XplanaZine

As access to the Internet expands, so does the temptation to misuse it, particularly among those who see immediate gain, the potential for malfeasance with impunity, and an opportunity to join, undermine, prey upon, or simply play within a “First World” virtual space. Ironically, organizations and internet service providers limit access by employing filters, spam-guards, and “web-washer” programs which can effectively disable an online education program. Further, surveillance by one’s institution or the ISP is one thing, but it is now commonly accepted that various security and defense agencies are monitoring e-mail and websites. What are the ethical issues? Who decides the rules?

Internet ethics must be considered within a global playing field marked by vast gaps in economic condition. Tensions between have’s and have-not’s bring to the surface issues dealing with privacy, surveillance, and intellectual property (if such a thing exists in the way we understood it to exist a mere 15 years ago). The primary objective for compiling a list of online articles and resources dealing with a wide range of ethical issues involving the Internet is to encourage thoughtful discussion. What are current views on ethics and ethical issues and the Internet? What are potential implications for teaching and learning with technology? Must everyone abide by the same rules, or if you are from a team with fewer resources, are you somehow able to play by your own rules? This list was compiled by Susan Smith Nash and Edward Chen.

Definitions and Discussions on Internet Ethics

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties released An Advocacy Handbook for the Non Governmental Organisations: The Council of Europe’s Cyber-Crime Convention 2001 and the additional protocol on the criminalisation of acts of a racist or xenophobic nature committed through computer systems, 01 December 2003.
http://www.cyber-rights.org/
Information Technology & Cyberspace: Their Impact on Rights and Liberties
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/VicCCL.html

NET-ETHIQUETTE Mini Case Studies of Dysfunctional Human Behavior on the Net
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/Netethiquettecases
The Netcheck Commerce Bureau was established in 1995 to promote ethical business practices worldwide and to increase consumer and corporate confidence in purchasing products and services on-line on the Internet.
http://www.netcheck.com/

A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/
Ethics and the Internet
ftp://nic.merit.edu/documents/rfc/rfc1087.txt

AiCE is a multi-disciplinary resource and research centre composed of a diverse group of people who care about the social effects of information and communications technology and seek to identify associated ethical problems and guidelines.
http://www.aice.net/
Applied Ethics Resources
http://www.ethicsweb.ca/resources/
Computer Ethics Institute
http://www.brook.edu/its/cei/cei_hp.htm

IN SEARCH OF A COMMON RATIONALE FOR COMPUTER ETHICS
http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/common-rat.html

Information Ethics: On the Philosophical Foundation of Computer Ethics
http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/~floridi/ie.htm
Web Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing Ethics
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jherkert/ethicind.html

The Ethics of the Use of Internet Filters

Will New Standards Help Curb Spam?
http://info.computer.org/computer/homepage/0204/TechNews/index.htm
SpamCon Foundation
http://spamcon.org/about/
Heavyweights turn to authentication in e-mail spoofing fight
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0403/01/technology-77959.htm
EarthLink sues alleged e-mail spammers including Michigan firm
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/19/technology-68613.htm
A new spam loophole: poorly guarded home computers
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/17/technology-66474.htm
Inbox trauma: New anti-spam tools falter
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/12/technology-32671.htm
New law doesn’t cut spam
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/07/c03-29184.htm

Congress approves first national anti-spam legislation
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/09/technology-344796.htm
Senate votes to impose tough limits on unwanted commercial e-mails
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0310/23/technology-305141.htm
Junk e-mail foes target spam king
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0208/04/a01-553425.htm

The Internet Watch Foundation
http://www.iwf.org.uk/index.html

Adult Filters

Mandated library filters could affect Internet access gap
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/25/technology-202040.htm
Supreme Court gives OK to forced anti-porn filters for Internet in libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/24/technology-200660.htm
Court strikes down law intended to keep kids from online porn
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0303/07/technology-102376.htm
Supreme Court looks at free speech and Internet filters in public libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0303/06/technology-101313.htm
Bush administration appeals Internet-pornography ruling to Supreme Court
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0206/21/technology-520113.htm
Anti-censorship advocate locks horns with anti-pornography filterers
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0206/18/technology-517558.htm
Federal judges throw out anti-porn law requiring filtering software at libraries
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0205/31/-503601.htm

Porn in the court: Librarians repeating unspeakable words in battle over Internet smut
http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0204/01/technology-453875.htm
SafetySurf is the Internet’s oldest and leading source of internet monitoring and internet filtering software for parents. All parental control products are available for IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD with 100% Security!
http://www.safetysurf.com/

Adult content filter for MMS launched
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/8805.shtml

Mobile guidelines to bar kids from adult content
http://www.silicon.com/networks/mobile/0,39024665,39117847,00.htm
Pornography on the Web

The Adult Chamber of Commerce
http://www.adultchamber.com/members/advice.htm

Nasty Web Sights
http://www.ibiblio.org/maggot/jomc/graphy4.html

Web Sites Against Child Porn
http://www.wsacp.org/

Pornography and the Internet in the United States
http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/fall1999/www_presentations/c_hogg/default.htm
It’s true: Whitehouse for sale
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/17/technology-66476.htm
Web-Surfing at Work

More firms check staff e-mail
Worker efficiency, lawsuit protections cited as reasons for growing tracking by employers.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/careers/0312/21/b01-14337.htm

Web Surfing at Work
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/27/technology-76001.htm
Privacy virtually non-existent on the Web
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/10/technology-59792.htm
The Censorware Project was formed by a group of writers and internet activists in late 1997. Our goal is to bring to light information about censorware products which is, by its nature, hidden. http://censorware.net/about.shtml

Acceptable Use

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES - A HANDBOOK
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/go/VDOE/Technology/AUP/home.shtml#intro
Technology Plans: Resources Online Acceptable Use Policies
http://www.netc.org/tech_plans/aup.html
Critiquing Acceptable Use Policies
http://www.io.com/~kinnaman/aupessay.html
INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
http://www.nlrg.com/lawlet/iup.htm
The Digital Divide

‘Digital divide’ summit splits over press freedom
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/11/technology-4586.htm

Digital Divide Basics
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/content/sections/index.cfm?key=2
Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/contents.html

Bridging the digital divide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/10/99/information_rich_information_poor/466651.stm
U.S. Cites Race Gap in Use of Internet
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/july99/divide9.htm

Global Digital Divide Initiative
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Digital+Divide+Initiative

Digital Divide’s New Frontier
http://www.childrenspartnership.org/pub/low_income/

Second-Level Digital Divide
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_4/hargittai/

Gender and the Digital Divide Seminar Series
http://www.worldbank.org/gender/digitaldivide/
The Evolution of the Digital Divide: How Gaps in Internet Access May Impact Electronic Commerce
http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol5/issue3/hoffman.html
THE GROWING DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION
http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm

Hacking

Hackers may have gotten access to personal info for 20,000 people at U. of Georgia
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/30/technology-50070.htm
Is the RIAA “hacking you back”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28842.html
Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy http://www.nautilus.org/info-policy/workshop/papers/denning.html
Bracing for guerrilla warfare in cyberspace
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/cyberterror/
Two views of hacking
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/qandas/
Scenes from a mall: Friday night by the Cinnabon with the ‘hacker underground’
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/culture/
Hackers, crackers and Trojan horses: A primer
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/specials/hackers/primer/
Computer Hacking and Ethics
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hackers.html
Hacking/Phreaking Reform
http://www.totse.com/en/hack/introduction_to_hacking/hackingphreaki173200.html

Cyber-Bullying, File-Swapping, Copyright Law, and Other Issues

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco and University of Maine law school clinics.
http://www.chillingeffects.org/

Cyberbullying stalks students
http://www.detnews.com/2003/editorial/0311/09/a13-319592.htm
Dutch Supreme Court rejects suit against makers of Kazaa file swapping program
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/20/technology-13950.htm
Chinese government’s efforts to control Internet access aren’t effective, expert says
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0311/22/technology-331947.htm
Copyright Law FAQ (1/6): Introduction ~ Copyright Law FAQ (6/6): Appendix
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/law/copyright/faq/

New computer virus variant floods Web sites of anti-spam activists
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0312/04/technology-341223.htm
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
China vows to curb junk e-mail — but it’s politics, not annoyance, at issue
http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0402/03/technology-53942.htm