ISTA 161 U of A 2020

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation

-George Carlin records "Filthy Words" -WBAI in New York airs "Filthy Words" (1973) -FCC issues declaratory order to Pacifica -Pacifica sues -U.S. Supreme Court ruled FCC did not violate 1st Amendment (5-4 decision)

Challenges to Censorship (Posed by the internet)

-Many-to-many communications -Dynamic connections (new computers appear online all the time) -Huge and growing numbers of Web sites -Global, extends beyond national borders -Hard to distinguish between minors and adults

Smartphone Patent Wars

-Nokia sues Apple, alleging Apple violated 10 of its patents (2009), Apple countersues Nokia for violating 13 of its patents, Apple sues several Android smartphone makers, Samsung countersues Apple -Escalates until more than 100 lawsuits filed by various manufacturers globally -Ended when smartphone makers agree to cross-license each other's patents (2014)

Social Impact of Telephone

1.Blurred public life / private life boundary (erasure of traditional boundaries between work and home) 2.Eroded traditional social hierarchies 3.Reduced privacy 4.Enabled first "online" communities

Freedom of Expression

1st Amendment covers political and nonpolitical speech, Right to this must be balanced against the public good, not an absolute right, Various restrictions on this exist

Patent

A public document that provides detailed description of invention, Provides owner with exclusive right to the invention, Owner can prevent others from making, using, or selling invention for 20 years

Summary of Virtue Ethics

A right action is an action that a virtuous person, acting in character, would do in the same circumstances. A virtuous person is a person who possesses and lives out the virtues. The virtues are those character traits human beings needs in order to flourish and be truly happy.

Absolute Right

A right guaranteed without exception

Positive Right

A right obligating others to do something on your behalf, tends to be more limited

Negative Right

A right that another can guarantee by leaving you alone, tends to be more absolute

Limited Right

A right that may be restricted based on the circumstances

Morality

A society's rules of conduct, What people ought / ought not to do in various situations

Categorical Imperative (1st Formulation)

Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws, Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself

Categorical Imperative (2nd Formulation)

Act so that you treat both yourself and other people as ends in themselves, and never only as a means to an end, Do not use others

Act Utilitarianism

Add up change in happiness of all affected beings, Sum > 0 the action is good, Sum < 0 the action is bad, Right action to take: one that maximizes the sum

Freedom of Expression (history)

American states adopted bills of rights including this; this has protected in 1st amendment to U.S. Constitution

Case Against Ethical Egoism

An easy moral philosophy may not be the best moral philosophy, We know a lot about what is good for someone else, Self-interest can lead to blatantly immoral behavior (like stealing), Other moral principles are superior to principle of self- interest, People who take the good of others into account lead happier lives, By definition, does not respect the ethical point of view, Conclusion: Not a workable ethical theory

Popular Personal Computers

Apple Computer: Apple II, Tandy Corporation: TRS 80

Society

Association of people organized under a system of rules, Rules: advance the good of members over time

Targeted Direct Mail

Businesses mail advertisements only to those most likely to purchase products, "data brokers" provide customized mailing lists created based on information gathered online and offline

Medical Records

Changing from paper-based to electronic records, Quicker and cheaper for information to be shared among caregivers, lower medical costs, improve quality of medical care

Popular Business Computer/Programs

Computer spreadsheet program: VisiCalc, IBM launches IBM PC

Trade Secret

Confidential piece of intellectual property that gives company a competitive advantage, Never expires, Not appropriate for all intellectual properties, Reverse engineering allowed, May be compromised when employees leave firm

Alexander Graham Bell

Constructed harmonic telegraph, Leveraged concept into first telephone

Financial Services Modernization Act

Creates "financial supermarkets" offering banking, insurance, and brokerage services; Privacy policies must be disclosed to customers, Notices must provide an opt-out clause, Companies must develop procedures to protect customers' confidential information

Kantianism

Critical Importance of Good Will, Reason should cultivate desire to do right thing, "Only thing in the world that s good without qualification is a good will"

Case Against Divine Command Theory

Different holy books disagree on certain teachings, Society is multicultural, secular, Some modern moral problems not directly addressed in scripture, The good" ≠ "God" (equivalence fallacy), Based on obedience, not reason, Conclusion: Not a workable ethical theory

ARPANET

DoD created this in late 1950s, Licklider conceived of "Galactic Network", Decentralized design to improve survivability, Packet-switching replaced circuit switchin

Imperfect Duty

Duty obliged to fulfill in general but not in every instance, Ex: Helping others

Perfect Duty

Duty obliged to fulfill without exception, Ex: Telling the truth

Subjective Relativism

Each person decides right and wrong for himself or herself, "What's right for you may not be right for me"

John Rawls's Principles of Justice

Each person may claim a "fully adequate" number of basic rights and liberties, so long as these claims are consistent with everyone else having a claim to the same rights and liberties, Any social and economic inequalities must: 1.Be associated with positions that everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to achieve 2.Be to the greatest benefit of the least-advantaged members of society (the difference principle

Ethical Egoism

Each person should focus exclusively on his or her self-interest, fuels a moral action which provides self with maximum long-term benefit

Modern era

Emergence of many new technologies, Unprecedented access to information

Sega v. Accolate

Established that disassembling object code to determine technical specifications is fair use

Apple Computer v. Franklin Computer

Established that object programs are copyrightable

Freedom of Information Act

Federal law designed to ensure that public has access to US government records, Signed by President Johnson (1966), Applies only to executive branch, Nine exemptions: -Classified documents (national defense, foreign policy) -Trade secrets or financial information -Documents related to law enforcement investigations

Cookies

File placed on computer's hard drive by a Web server, Contains information about visits to a Web site, Allows Web sites to provide personalized services, Usually put on hard drive without user's permission

FORTRAN

First higher-level language (shorter programs), Designed for scientific applications

Altair 8800

Gates and Allen created BASIC interpreter, Interpreter pirated at Homebrew Computer Club meeting, Gates and Allen objected

Divine Command Theory

Good or bad actions that align or contradict god's will, people should use holy books as moral decision-making guides as they show god's will

EDVAC

Had its program stored in memory

Trademarks/Service Marks

Identifies goods or services, Company can establish a "brand name", Does not expire, But if brand name becomes common word, trademark may be lost, Companies advertise to protect their trademarks, Companies also protect trademarks by contacting those who misuse them

Benefits of Privacy

Individual growth, Individual responsibility, Freedom to be yourself, Intellectual and spiritual growth, Development of loving, trusting, caring, intimate relationships

Public Records

Information about an incident or action reported to a government agency for purpose of informing the public, EX: birth certificates, marriage licenses, motor vehicle records, criminal records, deeds to property

Paper

Invented by Chinese, brought to Europe in late Middle Ages, By 15th century replaced parchment for pages in less expensive codices

Case for Ethical Egoism

It is practical since we are already inclined to do what's best for ourselves, It is better to let other people take care of themselves, The community can benefit when individuals put their well-being first, Other moral principles are rooted in the principle of self interest

Social Contract Theory

James Rachels says "Morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another, that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow those rules as well", basis from Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Principle of Utility

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases (or decreases) the total happiness of the affected parties

Google's Personalized Search

Keeps track of your search queries and Web pages you have visited, It uses this information to infer your interests and determine which pages to return, Also used by retailers for direct marketing

Catalysts for the Information Age

Low-cost computers and High-speed communication networks

Ethical Objectivism

Morality has an existence outside the human mind, Divine command theory, ethical egoism, Kantianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory, and virtue ethics are examples of this

Utilitarianism

Morality of an action has nothing to do with intent, Focuses on the consequences, A consequentialist theory

Relativism

No universal standards of right and wrong, Morality is a human invention, One person can say "X is right," another can say "X is wrong," and both can be correct

Ownership of Transaction Info

Opt-in: Consumer must explicitly give permission and Opt-out: Organization can share info until consumer explicitly forbids it, Opt-in is a barrier for new businesses, so direct marketing organizations prefer opt-out

USA PATRIOT Act

Passed by the U.S. Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Provisions: -Greater authority for the officials to monitor communications -Greater powers to regulate banks -Greater border controls -New crimes and penalties for terrorist activity

National Security Agency Wiretapping

President Bush signed presidential order that allowed NSA to intercept international phone calls & emails initiated by highly suspicious people inside US without a warrant

Audio Home Recording Act of 1992

Protects rights of consumers to make copies of analog or digital recordings for personal, noncommercial use; Digital audio recorders must incorporate Serial Copyright Management System (SCMS), so consumers can't make a copy of a copy and requires manufacturers of digital audio recording devices and blank digital media to pay a royalty to songwriters and music publishers

Copyright

Provides owner of an original work five rights: -Reproduction -Distribution -Public display -Public performance -Production of derivative works

RFID Tags

Radio frequency identification, the tag is a tiny wireless transmitter that contain more information and can be scanned easily up to 2 meters away. If a tag cannot be removed or disabled, it becomes a tracking device

Ethics

Rational examination of morality,Evaluation of people's behavior, Exists since, at least, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (400 B), rational systematic analysis, focuses on people's voluntary, moral choices

Codex

Rectangular pages sewn together on one side, Replaced papyrus scrolls as way of storing books , Allowed quicker access to particular passages, First produced by hand, then by wood engraving

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

Reduces amount of public information gathered from children online, Online services must gain parental consent before collecting information from children 12 and under

Calculator Adoptions

Resulted in continuous improvements in size, speed, ease of use, Sales increased rapidly, People of average ability quite productive, Women replaced men with bookkeeping

Transcontinental Telegraph

Results in Pony Express Riders Losing Jobs

Data Mining

Searching records in one or more databases, looking for patterns or relationships, Can be used to create profiles of individuals, Allows companies to build more personal relationships with customers

Fair Use Concept

Sometimes it is legal to reproduce a copyrighted work without permission, Courts consider four factors: -Purpose and character of use -Nature of work -Amount of work being copied -Affect on market for work

Assembly Language

Symbolic representations of machine instructions, Programs just as long as machine language programs

Mill's Principle of Harm

The only ground on which intervention is justified is to prevent harm to others; the individual's own good is not a sufficient condition

Natural Right to Privacy

This is not a natural right, but it is a prudential right because it provides a net benefit to society (Think:Coercive Acts->3rd amendment, Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis, and Judith Jarvis Thomson)

Software Patents

Thousands of these now exist, Licensing these are source of revenue, Secondary market for these : Trolls who specialize in buying these and enforcing those rights to get profit.

COBOL

U.S. Department of Defense standard, Designed for business applications

The Spam Epidemic

Unsolicited, bulk email that is profitable and the amount of email that is this has ballooned greatly over the years

Small-Scale Experimental Machine

Used CRT memory

Atanasoff-Berry Computer

Used vacuum tubes to store data

ENIAC

Was externally programmed with wires

Applying Principle of Utility to Rules

We ought to adopt moral rules which, if followed by everyone, will lead to the greatest increase in total happiness, Act utilitarianism applies this to individual actions, Rule utilitarianism applies this to moral rules

Cultural Relativism

What is "right" and "wrong" depends upon a society's actual moral guidelines, A particular action may be right in one society at one time and wrong in another society or at another time

Legal Online Access to Entertainment

Widespread piracy pressures companies to make "doing the right thing" as easy as "doing the wrong thing, Consumer shift toward music streaming: Good news: consumers will pay if cost reasonable, Bad news: Twice lower revenues compared to selling CDs

Vice

a character trait that prevents a human being from flourishing or being truly happy

The Amish

a society that selectively adopted new technologies to ensure family/community solidarity

Netflix Prize

offered $1 million prize to any group that could come up with a significantly better algorithm for predicting user ratings, Released more than 100 million movie ratings from a half million customers(stripped private info), U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint and lawsuit ensued

Workable Ethical Theory

produces explanations that might be persuasive to a skeptical, yet open-minded audience

Good Will

the desire to do the right thing, Your reason should cultivate this

Intellectual Virtues

virtues associated with reasoning and truth

Moral Virtues

virtues of character (e.g., honesty)