Teaching the Ethics of Information and

Information Technology

Emily Miller-FranciscoSouthern Oregon University

Online NorthwestJanuary 21, 2005

Introduction

• Goals for this presentation

• 3 Scenarios

• 1 Caveat

Introduction

ACRL Information Literacy Standards

• Standard One: Determine the extent of information needed• Standard Two: Access the needed information effectively and

efficiently• Standard Three: Evaluate information and its sources critically• Standard Four: Incorporate selected information into one’s

knowledge base• Standard Five: Use information effectively to accomplish a specific

purpose

• Standard Six: Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

Introduction

Goals for the Course

• Demonstrate an understanding of major issues in information ethics such as free speech, copyright, and privacy.

• Demonstrate an understanding of how technology impacts each of these issues.

• Demonstrate an understanding of a variety of ethical approaches and how they can be utilized to discuss information ethics issues.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the legal context within which debate about information issues takes place.

Introduction

Ethical Frameworks

• Utilitarian Ethics

• Duty/Deontological

Ethics

• Virtue Ethics

Free Speech and Censorship

First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law

respecting an establishment of

religion, or prohibiting the free

exercise thereof; or abridging the

freedom of speech, or of the press;

or the right of the people

peaceably to assemble, and to

petition the government for a

redress of grievances.

Free Speech and Censorship

Types of

censorship:

• Sexual

• Religious

• Political

• Social

• Violence

• Etc.

Free Speech and Censorship

Different levels of

protection:

• Print

• Broadcast media

• Common carriers

Free Speech and Censorship

Legal limits to free

speech:

• Defamation

• Obscenity

• Fighting Words

• Gag rules

• Security Issues

• Etc.

Free Speech and Censorship

Legal History of Internet Filtering:

• Communications Decency Act (1996)

(struck down in 1997)

• Child Online Protection Act (1998)

(remanded twice by the Supreme Court)

• Children’s Internet Protection Act (2000)

(upheld in 2003)

Free Speech and Censorship

Is there such a thing as free speech?

And is it a good thing?

Intellectual Property

Types of Protection:• Copyright:

Fixed expression• Patents:

Inventions & processes• Trademarks:

Logos, designs, etc. that point to a company

• Trade secrets, publicity, etc.

Intellectual Property

Copyright History:• Printing Press (1400s)• Statute of Anne (1710)• U.S. Constitution• Copyright Acts of 1790,

1909, and 1976• Sonny Bono Extension Act

(1998)

Intellectual Property

Balancing copyright:

• Fair Use– Purpose/character of the use– Nature of the original work– Amount borrowed in relation to

the whole– Effect on market value

• Public Domain– Waited 14 years (+14 years

renewable) in 1790– Now wait for the life of the

author + 70 years

Intellectual PropertyImpact of Technology:

• Boundary confusion

(e.g. software: patent or copyright?)

• New kinds of copyright

(e.g. Tasini v. New York Times)

• New ability to control

(e.g. digital rights management and licensing)

• New participants

(e.g. Napster)

• New attempts to respond:

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)

Intellectual Property

Impact of Technology & the Quest for Balance:

• Open Source movement

o Copyleft and the GNU Project (Richard Stallman)

o “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” by Eric Raymond

o Linux

• Other responses to copyright

o The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig

o “The Economy of Ideas” by John Perry Barlow

• Creative Commons at http://creativecommons.org

Intellectual Property

Plagiarism:

•Ideas versus their Expression

•Ethics versus law

•Our little incident(s)

Privacy

Defining:

• Freedom from intrusion

• Control of information

about yourself

• Freedom from surveillance

Definition from Sara Baase

Privacy

History:

• “Right to Privacy” (1890)

by Warren & Brandeis

• Watkins v. U.S. (1957):

government can’t

expose private affairs

without justification

PrivacyHistory:• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965):

Right to use contraceptives• Justice Douglas: Privacy is a right

that can be derived from the “penumbras and emanations” of the Bill of Rights: free speech no soldiers in the house no unreasonable searches & seizures right against self-incrimination the rights listed in the Constitution

aren’t the only rights• Led to other cases like Roe v. Wade

(1973) & Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Privacy

History:• Katz v. U.S. (1967):

– requires government to have a warrant to perform wiretapping

– people can have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” even in public places

• Now: USA Patriot Act (2001)– expands the Foreign Intelligence

Surveillance Act of 1978 and allows wiretapping for domestic crimes as long as the information is relevant to the investigation

Privacy

Also statutory law:

e.g. Privacy Act (1974):

Gives a citizen the right to

review & amend their

government records and to sue

for violations of that right

Privacy

Impact of technology:

• Marketing: Consumer online privacy, datamining, spam, etc.

• Surveillance issues (online and off)

• Health/Genetic privacy

Privacy & Security

Impact of technology:

• Hackers and viruses

• Cyberstalking

• Cyberterrorism

Conclusion

Teaching the Ethics of Information and

Information Technology

Emily Miller-FranciscoSouthern Oregon University

Online NorthwestJanuary 21, 2005

http://campus.sou.edu/~millere/ietalk/