CSC 379:Week 5

This page contains the drafts for Week 5 discussion topics.

Airbus 380 Software Flaw

Provide an overview of this ethical controversy and links to information relevant for each set of ethical concerns cited.

Cover information contained in both articles:

• Seattle Times
• Telegraph.co.uk

Included below are two excerpts that give an overview of the content of this topic:

"Mr Mangan claims a defect in the outflow valve control system could lead to an abrupt loss of cabin pressure, leaving passengers unconscious in as little as 20 seconds. "Normal oxygen masks don't work properly above 33,000 feet. Anybody over forty or over-weight is at a high risk of embolisms," he said."

"Airbus dismissed fears about the A380 as baseless. "We have examined this internally and found absolutely no reason to be concerned. The scenario made up by Mr Mangan does not exist," said spokesman David Voskuhl."

"TTTech falsely classified its micro-chip as a simple "off-the-shelf" product already used in car valves in order to except it from elaborate testing rules, he claimed. This would breach both EU and US law on aircraft regulation. "I refused to sign off on the test results, but TTTech went ahead anyway," he claimed."

"TTTech denies the allegations, calling him a disgruntled ex-employee who never fitted into the team, and is now bent on revenge."

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

"Most passenger jets have two cabin-pressure valves, with separate motors operating each. But because aircraft makers want redundancy on safety systems the planes have three motors for each valve, with different chips controlling each motor. [...] Most jetliners also have a manual override so that the pilot can take control in an emergency. [...] The company elected to go with four outflow valves on the A380, with only one motor on each valve, which are slightly larger than a cabin window. Each motor uses a TTTech controller chip, and there is no backup manual-override system."

"Mangan says the European aerospace establishment is whitewashing his claims because of enormous cost savings that will be realized if TTTech's chips are approved for the A380. TTTech's chip originally was designed for use in autos and the company is trying to get it certified as an existing, "commercial off-the-shelf" product that is acceptable for the A380, according to court records. Mangan, however, alleges that the chip is being customized for aviation purposes, and thus must undergo stringent testing before being approved by regulators. If regulators decide that TTTech's chip is a simple commercial device and can be used in the A380, it would then be available for other new aircraft without having to pass costly safety reviews."

Source: Seattle Times

Certification Processes for E-Voting Systems

Recently there have been many concerns about the certification processes for e-voting systems such as the inability to determine methods used during the certification process and what parts of the e-voting system were not adequately tested. Examine concerns surrounding the certification processes and their ethical implications. Provide links to groups that have investigated the problems you cite and if possible, responses made by the manufacturer/provider of the e-voting system and/or voting district(s) that use the system.

Briefly discuss how individuals and groups have participated in whistleblowing on this topic (methods used, actions taken).

Related External Links

• United States Election Assistance Commission
• Voting Software Firm Gets Sued - WIRED

Related Class Website Links

• http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/risks/reliability/voting/electronic/

Internet Voting

Below is the content from the existing study guide on internet voting. Your assignment will be to update the study guide. Expand each section with more detailed and recent content and add at least one new section that provides a thorough overview of areas of ethical concern regarding internet voting. You may rename, move, and reformat content within the study guide as prudent. Include links to articles about instances of internet voting.

Note: Your new study guide does not need to follow the structure of the existing topic page.

Relevant Class Website Links

• Articles on Internet Voting

Study Guide

What is Internet Voting?

"Internet voting means the casting of a secure and secret electronic ballot that is transmitted to election officials using the Internet.”

Types of Internet Voting:

• Poll Site: Voting: Internet technology is added to the traditional voting locations.
• Kiosk Voting: Internet would be place at non traditional sites such as mall for convenience of people.
• Remote voting: Citizens would be able to vote from anywhere such as home or office.

Pros and Cons of Internet Voting:

Some of the advantages that are with internet voting is that more people will be able to participate since it will be easier to vote from anywhere.

It will also be cost effective; if everyone will use their own computers then less equipment will be needed to get voting done. Also their will be quick tally of the votes.

Some of the disadvantages of the internet voting are security issues. Hackers are able to hack even the digital signatures that are used for security purposes. Also, The other concern is that of digital divide not everyone has a computer at home , so poor people will have less chance of voting.

Government concerns on Internet voting:

Due to the growing interest in internet voting there have been many studies so far on how secured internet voting would be if it’s implied. Also, many aspects of the internet voting are being explored to see if it should be implemented.

Future of internet voting:

The internet voting the moves closer to reality now, defense department is now working with 10 states to develop web based voting program which could help many thousands of Americans living abroad to be able to vote.

Paperless Electronic Voting

Examine the ethical issues regarding paperless electronic voting (e.g. voting machines with no voter-approved persistent paper record of the electronic ballots cast). Include a brief overview of what paperless electronic voting is and instances where it has been used. Draw from a variety of internet resources to explain its advantages and disadvantages (including obstacles to adoption of equipment that maintain a paper record). Is there an ethical responsibility to create and maintain a persistent paper record of votes, if so, whose?

The discussion questions listed at the bottom of the weekly assignments page should be answered through the content you provide on this wiki page.

Relevant External Links

• Congresspedia - Help America Vote Act

Relevant Class Website Links

• Articles on Paperless Electronic Voting

Software Safety: Accident Models - Systems Theory vs. Chain of Events

Skim through the following paper (focus on sections 1, 2.3, and 3, skip figures and tables) entitled "A Systems-Theoretic Approach to Safety in Software-Intensive Systems" by Nancy G. Leveson, a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, then answer the following questions:

• What are some shortcomings of traditional methods of accident reporting when applied to complex systems like software systems?

• How does the STAMP model improve accident prevention efforts? Explain some general concepts of the model.

• Why was the Milstar satellite damaged although the components of the Inertial Navigation Unit (INU) operated correctly with respect to the instructions, including constraints, and data provided? Why would use of the STAMP model more thoroughly prevent problems such as those that occurred with the INU compared to traditional accident reporting?

• What are some appropriate applications of the STAMP model (both current and past)? Explain.

• What are some ethical concerns of assigning blame for accidents?

The majority of the content you need to form an informed response to the above questions is included in the paper. Bring in outside resources and topics discussed in class lectures as appropriate to support your response.

Relevant Class Website Links

• http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/risks/safety/

Safety and Internet Social Networks

Examine the ethical implications of laws that restrict use of social networking services and other internet-based software on the basis of age or criminal record (such as for sex offenders). What are the advantages of these laws and what are the trade-offs for the prospect of increased safety that these laws promise? What are some difficulties in judging the effectiveness of these laws? How does dangerous use of internet social networks by society relate to other dangerous uses of software? When may legislation be appropriate to control use of software by members of society?

Relevant External Links

• Wikipedia - Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006
• ZDNet - MySpace deletes 29,000 sex offenders
• American Library Association - Online Social Networking and Intellectual Freedom
• SafeLibraries.org - CIPA 2006 Expansion Effort to Block MySpace, Etc.
• Journal-Times - MySpace speaks about KY's new law
• Competitive Enterprise Institute - Turning MySpace into TheirSpace
• WRAL - Headline Saturday: NC Attorney General Targets MySpace.com