CH 3 Ethics for the Information Age (8th Edition)

Flashcards of key vocabulary terms and definitions from Chapter 3: Networked Communications.

M-PESA

Africa's first mobile money platform, allowing people to conduct financial transactions using their mobile phones.

Detrimental Effects of Social Media

The heavy use of social media can have detrimental effects on the mental health of young people, by increasing feelings of anxiety, lowering the quality of sleep, raising concerns about body image, exposing them to cyberbullying, and heightening the fear of missing out.

eSports

Watching other people compete at video games, or eSports, began with the internet café culture in South Korea and China and has now become a global phenomenon.

Twitch

The most popular platform for live streaming video games over the Internet.

Spam

Unsolicited bulk email.

Origin of the term 'Spam'

Brad Templeton, chairman of the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, traces the term back to the SPAM sketch from The Final Rip Off by Monty Python’s Flying Circus, in which a group of Vikings drown out a café conversation by loudly and obnoxiously repeating the word “spam”.

Early Spam Messages

Early spam messages provoked Internet users and generated big headlines. For example, in 1994 Phoenix lawyers Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel sent an email advertising their immigration services to more than 9,000 electronic newsgroups.

Peak of Spam Tsunami

In 2009 about 85 percent of all email messages were spam.

Advantage of Spam

The principal advantage of spam is its low cost compared to other forms of advertising.

Dictionary Attacks

Spammers bombard Internet service providers (ISPs) with millions of emails containing made-up addresses.

Botnets

Huge networks of compromised computers controlled by “bot herders.”

Zombie Computer

A computer with the bot program installed on it is called a zombie because it can be directed by a remote computer to perform certain tasks.

Spam Problem Origin

The spam problem arose because the Internet and email technology developed without taking social expectations into account.

Ann the Acme Accountant

Ann sent an email to all the other Acme employees, inviting them to stop by her desk during a break and place orders for girl scout cookies.

Categorical Imperative

We should always respect the autonomy of other people, treating them as ends in themselves and never only as the means to an end.

Problem with Internet Design

The design of the Internet allows sophisticated users to disguise their own email addresses. Spammers take advantage of this loophole to send out millions of messages, knowing that unhappy recipients will not be able to respond.

Hypertext System

A flexible database of information that allows Web pages to be linked to each other in arbitrary fashion.

Mobile Apps

Software programs that are loaded onto mobile devices.

Decentralized

An individual or organization can add new information to the Web without asking for permission from a central authority.

Unique Address

Every object on the Web has a unique address.

URL

A Web object’s address is called a URL (uniform resource locator).

E-Commerce Statistics

E-commerce represented 9 percent of all retail sales in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Craigslist

Allows people to place free classified advertisements on the Internet.

Social Network

A popular way for friends to keep in touch with each other.

Wiki

A Web site that allows multiple people to contribute and edit its content.

Blog

A personal journal or diary kept on the Web.

Web 2.0

People are now using the Web not simply to access content but to build communities and upload and share content they have created.

Darknet

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

Crowdsourcing

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

Waze App

People use x to find the quickest way to drive from one place to another.

Crowdfunding

Financing a project through crowdsourcing.

FamilySearch.org

Offers free access to indexes to US census information from 1790 to 1940, allowing genealogical research to be performed remotely—and much more quickly—over the Internet.

Online Game

A game played on a computer network that supports the simultaneous participation of multiple players.

PC Bangs

Cybercafés have large-screen monitors enabling spectators to watch the game-play, which is full of virtual violence and mayhem.

Internet of Things

An increasing number of non-IT devices are being equipped with wireless connections to the Internet, forming an Internet of Things.

Kiva

A Web site supporting person-to-person microlending.

M-PESA in Kenya

Allows people in developing countries to save money and pay bills using their cell phones, bypassing traditional banks.

iCow

Uses voice and text messaging to help dairy farmers keep track of the gestation of their cows.

Twitter

Allows its users to send out text messages known as tweets.

Censorship

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

Three Forms of Direct Censorship

Government monopolization, prepublication review, and licensing and registration.

Licensing

Licensing invites censorship.

Self-Censorship

A group deciding for itself not to publish material.

Internet Censorship

Government Filtering and Surveillance of Internet Content.

One of the most cherished—and most controversial—rights in the United States

Freedom of expression.

First-Amendment To The United States Constitution

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Free Speech

Asking a judge to make the distinction turns it into a political decision.

Kate’s Blog

A journalism major who maintains a popular blog focusing on campus life. Kate attends a private birthday party in someone’s apartment for her friend Jerry, a college student active in the Whig Party on campus.

Web Filters

Two methods to determine if a page should be blocked, check the URL of the page against a blacklist of objectionable sites, look for combinations of letters or words that may indicate a site has objectionable content

Child Internet Protection Act

In March 2003, the Supreme Court weighed testimony in the case of United States v. American Library Association, deciding if the government can require libraries to install antipornography filters in return for receiving federal funds for Internet access?

Sexting

sending sexually suggestive text messages or emails containing nude or nearly nude photographs.

Identity Theft

The misuse of another person’s identity, such as name, Social Security number, driver’s license, credit card numbers, and bank account numbers. The objective is to take actions permitted to the owner of the identity, such as withdraw funds, transfer money, charge purchases, get access to information, or issue documents and letters under the victim’s identity.

Dumpster Diving

Looking for personal information in garbage cans or recycling bins.

Shoulder Surfing

Looking over the shoulders of people filling out forms.

Phishing

Gathering financial information via spam.

Instant Messaging

Refers to a system allowing two people to “chat” via typing in real time over the Internet.

Cyberbullying

The use of the Internet or the phone system to inflict psychological harm on another person.

Revenge Porn

A pornographic image or film which is published, posted or otherwise circulated without the consent of one or more of the participants, usually with malicious and vindictive intent, such as following a break-up.

Internet Addition

Excessive use of digital devices that causes harm.

Why do people get so attached to their devices?

The brains of heavy users of digital devices crave newness, and every text or email message results in a release of the neurotransmitter dopamine that feeds the craving.