A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet, 3rd Edition / Edition 3

by Sara Baase

Overview

A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet

Third Edition SARA BAASE

A Gift of Fire, Third Edition is the most comprehensive and up-to-date text on the social and ethical issues associated with computing, networking, and the Internet. Thoroughly updated to reflect the latest trends and technologies, this book will help readers understand and evaluate the crucial issues they will face as technology professionals, users, and citizens.

Baase offers thoughtful, in-depth coverage - and diverse viewpoints - on issues ranging from privacy to hacking, censorship to piracy of music and movies, social networking to computer crime. She helps readers consider difficult and provocative questions such as: In what form will copyright survive the revolutionin technologies for sharing? Which technology decisions should be left to the marketplace, and which require government regulation? Who's in charge when digital actions cross borders? What are the ethical responsibilities of a computer professional?

This book's far-reaching coverage includes:

• Impact and quality of user-supplied Web content
• Privacy and computer technology: Records of online activity, video surveillance, GPS location tracking, consumer dossiers, national ID systems, and more
• Internet censorship laws and alternatives, spam, political campaign regulation, anonymity, and Net neutrality
• Intellectual property: Copyright law, fair use, the DMCA, video sharing, software patents, free software, piracy, and new business models
• Computer crime: Identity theft, hacking, credit card fraud, online scams, auction fraud, click fraud, stock fraud, digital forgery, and more
• Computers and work: Job destruction and creation, global outsourcing, telecommuting, and employee monitoring
• Errors, failures, and risk: System failures, safety-critical applications, software design problems, and techniques for improving reliability and safety
• How societies make decisions about new technologies

About the Author

Sara Baase, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at San Diego State University, has won three Outstanding Faculty awards. Her computer science textbooks have been translated into Sapnish, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, and Korean. Dr. Baase served on the College Board's committee to develop the Advanced Placement program in Computer Science. She holds a doctorate from UC Berkeley.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780136008484
Publisher:	Prentice Hall
Publication date:	01/10/2008
Series:	Alternative eText Formats Series
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sara Baase is Professor Emeritus with the Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, where she won awards for outstanding teaching. Her textbooks in computer science have been translated into several languages. Dr. Baase received her doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 Unwrapping the Gift

1.1 The Ubiquity of Computers and the Rapid Pace of Change

1.2 New Developments and Dramatic Impacts

1.2.1 Amateur Creative Works: Blogs and Video Sharing

1.2.2 Connections

1.2.3 Collaborative Efforts Among Strangers

1.2.4 E-commerce and Free Stuff

1.2.5 Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Motion

1.2.6 Tools for Disabled People

1.2.7 What Next?

1.3 An Introduction to Some Issues and Themes

1.3.1 Issues

1.3.2 Themes

1.4 Ethics

1.4.1 What Is Ethics, Anyway?

1.4.2 A Variety of Ethical Views

1.4.3 Some Important Distinctions

Chapter 2 Privacy

2.1 Privacy and Computer Technology

2.1.1 Introduction

2.1.2 New Technology, New Risks

2.1.3 Terminology and Principles for Data Collection and Use

2.2 Big Brother Is Watching You

2.2.1 Databases

2.2.2 The Fourth Amendment, Expectation of Privacy, and Surveillance Technologies

2.2.3 Video Surveillance

2.3 Diverse Privacy Topics

2.3.1 Marketing, Personalization and Consumer Dossiers

2.3.2 Location Tracking

2.3.3 Stolen and Lost Data

2.3.4 What We Do Ourselves

2.3.5 Public Records: Access vs. Privacy

2.3.6 National ID Systems

2.3.7 Children

2.4 Protecting Privacy: Technology, Markets, Rights, and Laws

2.4.1 Technology and Markets

2.4.2 Rights and Law

2.4.3 Privacy Regulations in the European Union

2.5 Communications

2.5.1 Wiretapping and E-mail Protection

2.5.2 Designing Communications Systems for Interception

2.5.3 Secret Intelligence Gathering

2.5.4 Encryption Policy

Chapter 3 Freedom of Speech

3.1 Changing Communications Paradigms

3.1.1 Regulating Communications Media

3.1.2 Free-Speech Principles

3.2 Controlling Offensive Speech

3.2.1 Offensive Speech: What Is It? What Is Illegal?

3.2.2 Internet Censorship Laws and Alternatives

3.2.3 Spam

3.2.4 Challenging Old Regulatory Paradigms and Special Interests

3.2.5 Posting and Selling Sensitive Material: Ethics and Social Concerns

3.3 Censorship on the Global Net

3.3.1 The Global Impact of Censorship

3.3.2 Yahoo and French Censorship

3.3.3 Censorship in Other Nations

3.3.4 Aiding Foreign Censors

3.4 Political Campaign Regulations in Cyberspace

3.5 Anonymity

3.5.1 Common Sense and the Internet

3.5.2 Is Anonymity Protected?

3.5.3 Against Anonymity

3.6 Protecting Access and Innovation: Net Neutrality or Deregulation?

Chapter 4 Intellectual Property

4.1 Intellectual Property and Changing Technology

4.1.1 What Is Intellectual Property?

4.1.2 Challenges of New Technologies

4.2 Copyright Law and Significant Cases

4.2.1 A Bit of History

4.2.2 The Fair-Use Doctrine

4.2.3 Significant Cases

4.3 Copying and Sharing

4.3.1 Defensive and Aggressive Responses from the Content Industries

4.3.2 The DMCA vs. Fair Use, Freedom of Speech, and Innovation

4.3.3 Video Sharing

4.3.4 New Business Models and Constructive Solutions

4.3.5 Ethical Arguments About Copying

4.3.6 International Piracy

4.4 Search Engines and Online Libraries

4.5 Free Speech Issues

4.6 Free Software

4.6.1 What Is Free Software?

4.6.2 Should All Software Be Free?

4.7 Issues for Software Developers

4.7.1 Patents for Software?

4.7.2 Patents for Web Technologies

4.7.3 Copyright and Similar Software Products

Chapter 5 Crime

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Hacking

5.2.1 What is Hacking?

5.2.2 Hacktivism, or Political Hacking

5.2.3 The Law: Catching and Punishing Hackers

5.2.4 Security

5.3 Identity Theft and Credit-Card Fraud

5.3.1 Stealing Identities

5.3.2 Responses to Identity Theft

5.3.3 Biometrics

5.4 Scams and Forgery

5.4.1 Auctions

5.4.2 Click Fraud

5.4.3 Stock Fraud

5.4.4 Digital Forgery

5.5 Crime Fighting Versus Privacy and Civil Liberties

5.5.1 Search and Seizure of Computers

5.5.2 The Issue of Venue

5.5.3 The Cybercrime Treaty

5.6 Whose Laws Rule the Web?

5.6.1 When Digital Actions Cross Borders

5.6.2 Arresting Foreign Visitors

5.6.3 Libel, Speech, and Commercial Law

5.6.4 Culture, Law, and Ethics

5.6.5 Potential Solutions

Chapter 6 Work

6.1 Fears and Questions

6.2 The Impact on Employment

6.2.1 Job Destruction and Creation

6.2.2 Changing Skill Levels

6.2.3 A Global Workforce

6.2.4 Getting a Job

6.3 The Work Environment

6.3.1 Job Dispersal and Telecommuting

6.3.2 Changing Business Structures

6.4 Employee Monitoring

6.4.1 Background

6.4.2 Data Entry, Phone Work, and Retail

6.4.3 Location Monitoring

6.4.4 E-mail, Blogging, and Web Use

Chapter 7 Evaluating and Controlling Technology

7.1 Information, Knowledge, and Judgment

7.1.1 Evaluating Information on the Web

7.1.2 Writing, Thinking, and Deciding

7.1.3 Computer Models

7.2 Computers and Community

7.3 The Digital Divide

7.4 Evaluations of the Impact of Computer Technology

7.4.1 The Neo-Luddite View of Computers, Technology, and Human Needs

7.4.2 Accomplishments of Technology

7.5 Making Decisions about Technology

7.5.1 Questions

7.5.2 The Difficulty of Prediction

7.5.3 Intelligent Machines and Superintelligent Humans – Or the End of the Human Race?

7.5.4 A Few Observations

Chapter 8 Errors, Failures, and Risk

8.1 Failures and Errors in Computer Systems

8.1.1 An Overview

8.1.2 Problems for Individuals

8.1.3 System Failures

8.1.4 Safety-Critical Applications

8.1.5 Perspectives on Failure

8.2 Case Study: The Therac-25

8.2.1 Therac-25 Radiation Overdoses

8.2.2 Software and Design Problems

8.2.3 Why So Many Incidents?

8.2.4 Observations and Perspective

8.3 Increasing Reliability and Safety

8.3.1 What Goes Wrong?

8.3.2 Professional Techniques

8.3.3 Law, Regulation, and Markets

8.4 Dependence, Risk, and Progress

8.4.1 Are We Too Dependent On Computers?

8.4.2 Risk and Progress

Chapter 9 Professional Ethics and Responsibilities

9.1 What Is Professional Ethics?

9.2 Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals

9.2.1 Special Aspects of Professional Ethics

9.2.2 Professional Codes of Ethics

9.2.3 Guidelines and Professional Responsibilities

9.3 Scenarios

9.3.1 Introduction and Methodology

9.3.2 Protecting Personal Data

9.3.3 Designing an E-mail System with Targeted Ads

9.3.4 Specifications

9.3.5 Skipping Tests

9.3.6 Copyright Violation

9.3.7 Going Public

9.3.8 Release of Personal Information

9.3.9 Conflict of Interest

9.3.10 Kickbacks and Disclosure

9.3.11 A Test Plan

9.3.12 Artificial Intelligence and Sentencing Criminals

9.3.13 A Gracious Host

Epilogue

A The Software Engineering Code and the ACM Code

A.1 The Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

A.2 The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Index