Other Online Ethical Issues
Internet Censorship
The
issue of Internet censorship ties directly in with the controversies of
online gambling and cyberporn. The censorship issue asks how much control
can the government have over the content of the Internet. While recent
decisions regarding the Communications Decency Act and the Child Online
Protection Act show that the courts believe freedom of speech exists as
strongly on the Internet as it does in any other medium, legislators keep
passing bills that attempt to regulate the Internet.
Domain Name Rights
Who has the rights to Internet domain names? Do the
rights belong to the first person who claims the domain name or to the
company who has the name already trademarked, but has yet to purchase the
domain? For example, could I have bought the rights to www.adidas.com before
Adidas established its Web site and maintain those rights after Adidas
wanted the domain name? It is still unclear, although larger organizations
seem to have the resources to bully smaller organizations into compliance.
Companies such as Hertz, Nasdaq, Viacom and Coca-Cola had their names
registered for Internet use by others. Today, each of those companies has
reclaimed rights to its domain name. This ethical dilemma ties in nicely
with Richard Mason's ethical issue of property in the information age.
Message Boards Effect on
the Stock Market
One power held
by message boards is the ability to affect financial markets. In particular,
Yahoo! Financial Message Boards have recently come under fire for containing
posts that are maliciously false and financially damaging to companies'
stocks. A ComputerWire Inc. network briefing on August 28, 1998 claimed
that “comments posted to a Yahoo! Finance message board have so devalued
a Las Vegas, Nevada-based biotech stock that the company’s chief executive
officer held a conference call to reassure investors and analysts that
fundamentals are sound.” (Source: Finance: Internet 'Lies' Hit Biotech
Company Shares, COMPUTERWIRE INC, Aug. 28, 1998 at 1D, available
in LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe, General News Library.) Similarly,
an article in the Dallas Morning News said, “cybergossip has the power
to move stock prices regardless of whether it’s true.” (Source: Alan Goldstein,
Electronic Message Boards Good Sources for Fact and Fiction, DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, Aug. 3, 1998 at 1D, available in LEXIS-NEXIS Academic
Universe, General News Library.) Additionally, Jake Batsell of the Seattle
Times claimed that financial message boards “can be forums for misinformation
aimed at manipulating a stock price.” (Source: Jake Batsell, Visitors
Vent Frustration, Rumor and Political Hype on Investor Web Forums,
SEATTLE TIMES, Sept. 14, 1998 at 1D, available in LEXIS-NEXIS Academic
Universe, General News Library.)
“Cybergossip has the power to move stock prices regardless
of whether it’s true.”
- Alan Goldstein, Dallas Morning News
This page was last updated
on 3/24/99
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