Chapter 27: Intercultural Information Ethics

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 27: Intercultural Information Ethics| Rafael Cappuro

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

“In a broad sense IIE deals with intercultural issues raised not only by ICT, but also by other media as well, allowing a large historical comparative view. IIE explores these issues under descriptive and normative perspectives. Such comparative studies can be done either at a concrete level or at the level of ontological or structural presuppositions.”

Learning Expectation:

I want to learn what is the meaning of intercultural information ethics and if it possible to have a uniform ethical view regardless of the varied culture.

Review:

ICT has a great impact on the varied cultures in the world. Each country has a different culture from the other that is why it is difficult to have uniform ethical values. The beliefs of every country also have become one of the factors that affect the differences of morality.

In this chapter of the book it is discussed that not all of the ethical solutions are applicable for everyone. So we are to respect the differences and adapt to others if we need to.

What I Have Learned:
I have learned how varied the cultures in the world are and how we try to adapt to each ethical morality that every culture has. I learned that it is also difficult to keep up with the changes especially if the culture is very complex.
Integrative Questions:
1. What is intercultural ethics?
2. How is it formulated?
3. Who are responsible for it?
4. What does IEEE means?
5. Who is Rafael Cappuro?

Chapter 26: The Digital Divide: A Perspective for the Future

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 26: The Digital Divide: A Perspective for the Future | Canellopoulou-Bottis and
Kenneth EIinar Himma

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:
“In the developing world, poverty and the suffering it causes is considerably worse. Here poverty is characteristically “absolute” in the sense that people do not have enough to consistently meet their basic needs. People in absolute poverty lack consistent access to adequate nutrition, clean water, and health care, as well as face death from a variety of diseases that are easily cured in affluent nations. Indeed,15 million children die every year of malnutrition in a world where the food that is disposed of as garbage by affluent persons is enough to save most, if not all, of these lives.”

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn the definition of digital divide and why is that they have this kind of term. I want to learn how it affects the cyber world.

Review:

Social status has become a barrier into any endeavour one wants to engage in. Nowadays, technology has a great role in every person’s life. Though no matter how technology may seem to be useful, there are still limitations especially to those people who lack power and wealth. The global distribution of wealth is unequal and only the wealthy has more access to greater income and opportunity,
It is evident that only those who are in authority have the greater access to information. Because of this, poverty still remains.
What I Have Learned:
I have learned that there are inequalities and that discrimination and unequal access to information is very prevalent.

Integrative Questions:
1. What is digital divide?
2. Who is responsible to the poverty that the world is experiencing?
3. Is it possible to decrease the number of the poor?
4. What is poverty?
5. What are the ethical issues in poverty?

Chapter 25: The Gender Agenda in Computer Ethics

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 25: The Gender Agenda in Computer Ethics| ALISON ADAM

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:
“Computer ethics is a new area of applied ethics with a rapidly burgeoning portfolio of ethical case studies and problems.”

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn new concepts regarding gender and its relation to the ethical issues today and what technology can do.

Review:

There are limited regulations that protect women in the cyber world. Women are stereotyped to be weak and less powerful during the early years of industrialization. It is said to be that most of the information are usually given to men. Women and men have a lot of differences and so the ethical views also differ.

What I Have Learned:
I have learned that gender should not become an issue in technology; both genders must know how to compromise their differences and manage to come up with beneficial moral solutions to the ethical problems.
Integrative Questions:
1. What is gender issue?
2. What is feminist ethics?
3. What is cyber stalking?
4. What are the hacking communities?
5. What is the effect of gender in technology?

Chapter 24: Censorship and Access to Expression

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 24: Censorship and Access to Expression | KAY MATHIESEN

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

“No one wants to be a censor. Or, more precisely, no one wants to be called a “censor.” To describe a person as a censor, or an act as one of “censorship,” is to condemn the person or the action.”

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn the definition of censorship and the definition of access expression.

Review:

Censorship is said to limit the access to expression because of certain limits and restrictions applied to someone. It is argued by Cohen that by having freely expressed one’s expression can one become fully satisfied. Though the thought of others regarding censorship is that it allows secured transfer of information through filtered contents.

What I Have Learned:
I have learned that censorship is a critical issue that needs to be further discussed. Censorship has harmful effect to people as well.
Integrative Questions:
1. What is censorship?
2. How is it done?
3. What is access expression?
4. What are the harms brought by censorship?
5. Who is Cohen?

Chapter 22: The Matter of Plagiarism: What, Why, and If

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 22: The Matter of Plagiarism: What, Why, and If| JOHN SNAPPER

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

“Among the reasons for finding an expression to be plagiarism, we may note that it is sometimes condemned as theft of intellectual property, sometimes as a failure to live up to a standard of originality, sometimes as a violation of the moral rights of a prior author, sometimes as fraudulent misrepresentation of authorship”

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn the following:

• What is plagiarism?
• And the actions taken for those who commit such act.

Review:

It has been taught to us that plagiarism is an unlawful and unacceptable act. There are consequences in doing so. First what is plagiarism, according to the book; plagiarism is defined as an unauthorized copying of a content of a work. If one must use a certain part on someone else’s work, there must be a proper authorization. This can be done by; asking the author for permission or crediting the name of the author.

Though there are information that are allowed for public use, it is still better to cite the reference that one uses or at least tell others that it was not originally made by them.
What I Have Learned:
I have learned the definition and new concepts of plagiarism and how I can avoid it. I have learned that plagiarism violates the right of the author.
Integrative Questions:

1. What is plagiarism?
2. What are the examples for it?
3. How is plagiarism controlled?
4. What is authorization?
5. What is a copyright law?

Chapter 21: Email Spam

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 21: Email Spam | KEITH W. MILLER and JAMES H. MOOR

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

“On the other hand, with human beings and their social units we can receive direct reports that, at the very least, describe their subjective state: This is more than I can handle.”’

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn the meaning of spam and what are the effects that it brings.

Review:

According to the book, Published definitions by some major players differ dramatically on which emails should be identified as spam. Some emphasize the importance of “consent”; others require the emails to be commercial in nature before they are called spam; still others focus on the number of identical messages that are sent as spam. Spam is electronic mails that are sent to us from unknown contacts. Most of the spam is composed of advertisements or invitations to some unknown products.

The book says that every email has an effect. Even emails that are blocked by a spam filter still have a consequence on the performance of the network and the receiver’s system. Emails that lure the receiver into revealing personal and financial information, “phishing attacks,” and damaging virus attacks can have devastating effects. Because of this there are features in emails that filter malicious mails and labelled it as a spam.

What I Have Learned:
I have learned more information about the definition of spam and its effect to the people who receives it.
Integrative Questions:

1. What is spam?
2. What is the purpose of spam?
3. How is spam controlled?
4. How is spam detected?
5. Who are the authors of this chapter?

Chapter 20: Information Overload

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 20: Information Overload| DAVID M. LEVY

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

“On the other hand, with human beings and their social units we can receive direct reports that, at the very least, describe their subjective state: This is more than I can handle.”’

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn what information overload is, how it happens and what are the reasons such thing happens.

Review:

Because of the different sources of information that we can have through the use of technology, it has become a dilemma for people to get the right and credible information because of the variations and numerous sources.

Information is defined in the book as the state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic. According to the book, information overload can also cause confusions for people because of the contradictions on the references. Information overload, as we have seen, involves more than just the exposure of an agent to excessive amounts of information: that agent must also suffer certain negative effects as a result. One of the most obvious, and straightforward, consequences is a failure to complete the task at hand, or to complete it well.

What I Have Learned:
I have learned that having a lot of information does not mean that one can have a better output.
Integrative Questions:
1. What is information overload?
2. Who is the author of this chapter?
3. What causes information overload?
4. What is information?
5. What is capacity?

Chapter 16: Genetic Information: Epistemological and Ethical Issues

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani Chapter 16: Genetic Information: Epistemological and Ethical Issues | ANTONIO MARTURANO Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599 Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0471799599/ref=sib_dp_pop_toc?ie=UTF8&p=S008#readerlink Quote: “It may be used without semantic implication; for example, we may say that the form of a cloud provides information about whether it will rain. In such cases, no one would think that the cloud had the shape it did in provided information. In contrast, a weather forecast contains information about whether it will rain, and it has the form it does because it conveys that information. The difference can be expressed by saying that the forecast has intentionality whereas the cloud does not.” Learning Expectation: I expect to learn concepts in the genetic information. I want to learn the definition of epistemology and ethics in genetics. Review: Technology and science are almost associated in every way. In the advancement of science, technology has a great role. Genetic information is consists of data about the genetic components. The technology is used to determine specific information for genetic studies. Castells said that science relies on the computational models, simulations and analysis. Genetic information is more special compared to the other cases of health information. The book states that there really are not two different kinds of information; information has the same meaning in information technology and in molecular biology. Meaning, the information in genetics cannot be easily be defined What I Have Learned: I have learned that technology has a big role in the field of science. Integrative Questions: 1. What is genetics? 2. What is genetic information? 3. What is a Central Dogma? 4. What is computing machinery? 5. What are the models in genetic information?

Chapter 19: Regulation and Governance of the Internet

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 19: Regulation and Governance of the Internet | JOHN WECKERT and YESLAM AL-SAGGAF

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet (WGIG, 2005).

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn how the laws or rules in the internet are implemented. I also want to learn who implements the regulations if there are any.

Review:

As much as the views of every individual vary, the perception of countries differs as well with regards to internet regulations. China is the leading country in regulating the internet access in their country. The contents on the internet are also filtered by the service providers. Another country which enforces strict regulation on the internet is Saudi Arabia. Being an Islamic country, they are very strict when it comes to internet contents that promote anti-Islam and pornography.

Unlike here in the Philippines, we do not have a regulation of contents and filtering of transactions on the web. Though content filtering is a good way to protect people, it also prevent the people to have extensive research and study of some topics which they needed.

What I Have Learned:
I have learned that there are a lot of countries that have strict regulations in the internet and by being so, it also has some disadvantages.
Integrative Questions:

1. What is internet governance?
2. Who implements the internet regulations?
3. Who governs the internet?
4. What is content regulation?
5. What is censorship?

Chapter 18: A Practical Mechanism for Ethical Risk Assessment

Book Title: The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
Author: Kenneth Einar Himma and Herman T. Tavani
Chapter 18: A Practical Mechanism for Ethical Risk Assessment—A SoDIS Inspection | DON
GOTTERBARN, TONY CLEAR, and CHOON-TUCK KWAN

Library Reference: ISBN-13: 978-0471799597 | ISBN-10: 0471799599
Amazon Link:

Quote:

“. . . if [qualitative risk identification is] done properly it should ensure that all foreseeable risks are listed, representing any uncertain event, or set of circumstances that, if it occurs, would have a positive or negative effect on the project …”

Learning Expectation:

I expect to learn what the practical mechanism means and how is it connected to the assessment of ethical risk.

Review:

This chapter of the book focuses mainly on the possible risks that we could face in the future. It is important that we check all possible risks and problems that may occur regardless of the positive or negative effects that it can cause.

Once the risks are identified, the next step is to analyze the risks and decide on the probable actions to be taken or that can be made in order to solve the risk. What is an ethical stakeholder? An ethical stakeholder does not have a direct relation into a program but can be affected if there are changes that will happen in the program.
What I Have Learned:
I have learned that there are steps in acquiring the risks that can possibly affect a system and/or the people involved in it. Thus, it is important that there are risk management.
Integrative Questions:
1. What is SoDIS?
2. What does the risk management commonly consist of?
3. Who are the authors of this chapter?
4. What is Risk Identification?
5. What are the types of risk management?