Some Questions in Computer Ethics
There are a number of computers based ethical dilemma that are frequently discussed. One set of issues deals with some of the new ethical dilemma that have emerged, or taken on new form, with the rise of the Internet and Social Networking. There are now many ways to gain information about others that were not available, or easily available, before the rise of computers. Thus ethical issues about storage of personal information are now becoming an ever increasing problem. With more storage of personal data for social networking arises the problem of selling that information for monetary gain. This gives rise to different ethical situations regarding access, security, and the use of hacking in positive and negative situations.
Situations regarding the copyright infringement of software, music, movies, are widely becoming discussed, with the rise of file sharing programs such as Napster, Kazaa, and the BitTorrent (protocol) . The ethical questions that arise from software piracy are : is it immoral or wrong to copy software, music, or movies?
A second set of questions pertaining to the Internet and the societal influence that are becoming more widely discussed are questions relating to the values that some may wish to promote via the Internet. Some have claimed that the Internet is a "democratic technology”. Does the Internet foster democracy and freedom of speech? What are the ethical implications of this process on the world? Does the digital divide raise ethical issues that society is morally obligated to change and spread the ability to access different forms of electronic communication?
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Famous quotes containing the words questions, computer and/or ethics:
“In fact, now I come to think of it, do we decide questions, at all? We decide answers, no doubt: but surely the questions decide us? It is the dog, you know, that wags the tail—not the tail that wags the dog.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“What, then, is the basic difference between today’s computer and an intelligent being? It is that the computer can be made to see but not to perceive. What matters here is not that the computer is without consciousness but that thus far it is incapable of the spontaneous grasp of pattern—a capacity essential to perception and intelligence.”
—Rudolf Arnheim (b. 1904)
“If you take away ideology, you are left with a case by case ethics which in practise ends up as me first, me only, and in rampant greed.”
—Richard Nelson (b. 1950)