Computing Ethics 3030E Finals Study Guide - UGA

The ethical point of view

The understanding that people and their core values are also worthy or respect

Society

An association of people organized under a system of rules designed to advance the good of its members over time

Morality

rules of conduct describing what people ought and ought not to do in various situations

Ethics

The philosophical study of morality, a rational examination into people’s moral beliefs and behavior

Ethical egoism

The philosophy that each person should focus on exclusively on their self-interest

What does this follow: the morally right action for a person to take in a particular situation is the action that will provide that person maximum long-term benefit

Ethical egoism

the case for ethical egoism

1. Is a practical moral philosophy

2. It’s better to let other people take car of themselves

3. The community can benefit when individuals put their well-being first

4. Other moral principles are rooted in the principle of self-interest

The case against ethical egoism

1. An easy moral philosophy may not be the best moral philosophy

2. We do in fact know a lot about what is good for someone else

3. A self-interested focus can lead to blatantly immoral behavior

4. Other moral principles are superior to the principle of self-interest

5. People who take the good of others into account live happier lives

Kantianism founder

Immanuel Kant

Kantianism philosophy

People’s actions ought to be guided by moral laws and these moral laws were universal

Good will

Only thing that is universally good

Dutifulness

Our sense of “ought to”

How is dutiful person compelled to act

Compelled to act in a certain way out of respect for some moral rule

Imperative

A way in which reason commands the will

2 kinds of imperatives in Kantianism

1. Hypothetical imperative

2. Categorical imperative

Hypothetical imperative

A conditional rule of form “if you want X, then do Y”

Ex) if you want to lose weight, eat less

Categorical imperative

An unconditional rules: a rule that always applies regardless of circumstances

T/F: only a categorical imperative can be a moral imperative

True, this was what Kant said

Categorical imperative 1st formulation

act only from moral rules that you at the same time will to be universal laws

Categorical imperative 2nd formulation

Act so that you always treat both yourself and others people as ends in themselves, and never only as a means to an end

Case FOR Kantianism

1. Treats all people as moral equals

2. Gives all persons moral worth by considering them as rational, autonomous beings

3. Everyone is held to the same standard

4. Kantianism produces universal moral guidelines

Case AGAINST Kantianism

1. Sometimes no single rule fully characterizes an action

2. Sometimes there is no way to resolve a conflict between rules (perfect and imperfect duties)

3. Kantianism allows no exceptions to perfect duties

Perfect duties

Duties we are obliged to fulfill in every instance (like how w are told to always tell the truth)

Imperfect duties

Duties we are obliged to fulfill in general but not in every instance

Utilitarianism

An action is good if it’s benefits exceed the harm and bad if the harm exceeds the benefits

What is utilitarianism / Principle of Utility also known as

The Greatest Happiness Principle

Consequentialist theory

A theory that focuses on the consequences of an action

Example of consequential theory

Utilitarianism

Act utilitarianism

The ethical theory that states that an action is good if it’s net effect (overall affected beings) is to produce more happiness than unhappiness

(Bring all affected beings together and tell them to rate their pain of a scale -5 to 5, if you add all their pain values and it is positive then the action was good and if negative then it was bad)

Cases FOR Act Utilitarianism

1. focuses on happiness

2. Is practical

3. Is comprehensive

1. Case AGAINST Act Utilitarianism

1. Unclear where to draw the line

2. Not practical to put so much energy into every moral decision

3. Ignores our innate sense of duty

4. We cannot predict with certainty consequences of an action

5. Is susceptible to the problem of moral luck

Rule utilitarianism

The ethical theory that holds that we ought to adopt those moral rules that, if followed by everyone would lead to the greatest increase in total happiness over all affected parties

Compare Rule utilitarianism and Kantianism

Both focus on rules but R.U. Focuses on the consequences of an action and Kantianism focuses on the motivation behind the action

Case FOR R.U.

1. not every moral decision requires performing the utilitarian calculus

2. Exceptional situations do not overthrow moral rules

3. Solves the problem of moral luck

4. Reduces the problem of bias

5. appeals to a wide cross section of society

Case against R.U.

1. Forces the use of a single scale or measure to evaluate completely different kinds of consequences

2. Ignores the problems of an unjust distribution of good consequence

Founder of act utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill

Founder of social contract theory

Philosopher Thomas Hobbes

Social contract theory

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

Difference between right and duty

If you have the right to live then other ps have the duty not to kill you

How can rights be classified

According to the duties they put on others

1. types of rights

1. Negative

2. Positive

3. Absolute

4. Limited

Negative right

A right that another can guarantee by leaving you alone to exercise ur right

Ex) freedom of expression = a right and as long as nobody interferes with you as you express yourself then all good

Positive right

A right that obligates others to do something on your behalf

Ex) free education bc in order for you to have that then the rest of society must allocate resources so that you may be able to attend school

Absolute right

A right that is guaranteed without exception

Ex) the right to life

Limited right

A right that may be restricted based on the circumstances

Ex) students can get free education… up until 12th grade (since states don’t have unlimited budget)

T/F with this analogy

Negative rights : limited rights

Positive rights : absolute rights

False it is actually

Negative rights : absolute rights

Positive rights : limited rights

1. Case FOR social contract theory (SCT)

1. Is framed in the language of rights

2. Based on a solid understanding of human nature, recognizing that rational people act out of self-interest in the absence of a common agreement

3. Explains why under certain circumstances civil disobedience can be the morally right decision

Case against SCT

1. None of us signed the contract

2. Some actions can be characterized in multiple ways

3. Doesn’t explain how to solve a moral problem when the analysis reveals conflicting rights

4. May be unjust to those people who are incapable of upholding their side of the contract

Nonconsequentialist theory

Doesn’t consider the consequences (Kantianism)

Wiki

A website that allows multiple people to contribute and edit its content

Blog

• Short for web log

• A personal journey or diary kept on the web

Darknet

A network of websites that can only be accessed through special software that encrypts messages and provides users with anonymity

Crowdsourcing

An online method of getting goods/ services from a large group of people

Ex) GPS app Waze

Crowdfunding

Financing a project through crowdsourcing

Internet of Things

Non-IT devices that are being equipped either wireless connections to the internet

Ex) thermostats, lights, motion sensors etc.

Cryptocurrencies

Virtual currencies independent of any bank or government

First cyrptocurrency

Bitcoin

1. Primary features of crypto

1. Global accessibility

2. Decentralization

3. Anonymity

4. Security

5. Limited supply

Uses of crypto

1. Anonymous purchases

2. Transferring funds

3. Investment vehicle

Most popular use of crypto

Investment vehicle

Blockchain

The encrypted, distributed ledger of crypto transactions

Proof of work

A consensus protocol used to add block to a blockchain

Block miners

Running hash algorithms on special purpose computers compete to generate next block

T/F: proof of work protocols have an enormous carbon footprint

True which is why there is heightened interest in another consensus protocol (proof of stake)

Proof-of-stake protocols

Use validators instead of miners that use less computational operations and is more environmentally friendly

Con of proof of stake protocols

Uncertain if it is as security is proof of work protocols

What is a 51% attack

If a hacker gains control if a majority of a systems hash rate

Is crypto regulated or unregulated

Unregulated

Censorship

The attempt to suppress or regulate public access to material considered offensive or harmful

1. 3 forms of direct censorship

1. Government monopolization

2. Prepublication review

3. Licensing and registration

Government monopolization

• Government gains control over everything that relays news (tv stations, ratio stations, newspapers, photocopy machines, etc)

• An effective way to suppress the flow of information but modern tech has made this more difficult to do

Prepublication review

Government reviews/ restricts the publication of certain topics they wish to keep secret (like info about nuclear weapons for instance)

Licensing and registration

• Typically used to control media with limited bandwidth

Self-censorship

A group deciding for itself not to publish material

• Why might some group self-censor themselves

• Avoid persecution

• Maintain good relations with government officials

How has the internet made censorship more difficult

1. Internet support many-to-many communications

2. Internet is dynamic

3. Internet is huge

4. Internet is global

5. Hard to distinguish between kids and adults on the internet

T/F: governments around the world are limiting access to the internet in a variety of ways

True, even though it is difficult, they are still trying

How are some governments censoring

Saudi Arabia govt : owns the internet backbone

Chinese govt : blacks access to internet during times of social unrest and has a web filtering system (the great firewall of china)

What is out first amendment

Freedom of expression

T/F: the freedom of expression is NOT an absolute right

True because if people’s expressions causes harm to the public then that is not in line with what the freedom of expression stands for

1. Why do broadcasters have less protection than booksellers or theater owners

1. They have uniquely unwelcome influence presence in lives of all Americans

2. Broadcasting is uniquely available to kids

Identity theft

The misuse of another person identity such as name, SSN, drivers license , credit card numbers and bank acct numbers

Leading form of identity theft in the US

Fraudulent use of an existing credit card account or bank account

What is more likely point-of-sale fraud or card-not-present fraud

card-not-present fraud due to the fact that identity fraud is increasingly happening online

Are identity thieves more likely to use low or high-tech methods for stealing one’s identity

Low-tech methods such as lost/ stolen physical document, dumpster diving, shoulder surfing

Phishing

Gathering financial information via spam

What does the Identity Theft and Assumption Act of 1998 do

Makes identity theft a federal crime

What does the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act do

Lengthened prison sentences for identity thieves

Trade secret

A confidential piece of intellectual property that provides a company with a competitive advantage

Ex) Krabby patty formula or Coca-Cola syrup

Value of trade secrets

Their confidentiality

Legal ways to gain access to information in a trade secret

• Reverse engineering

• Hiring THEIR employees and hope for leakage

Trademark

Word, symbol, picture, sound, or color used by a business to identify goods

Service mark

A mark identifying a service

How can companies establish a brand name

Trademark

How are trademarks registered

Through the US Patent and Trademark Office

T/F: US Patent and Trademark Office register and defend trademarks

False, they register trademarks but defending them is up the owner

How can a company lose its right to a trademark

When the trademark becomes a common noun

Ex) yo-yo, aspirin, escalator, thermos, etc

How can company’s protect their trademarks

By ensuring their marks are used as adjectives rather than nouns or verbs

Patent

How the US Govt provides intellectual property protection for a limited period of time to creators of machines, systems, and other inventions

Difference between a patent and a trade secret

Patent is a PUBLIC doc that provides detailed descriptions of the invention to prevent others from making, selling, or using the invention for the lifetime of the patent