CSC 379 SUM2008:Topics

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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. Both physical and virtual actions now frequently take place; protests, flooding email accounts and online polls, to impromptu gatherings. 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/dossiers

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.

Helpful Links

Encryption

privacy/encryption

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations of using encryption. 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 may be used.

Helpful Links

Voting Receipts

risks/reliability/voting/receipts

Touchscreen voting was widely touted as a solution to vote-counting fiascoes like the famous Florida election debacle of 2000. But it wasn't long before computer experts started to raise the alarm: With electronic touchscreen voting, there is absolutely no record of how a voter voted, except for the tallies spit out by the machine at the end of the day. If a software bug or hardware malfunction resulted in a miscount, no one would ever know. Many computer scientists demanded that paper receipts be printed and shown to the voter for verification, then retained by the machine in case a recount was needed. So the vendors of touchscreen voting systems reluctantly added printers. But the printers have not been reliable, and now scientists are searching for another way of creating unforgeable receipts. Explore the competing ethical requireents that must be met by these machines: voter privacy, accurate tallies, and resistance to hacking.

Helpful Links

Existing Topics

For these topics you will be performing an update on an existing topic. Pages for the study guide and bibliography sections are included on the ethics.csc.ncsu.edu website, which you will be transitioning to their new wiki-form. 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.


Cyberwarfare

risks/security/cyberwar

Cyberwarfare has long been a topic of theoretical interest and growing practical importance, as nations' infrastructures grow increasingly computerized. Now, with the recent attack on Estonia, the cyberwar era may have begun in earnest. Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to cyberwarfare. Examine new methods of cyberwarfare, and include recent examples.

Current Main Page Current Study Guide Helpful Links

Intellectual Property Law

intellectual/law

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to intellectual property law. Ensure that trade secrets is included in your coverage.

Current Main Page Current Study Guide Helpful Links

Cyberlicenses / Shrinkwrap Licenses

intellectual/licensing/cyberlicenses and intellectual/licensing/shrinkwrap

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to shrinkwrap and cyberlicenses. Expand on licensing related to ownership of content created through web services, such as Facebook and MySpace.

Current Main Page (1) Current Study Guide (1) Helpful Links (1)
Current Main Page (2) Current Study Guide (2) Helpful Links (2)

Computer Modeling

risks/models

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to computer modeling, both from a science/engineering, and social/economic perspective. On a science/engineering view, computer modeling is often used to illustrate complex information, but has a high potential for providing misleading and dishonest presentations of reality. Include coverage of the ethical considerations for instances of misleading, dishonest, and controversial uses of modeling. On a social/economic view, include ethical considerations related to developments in computer modeling in virtual communities, such as Second Life.

Current Main Page Current Study Guide Helpful Links

Depersonalization

social/technoharm

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to the potential for depersonalization through use of technology.

Current Main Page Current Study Guide Helpful Links

Privacy of Medical Information

privacy/medical

With emerging patient-centric services such as Google Health and more medical providers deciding to digitize and manage the health records of their patents through networked systems, traditional practices undergoing change. Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to digital medical information.

Current Main Page Current Study Guide Helpful Links

Electronic Voting

risks/reliability/voting/electronic

Provide a general overview of the ethical considerations related to electronic voting.

Current Main Page Current Study Guide Helpful Links


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