Intellectual Property. Censorship and Freedom of Speech. Privacy

19.10. 2005

Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 1

Today

   Intellectual property Censorship – Internet censorship Privacy Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 2

But first …..

A Home Computer  http://users.net1plus.com/scottm/Hom eComputer.jpg

Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 3

Intellectual property

     Intellectual property rights Protecting intellectual property Restictions on Use Protection for software Morality of copying software Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 4

What is intellectual property

 Any unique product of the human intellect that has commercial value:   Songs, books, films, paintings, inventions, software.

Source: (The university of Texas – Intellectual properties: www.uta.edu/tto/ip-defs.htm

)   Can one own intellectual property?

Discuss Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 5

Property rights

      John Locke (1632-1704) developed a theory of Property rights: The Second Treatise of Government People have a right to property in their own person Nobody has the right to the person of anybody else People have the right to their own labour People have the right to things they have removed for Nature through their own labour Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 6

Is there a natural right to intellectual property?

  Locke: Physical objects Today: Ideas Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 7

Fair use

 It is legal to reproduce a copyright work in some cicumstances:     Educational use Use of non-fiction rather than fiction Parts rather than whole chapters Use of out-of-print material Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 8

Censorship

 What is censorship?

 Discuss  Case:  Revenge on the Internet Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 9

What is censorship?

   

’The attempt to supress or regulate public access to material considered offensive or harmful.’

Excercised by governments and religious institutions Example: Government monopolization:

The Soviet Union:

suppressed flow of information and freedom of speech Possesion of child pornography Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 10

The Internet: Challenges

   Many-to-many communications Difficult to censure compared with newspapers and Television The Internet is dynamic, large  More….discuss

Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 11

Cases described in Dagbladet (Magasinet)

   Revenge on the Internet  Revenge by e-mail  Slander about the love life of a well-known lawyer  Not just in the office, but in all cyberspace (!) Usenet discussions Difficult to stop e-mail campaigns Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 12

Ethical problem:

     Chain letters (e-mails) describing people in a negative way.

Not necessarily illegal Unethical?

Protection of privacy vs. freedom of speech?

Discuss Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 13

Example

  Information about private things

must be of interest to the public

For instance:  A politician for the Christian Democratic Party (KrF) who publically advocates a moral view and in private does something completely different Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 14

Ethical Views on Censorship



Kant’s view:

   Have courage to use your own reason Obstacles to using own reason were removed in the Enlightenment Kant opposed censorship Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 15

John Stuart Mill

  

Freedom of expression

Good ideas prevail over bad ones Applied to the www: supports the free exchange of opinions and oppose all government censorship Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 16

Priniciple of harm - John Stuart Mill

  ’The only ground on which intervention is justified is to prevent harm to others, the individual’s own good is not a sufficient condition’.

Excercise

 Write down examples of censorship that are based on this principle.

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Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 18

Freedom of Expression

  A constitutional right An absolute right?

 Discuss Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 19

INTERNET FREE EXPRESSION ALLIANCE

   http://www.ifea.net/

Quote: ’The Internet is a powerful and positive forum for free expression. It is the place where "any person can become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox,"

Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 20

Cont.

 

’Internet users, online publishers, library and academic groups and free speech and journalistic organizations share a common interest in opposing the adoption of techniques and standards that could limit the vibrance and openness of the Internet as a communications medium.

Indeed, content "filtering" techniques already have been implemented in ways inconsistent with free speech principles, impeding the ability of Internet users to publish and receive constitutionally protected expression. ’

Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 21

Freedom in Cyberspace

  

Discuss these views:

The Internet is a common area, a public space like a village square, except that it is the largest common area that has yet existed. This world-wide community is as large and diverse as humanity itself. Therefore, no one community's standards can govern the type of speech permissible on the Internet.

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Continued….

   In the words of John Gilmore, a founding member of the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) 

" The Internet interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it."

Because of the Internet's robust design, it is impossible to completely block access to information except in very limited and controlled circumstances  blocking access to a specific site from a home computer  using a firewall to block certain sites from employees on a workplace network. http://livinginternet.com/i/ip_speech.htm

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Freedom of Speech and Press on the Internet

  The Free Software Foundation supports the freedoms of speech, press, and association on the Internet.

Save the Web rights. is a movement dedicated to ensuring that the highest priority of Internet law in Europe is to protect individual Internet users'

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/basi c-freedoms.html

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Red Alert

 

The digital copyright threat :

The most dangerous new proposed law is being pushed in Brussels by powerful multinational film, music and software companies. They are telling EU politicians that the Internet will turn us all into thieves, and want sweeping new laws that extend their rights on the Internet. If succeeds, they will destroy the Web as we know it. But they didn't succeed in America, and we can still stop them in Europe . But we have to act now.

Threats to privacy :

A wide range of businesses, governments, and law-enforcement agencies want to watch what we do on the Internet. We will lose our rights to privacy if we don't defend them. Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 25

Organizations that work for freedom in computer development and electronic communications

    openrevolt.org

This site is devoted to providing information about the European Copyright Directive and similar legislation. OpenCores The OpenCores project exists to further the aims of the Open IP Core definition, chillingeffects.org

Chilling Effects is a collection point for cease and desist notices concerning online activity -- we invite visitors to enter C&Ds they have received or sent. The website collects the C&Ds in a searchable database and hyperlinks them to explanations of the legal issues. The League for Programming Freedom for Programming Freedom is an organization that opposes software patents and user interface copyrights . Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 The League 26

  

Cont

Free Protocols Foundation The Free Protocols Foundation (FPF) is an independent public forum, dedicated to the support of patent-free protocols. Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Internet. EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization working in the public interest to protect fundamental civil liberties, including privacy and freedom of expression, in the arena of computers Electronic Privacy Information Center values. EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 27

 

Cont….

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and priorities. CPSR is a public-interest alliance of computer scientists and others concerned about the impact of computer technology on society. We work to influence decisions regarding the development and use of computers because those decisions have far-reaching consequences and reflect our basic values Global Internet LibertyCampaign The GILC comprises of members from American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Human Rights Watch, the Internet Society, Privacy International, the Association des Utilisateurs d'Internet, and other civil liberties and human rights organizations. They advocate the prohibition of censorship of on-line communication, and insist that on-line free expression should not be restricted by indirect means such as excessively restrictive governmental or private controls over computer hardware or software, telecommunications infrastructure, or other essential components of the Internet. Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 28

Protection of Privacy

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Electronic surveillance

   The Internet poses threats to personal security and privacy. Sensitive information is circulating in electronic form, including telephone conversations, FAX messages, electronic mail, fund transfers, trade secrets and health records. The same technological advances that have brought enormous benefits to humankind also make us more vulnerable than ever before to unwanted and potentially dangerous snooping by       Governments business competitors Terrorists Nosy neighbors Hackers thieves. Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 30

Harms and benefits of privacy

  Illegal and unethical acvtivities Privacy – A Necessary right?

 Discussion Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 31

Laws

  §2 – ’The Law of Personal Privacy’ – ’Lov om personvern’ – Norway US law – Privacy Act of 1974 Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 32

The Center for Democracy and Technology – On spyware

   CDT is working on several fronts to combat the "spyware" problem. http://www.cdt.org/mission/ ’We believe a complete solution will require    

a combination of better enforcement of existing laws

,

anti-spyware technologies, self-regulatory policies, and possibly new legislation.’

Yes?

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Privacy International

   

Privacy International (PI)

is a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations.

PI is based in London, England, and has an office in Washington, D.C. PI has conducted campaigns and research throughout the world on issues ranging from

wiretapping

and

national security, to ID cards, video surveillance

,

data matching

,

police information systems, medical privacy, and freedom of information and expression.

http://www.privacyinternational.org/ Ethics - MS008A - Kirsten Ribu - HiO - 2005 34