Examining
Ethics
The Online
Gambling Dilemma
Curing
the Online Pornography Problem
Other Online
Ethical Issues
Links
Webgraph
Home
Slideshow
1)
Privacy - As the technology around us increases so does the
threat to our privacy. A few years ago, Florida lawmakers gave the go ahead
to have monitors stationed in bathrooms at Tallahassee Community College
to determine if the facilities were being underutilized. Students and faculty
vehemently protested that the monitors violated their privacy. State officials
said that the value of the information gained through the study was more
important than the threat to privacy.
2) Accuracy - Information educates. Misinformation
effaces. A wealth of information resides on the Net.
However, sometimes it is difficult to discern the truth from the trash,
the nugget of valuable information from the hearsay, supposition, inference
and opinion. A poignant illustration of this is the Drudge
Report. Matt Drudge often reports on rumors and speculation and rarely
reinforces his stories with specific sources.
3) Property - Who has the rights to intellectual property on the Internet? One issue that I kept thinking about when I was constructing my Web page was whether it was ethical to lift an image from someone's home page and use it on my Web page without crediting the source.
4) Access - The remainder of this Webgraph
will deal primarily with the ethical issue of access. One reason that topics
such as online gambling and pornography have become such firestorms of
controversy in cyberspace is the simple fact that so many people have access
to the Web sites. Obviously, pervasive societal issues warrant more attention
than surreptitious issues. Simply put, if no one had access to online pornography
no one would care.