Appendix - Problems Related to Ethical Issues - The Research Center on Computing & Society

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National Conference on Computing and Values
Report on the Track: Policy Issues in Campus Computing
Report on the Discussions of the Working Group
on Policy Issues in Campus Computing

Marvin J. Croy

1. Problems related to Ethical Issues

As previously stated, the issues which dominated the discussions of this working group were related either directly or indirectly to the formulation of an ethical code for computer use on campus. The issues included were wide-ranging, and presenting a list of those issues here would do little to represent their complex interactions. Fortunately, Richard Gordon has supplied an overview of many of these issues in his description of a set of guidelines currently being considered at the University of Delaware. His commentary addresses the question of what aims such policies and guidelines should serve and is included above on pages 33 – 47 as an addendum to this report. The working group’s discussions made it clear that having a coherent framework for making ethically related decisions about what constitutes appropriate or inappropriate behavior is a demanding task. It requires the ability to make values explicit and to specify what counts as serving them in particular contexts. It requires a sensitivity to the rights and concerns of a variety of individuals and groups. Asking the questions “at whom is the policy aimed” and “whom is the policy supposed to protect” often is given different answers by different parties on campus. Attempting to provide equity of access to computer resources, for example, may unearth conflicts which may require the establishment of priorities. Readers interested in these topics should consult Richard Gordon’s document directly.

Some problems associated with the use of computers on campus transcend the physical boundaries of colleges and universities. Many educational institutions are connected to computer networks such as BITNET or INTERNET. These networks support electronic mail and list servers for the discussion of a variety of topics. The problems of confidentiality associated with electronic mail are perhaps obvious given its similarity to paper mail. However, there are a number of questions that plague the use and management of these electronic discussions. One problem, suggested by Tim Foley, concerns the lack of consistency among the regulations governing the discussions or networks which are linked together. “There are different policies for using BITNET, EARN, and NSFNET. Political and religious activism is forbidden on EARN and the definition of activism could easily be construed as limiting one’s constitutional rights. Work needs to be done on some sort of standard policy with some basic concepts of ethical behavior. It appears that restrictions on types of information should be implemented at local sites rather than worrying about things such as political activism or religious activism going across backbone connections.” Of course, the question of what sort of restrictions should apply to public postings on networks comes to a head in the example of the “Love Slave” advertisement presented in Leslie Burkholder’s conference track address. In the next section, more will be said about how these cases lead to questions of ethical principles and their application. It should be clear at this point, however, that the diversity in purpose and scope of various networks produces problems in respect to their regulation, problems which are compounded by bridges which connect these networks.

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