Notes and Quiz on Ethics in Information Society
Lesson 3: Ethics in Information Society
Ethics * refers to the principles of right and wrong that individuals use to make choices to guide their behavior. * is a concern of us humans who have freedom of choice. Ethics is a personal choice. When faced with an alternative courses of action, how should one decide? What are main considerations in making a rural decision?
Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age
1. Information Rights and Obligations * What information rights do individuals and organizations possess with respect to themselves? What can they protect? 2. Property Rights and Obligations * How will traditional intellectual property rights be protected in a digital society in which tracing and accounting for ownership are difficult and ignoring such property rights is so easy? 3. Accountability and Control * Who can and will be held accountable and liable for the harm done to individual and collective information and property rights? 4. System Quality * What standards of data and system quality should we demand to protect individual rights and the safety of society? 5. Quality of Life * What values should be preserved in an information- and knowledge-based society? Which institutions should we protect from violation? Which cultural values and practices are supported by the new information technology?
Copyright * a statutory grant that protects creators of intellectual property from having their work copied by others for any purpose during the life of the author plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death
Patent
* grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years
Basic Concepts: Responsibility, Accountability and Liability
Ethical choices are made by responsible individuals. Responsibility is a characteristic of a mature person and is the key element of ethical action. Responsibility means that action accepts the potential cost, duties
Ethics * refers to the principles of right and wrong that individuals use to make choices to guide their behavior. * is a concern of us humans who have freedom of choice. Ethics is a personal choice. When faced with an alternative courses of action, how should one decide? What are main considerations in making a rural decision?
Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age
1. Information Rights and Obligations * What information rights do individuals and organizations possess with respect to themselves? What can they protect? 2. Property Rights and Obligations * How will traditional intellectual property rights be protected in a digital society in which tracing and accounting for ownership are difficult and ignoring such property rights is so easy? 3. Accountability and Control * Who can and will be held accountable and liable for the harm done to individual and collective information and property rights? 4. System Quality * What standards of data and system quality should we demand to protect individual rights and the safety of society? 5. Quality of Life * What values should be preserved in an information- and knowledge-based society? Which institutions should we protect from violation? Which cultural values and practices are supported by the new information technology?
Copyright * a statutory grant that protects creators of intellectual property from having their work copied by others for any purpose during the life of the author plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death
Patent
* grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years
Basic Concepts: Responsibility, Accountability and Liability
Ethical choices are made by responsible individuals. Responsibility is a characteristic of a mature person and is the key element of ethical action. Responsibility means that action accepts the potential cost, duties