CSC 379 SUM2008:Topics

New Topics

For these topics, you will be creating the study guide and bibliography sections, instead of providing an update an existing page. Examine the ethics.csc.ncsu.edu website for examples. Since your pages will be created and maintained in wiki-form, please design your pages with wiki markup (not HTML). Formatting resources are provided on the CSC 379 wiki homepage.

Smart Mobs

social/smartmobs

As cell phones, text messaging, GPS, and other technologies make mobilization of groups easier, people are continually finding new uses. Explore smart/flash mobs, and the ethical considerations they raise. Include information on important instances of smart mobs and the future of smart mobs.

Social Dossiers

social/lifebits

Bits and pieces of information about ourselves can be found everywhere online, and most are unaware of just how much information about them is available. Anyone with sufficient time and/or software can assemble social dossiers from this information. Examine the array of personal information available online, efforts to assemble and utilize this information, and ethical considerations raised.

Helpful Links

Phishing

abuse/spam/phishing

Phishing efforts are growing in variety and sophistication. They pose many privacy and security risks. Examine the practice of phishing, its forms, and the ethical considerations raised.

Encryption

privacy/encryption

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations of encryption and its use. Within your coverage, explore specifically if governments should be allowed to impose restrictions on the types of encryption that can be used as well as where and how encryption methods may be used.

Voting Receipts

risks/reliability/voting/receipts

With nearly all votes counted in the United States by computers, paper trails have been considered important to ensure a separate physical record of votes cast. With the emergence of electronic voting, the receipt of a vote is created by the computers, not manually by the user. Explore the ethical considerations that the issue of voting paper trails raise.

Existing Topics

Cyberwarfare

risks/security/cyberwar (update) Examine new methods of cyberwarfare, include recent instances, and ethical considerations.

Intellectual Property Law

intellectual/law (update) Include information on trade secrets.

Cyberlicenses / Shrinkwrap Licenses

intellectual/licensing/cyberlicenses and intellectual/licensing/shrinkwrap (update) Expand on licensing related to ownership of content created through web services.

Computer Modeling

risks/models (update) Include new ethical considerations related to developments in computer modeling in virtual communities, such as Second Life.

Depersonalization

social/technoharm (update, add studyguide) General.

Privacy of Medical Information

privacy/medical (update) General.

Electronic Voting

risks/reliability/voting/electronic (update) General.

Instant Messaging

commerce/anticompetitive/instant

Most of the references on this page are three or four years old. The issue is whether a small number of companies should unfairly dominate the market for instant messaging. Update the existing page with new references, and the study guide with new issues.

Current Main Page

Current Study Guide

Security Precautions

risks/security/precautions

What security precautions do web and network administrators need to take to guard against hacker attacks, such as distributed denial-of-service attacks? What precautions are needed against other forms of hacking? Against cyberwarfare and terrorist threats? Update topic page and study guide to cover current/future precautions related to recent occurrences.

Social Engineering should be included as a major section within this topic. If you would like to make a new page focused on social engineering, you may if you choose this topic.

Current Main Page

Current Study Guide