothing should be posted on publicly accessible websites that is unsuitable for children.” Or: “There should be no restrictions on what people may post on websites, but they should be subject to the usual penalties for libel, slander, defamation and the like.” Or: “There should be no restrictions whatsoever on what people may post on websites, and no penalties, either for posters or for hosts (e.g., operators of sites that have comment sections or ISP’s that provide web space for sites). The Internet should be a complete and total free speech zone.)” Explain and justify your own position. Remember this is a question of ethics and not of Constitutional law. The question is what sorts of limits (if any) are ethically appropriate; not what sorts of limits are permitted by the law or by the Constitution.
3. Do producers of video games, online pornography, and/or other electronic entertainment bear any responsibility for the effects of their products on consumers or on our culture? If their products produce, reinforce, or encourage undesirable attitudes or behavior (sexist attitudes, say, or violent behavior or addiction), would that provide a good reason for them to change what they do? Would it provide a good reason for others to criticize what they do (from a moral point of view)? [Note: this topic is not an invitation to find two or three articles on the Internet and use them to support a claim about whether or not, for example, violent video games do or don't lead to an increase in violence. Trying to answer a question about the psychological or social effects of video games (to continue the example) is difficult and requires serious research. You don't have time to do that kind of research, and it's not what this class is about. The question is a question in ethics: If some form of entertainment has undesirable effects on its consumers, would that be a good reason (ethically speaking) not to produce or sell it? Would it be a good reason to criticize the people who do produce or sell it? Further note: This topic is not about censorship or about whether or not people have a right under the First Amendment to produce or sell these kinds of entertainment. It is about whether or not people who use their First Amendment rights in these ways are morally responsible for the effect of their products on others.]
Privacy:
4. Defend or criticize some account of why privacy is important and how it should be protected by law or regulation.
5. Defend or criticize some account of the (ethical) responsibilities of companies for the protection of information they collect (or some specific kind of information). Examples: Should the Code of Fair Information Practices (Quinn, p.289) apply to private businesses? Should retail firms sell information about their customers’ purchasing habits to third parties?
6. What do you see as the most significant threats to privacy in the information age and what (if anything) do you think should be done about them? (Explain and defend your answer.)
7. Some have suggested that privacy is becoming less important as technology evolves. The willingness of younger Americans to expose their personal lives on social networking sites like Facebook is supposed to show that they don’t much care about privacy. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg famously said that the age of privacy is over, that social norms are evolving and people are now happy to share much more of themselves with others. Some people find this alarming; others say it’s a beneficial (or, at least, non-harmful) change in our culture. Discuss.