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Basic Study Questions for Editors’ Introductions

Introduction – This part of the Computer Ethics & Professional Responsibility web site contains Basic Study Questions for the various Editors’ Introductions in the book. All sixteen chapters of the book have such questions, but the Editors’ Introductions do not.

Editors’ Introduction: Ethics in the Information Age (pages 1–13)

  1. Why do the editors say that the information revolution is “fundamentally social and ethical,” rather than merely technological?
  2. Why, according to James Moor, is ICT such a powerful force for social change?
  3. What is Computing Curricula 2001 and what are the major professional organizations that developed it?
  4. What are a few of the major questions regarding the impacts of ICT on human relationships?
  5. What are some of the aspects of ICT that make such technology a threat to privacy?
  6. Explain why privacy and anonymity on the Internet can be “double edged swords” with both good and bad consequences. Give a few examples of good and bad consequences.
  7. What are some of the important intellectual property issues being generated by ICT?
  8. Briefly describe a few of the work-related social and ethical issues being generated or exacerbated by ICT.
  9. Describe some of the “social justice” issues generated or worsened by ICT.
  10. What is “assistive technology” and what social/ethical questions does such technology raise?
  11. What are some of the “hopes and worries” about government and democracy that ICT is generating?
  12. The Editors’ Introduction (on pages 6 and 7) describes “a primary goal of computer ethics.” Briefly discuss that goal.
  13. Who was the founder of computer ethics as an academic discipline, and what project was he working on when he created the field?
  14. Who was “the second founder of computer ethics,” and what issues got him interested in this field?
  15. What shocking experience led Joseph Weizenbaum to write his now-classic computer ethics book Computer Power and Human Reason (1976)?
  16. In the mid to late 1970s, who made the name “computer ethics” and the field of computer ethics widely known across America? How did he accomplish this important ground-breaking achievement?

Editors’ Introduction to Part I (pages 17–20)

  1. Why did computer ethics thinkers in the 1970s and 1980s have to
    reinvent the subject?
  2. Whose use of the term “computer ethics” made it a standard name
    for the field that this textbook is about? What was his way of
    defining this field?
  3. What was Johnson’s definition of “computer ethics” in her 1985
    textbook? How did her definition differ from Maner’s 1978
    definition?
  4. What ethical theories did Maner (in the 1970s) and Johnson (in
    the 1980s) recommend as appropriate tools for doing computer
    ethics? [See pages 71-73 in this textbook.]
  5. How did Moor define the field of computer ethics in 1985 in his
    influential article “What Is Computer Ethics”? [Hint: Relate his
    definition to “policy vacuums” and “conceptual muddles.”]
  6. According to Moor, what is it about computing technology that
    makes it so powerful and, therefore, revolutionary?
  7. What, according to Moor, are the two stages of the computer
    revolution?
  8. What was Bynum’s 1989 definition of computer ethics, and why,
    according to Bynum, is computer ethics such an important field
    of study?
  9. In the early 1990s, Gotterbarn developed a different conception
    of the field of computer ethics. What was it?

Editors’ Introduction to Part II (pages 91–97)

  1. Why, according to the editors of this textbook, do computer practitioners “have an enormous responsibility to society”?
  2. Briefly describe four criteria that generally identify someone as a “professional.”
  3. In what ways do typical computer practitioners fail to fulfill the criteria mentioned in question 2 above?
  4. How is one’s role in a community or group related to responsibilities that one has within the community or group? Give three examples.
  5. What special responsibilities are associated with the employer-employee relationship?
  6. What special responsibilities are associated with the professional-to-professional relationship?
  7. Loyalty is sometimes thought to be a virtuous quality of an employee or professional colleague; but loyalty is a “two-edged sword” that can lead to unethical behavior. Explain and illustrate with an example.
  8. What is the “agency” model of the professional-to-client relationship?
  9. Why is the “agency” model a poor basis for a professional-to-client relationship?
  10. What is the “paternalistic” model of the professional-to-client relationship?
  11. Why is the “paternalistic” model a poor basis for a professional-to-client relationship?
  12. What is the “fiduciary” model of the professional-to-client relationship? What is the role of trust in this relationship?
  13. What special responsibilities does a computer professional have with regard to users of the product or service that the professional provides? Give three examples.
  14. Why is the professional-to-society relationship so important with regard to computer professionals and today’s society?
  15. Explain how the professional-to-society relationship can be viewed as a contractual relationship. What are the contractual responsibilities of each participant in the contract?

Editors’ Introduction to Part III (pages 135–141)

  1. What is the “inspiration” function of codes of professional ethics?
  2. What is the “education” function of codes of professional ethics?
  3. What is the “guidance” function of codes of professional ethics?
  4. What is the “accountability” function of codes of professional ethics?
  5. What is the “enforcement” function of codes of professional ethics?
  6. Explain why it would be a mistake to consider codes of professional ethics to be laws.
  7. Why would it be a mistake to treat a code of professional ethics as if it were a complete ethical algorithm?
  8. Why would it be inappropriate to consider a code of professional ethics to be an exhaustive ethical check list?
  9. The phrase “code of ethics” is used very broadly in this textbook. Explain what this means.
  10. Describe three different ways to organize the ideas in a code of ethics.
  11. Name five of the “fundamental values and social ideals” that typically are expressed in codes of professional ethics.
  12. Describe five “rules to govern specific professional activities” that typically are found in codes of professional ethics.
  13. State three examples of “principles and imperatives that address responsibilities that come with leadership roles.”
  14. Even though codes of professional ethics are not laws, they nevertheless have some enforcement power. Explain why.

Editors’ Introduction to Computer Security (pages 206–207)

  1. What are the five components of “logical security" for computing systems and networks?
  2. Briefly define the term “computer virus.”
  3. Briefly define the term “computer worm.”
  4. Briefly define the term “computer Trojan horse.”
  5. Briefly define the term “computer logic bomb.”
  6. Briefly define the term “computer bacterium" or "computer rabbit.”
  7. Why must computer security include concern about trusted personnel within a company or organization?
  8. Why can computer security be called “a double-edged sword”?
  9. The term “hacker” has two very different meanings. The “old-fashioned” positive meaning refers to a person who is a “computer whiz” – someone who can push computer technology to its outer limits to achieve very good or very helpful results. What is the negative meaning – and these days the most common meaning – of “hacker” (Hint: also called a “cracker.”)
  10. Why is every successful “break in” to a computer system – even one that changes nothing within the system – harmful? (Hint: Does checking for harm cost anything?)

Editors’ Introduction to Privacy and Computing (pages 246–248)

  1. What are the three meanings of the term “privacy” that arose during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? Which of these meanings has become the primary one in the twenty-first century?
  2. What is digitization, and how did it increase risks to privacy.
  3. What are the roles of “massive databases and high-speed retrieval” in increasing risks to privacy?
  4. What is the role of computer networks in increasing the risks to privacy?
  5. What is “data-matching” and how can it increase risks to privacy?
  6. What is “data-mining” and how does it increase risks to privacy?
  7. Long before computers were invented, gathering of information about individuals, storing it, and retrieving were common. How did the invention of computers and the rapid development of information and communication technology transform these activities into serious risks to privacy? (Hint: scale)
  8. Name six to eight examples of types of personal data that need protection from privacy invasions.
  9. What major sector of the American society remained largely unaffected by privacy-protection laws passed in the early 1970s?
  10. Europe has a very different approach to privacy protection compared to the USA. What is a key phrase that suggests the European approach?

Editors’ Introduction to Computing and Intellectual Property (pages 278–284)

  1. According to the editors of this book, how did information technology bring about a crisis for intellectual property?
  2. What is “greased” property? Why is it called “greased” ?
  3. What is Napster, and what is the primary ethical issue that Napster generated?
  4. What is ownership?
  5. Give two or more examples to illustrate that ownership is not absolute and can justly be limited by law and by ethics.
  6. Explain the “labor theory of ownership.”
  7. Explain the “personality theory of ownership.”
  8. Explain the “utilitarian theory of ownership.”
  9. Explain the “social contract theory of ownership.”
  10. What are the basic features of copyrights? How long do copyrights last?
  11. In what sense is a copyright a weak form of ownership?
  12. What are the basic features of patents? How long do patents last?
  13. In what sense is a patent a strong form of ownership?
  14. What are the basic features of trade secrets?
  15. Why is trade secrecy typically a poor kind of ownership for software?

Editors’ Introduction to Global Information Ethics (pages 316–318)

  1. What is Moor’s influential definition of the field of computer ethics?
  2. According to Krystyna Górniak, the Internet has made possible an activity that could never have occurred before. What is this activity and why is it important?
  3. There are many thousands of laws around the globe – national laws, state laws, local laws. Each law has a specific jurisdiction where it applies. How has the Internet generated juristictional “policy vacuums” that are relevant to the field of computer ethics? Explain in general, then give a specific example.
  4. How does the Internet raise questions about offending someone? Give an example.
  5. How does “cyberbusiness” on the Internet raise questions about whose laws to enforce? Give an example.
  6. What is “new colonialism” and how might the Internet contribute to its existence and success?
  7. What is “cyber medicine” and what are some of the social and ethical questions that cyber medicine generates?
  8. What are some of the policy vacuums and global questions generated by education activities in cyberspace?
  9. What are some of the democracy and human rights questions raised by “cyber education” (in the broadest sense of this term)?

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