CSC 379/SUM07-2/Assignments

Temporary page for assignments for CSC 379, SUM07-2.

This page contains the research assignment topics (pending review).

New Topics

Net Neutrality

commerce/anticompetitive/broadband

As things are right now, all traffic on the Internet is treated the same. However, more recently, telecom companies and ISP's have been trying to push legislation through congress that would allow them to create a "tiered Internet" and charge more for certain content (e.g., every time a user does a Google search in a neighborhood serviced by TimeWarner, Google would be charged). Provide an overview of the issue, the opposing views, and the consequences it could bring if implemented.

Anti-Competitive Databases

commerce/anticompetitive/databases

If a corporation provides a product or service, and also controls one of the major on-line databases that direct customers to suppliers of that product or service, a conflict of interest arises that tempts the corporation to use the database to steer customers unfairly toward its own business. One of the early examples was Baxter International's database of medical supplies. Nowadays, most of the press is garnered by airline databases that can list the proprietor's flights more prominently than competitors', or even make it hard for consumers to find out what a competitor offers. Recently, independent travel agents and travel Websites have become concerned that the major airlines are going to band together to "steal" business through their own Orbitz travel Website. Note: This topic is not about database privacy. No credit will be given for a page that deals with privacy issues.

Temp (to be revised): More currently, how search engines store and present information from their databases have become important. Advertisers often desire the best placement of their search results, but how paid advertisements are presented raises many ethical issues. Some search engines do not distinguish paid advertisements from legitimate search results. What happens when the business with the deepest pockets has the ability to drown out the results of arguably egalitarian algorithms? (Google News has come under scrutiny for the disassociation of news from advertising contained on host websites. Google Print and Google News incorporates copyrighted material into the search results, surrounded by their advertising.)-related?

Existing Topics

Ethical Principles

basics/principles

This page is about ethical principles, and should draw heavily from philosophy-related sites. The topic page is in good shape, though rather sparse. It should be enhanced substantially. The Study Guide falls out of format toward the bottom of the page.

Fault Tolerance

risks/security/fault

Responsibility issues in case of outages. Methods for improving fault-tolerance. Laws for protecting critical infrastructures. Recent occurrences.

Temp (to be revised): With society’s increasingly dependent relationship with technology, how fault tolerant systems are is an important ethical consideration. Failure of technological systems essential to our lives can have ramifications beyond financial. Google is approaching this issue by using cheap hardware with highly redundant design of systems to increase fault tolerance. Checkout line machines (% downtime unacceptable for supermarkets with early computer systems).