The sheer number and variety of sites where such ostensibly private information is made public can make it impossible for someone to truly get privacy. What is remarkable is how well Dr. Moor did at predicting the ethical issues that would continue to be part of the Computer Revolution. Even if computers are simply exacerbating existing ethical dilemmas, the fact that they are capable of doing so means that they are going to continue to present ethical problems. For example, when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, slavery was already in existence and used through the American South. That Industrial Revolution invention did not create the ethical issue of slavery. However, with the improved ability to process cotton, cotton suddenly became an incredibly profitable crop. The need for cheap labor jumped dramatically, which certainly increased the demand for slave labor. What that example makes clear is that even seemingly helpful inventions can have far-reaching consequences, many of which might be outside of the realm of thought for the inventor. That is why computer ethics should be a field of study with special status; to help facilitate the exploration of the possible ethical ramifications of a computer program. A modern example similar to the cotton gin might be the creation of easy tourism software. Sex tourism has been around as long as world travel has been feasible. Men have frequently gone to other locations to engage in sexual practices that would be impermissible in their homelands. Typically, they use women or children who are indigenous...
The internet has made this practice easy to engage in, while allowing its practitioners to maintain a high degree of anonymity. Men can find sex tourism sites that will book their passage and hotel in a country that does not criminalize having sex with children, and that behavior is generally not illegal, because the person is breaking no laws in a jurisdiction that criminalizes using children for sex. While this has always been possible, the internet has made it easy to accomplish. Examples such as that one make the case for the specific study of computer ethics.
Computer and Web Ethics The term "computer ethics," as coined by Walter Maner in the 1970s, refers to a field of study that examines "ethical problems aggravated, transformed, or created by computer technology" (Maner, 1980). Maner suggested that persons engaged in computer-related actions should apply traditional ethical frameworks, such as Kantianism and Utilitarianism, to govern their decision-making. While Immanuel Kant's virtue ethics are rooted in respect for all people and an
Technologies with Ethical Implications The effect of information revolution in changing many facets of life in varied fields like banking and commerce, transportation, health care, entertainment, work and employment and national security is clearly visible in the developed countries of the world. As a result, information technology has started influencing relationships, family and community atmosphere, democracy, freedom, etc. (Computer Ethics: Basic Concepts and Historical Overview) Being an exclusive technology, computers
Blackness was not an unremittingly negative quality, as it would be seen later on, but the associations of blackness and other stereotypes that would be attached to 'Negroes' began fairly early. The development of colonies based upon cash crops, including those in the Southern United States, necessitated a large enslaved labor force, larger than whites could provide. As the economic need for slave labor increased, so did negatively expressed views
Stereotypes Practitioners of certain religions have faced prejudiced and stereotyped ideas about the personages because of the negative affiliations of their religion. Perhaps no religion is as stereotyped as the religion called Islam. Islam, antithetically to what the majority of ignorant people believe, is "a religion of ethics, obedience, harmony, and is based on a faithful belief system" (Hossain). It is a religion that promotes peace and the toleration of others.
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