Internet Research

Week Three

Day Two

Topic: Legal & Ethical Issues

Instructor: Jack Lule   
Email: mailto:jack.lule@gmail.com

On this page are the assignments for Thursday of Week Three. 

DEADLINES: You should have your assignments completed by Monday at 7 p.m.

REMINDER: Your research paper on a social or political issue raised by Internet research is due today at 7 p.m.

Legal & Ethical Issues

Legal and ethical issues help us broaden considerably our study of Internet research. Even relatively skilled researchers fail to consider the legal and ethical dimensions of giving and receiving information on the Internet.

Yet legal and ethical issues abound, including controversies over:

  • censorship
  • access
  • copyright
  • confidentiality
  • privacy
  • fair use
  • plagiarism
  • government surveillance
  • online medical records
  • identity fraud
  • children and the Internet
  • workplace privacy
  • libel and service providers
  • library filters
  • electronic commerce
  • disability
  • gender issues
  • education
  • information poverty
  • intellectual property rights

1) To understand these issues more in depth, please read a brief presentation on these issues:

3-Legal

2) To explore these issues further, I would like you to pay one focused visit to an important web site. I would like you to visit: The Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk

Read about this important group. Go to their Resources section and pursue in depth some of the legal and ethical issues they are confronting.

Send me an email of three to five paragraphs detailing what you learned from the presentation and what you found at the CCSR site.

3) INTERNET PRIVACY

Our readings and discussion continue to bring up one of the most important legal issues on the Internet: privacy.

I would like you to read selections from an important cover story in Business Week: "Privacy in an Age of Terror." The story discusses the conflict between government efforts to track terrorists and citizens' rights to privacy.

A sidebar article, "No Place to Hide," lists some of the tools that governments can use against terrorists -- and you.

You can also see a poll that charts what people thought about privacy soon after 9-11.

I want you to send me an email message that responds to the Business Week stories. How important is Internet privacy to you? How far should the government go in protecting us against terrorism? What restrictions make sense to you? Make your message about a half or full single space page or email.

If you have any questions, just email me at jack.lule@gmail.com