ABSTRACT
The fostering of an Internet societal infrastucture which is consciously ethical, is needed to curtail the new era of global irresponsibility that is at hand. The positive view advanced is contrasted with a scenario of the silencing of a moral Internet community using regulatory constraints, an extension of broadcast techniques, "brain-free" hardware, and control by multi-national corporations. This positive scenario is dependent on the evolution of a moral and responsible Internet global citizenry. The global citizen will recognise that in creating an era of peace and negotiation, the traditional boundaries of nation or of cultural difference may be radically redefined, but not destroyed. Two central problems, that of establishing an acceptable moral basis for global citizenship, and that of enabling the integrity of cultural and ethnic groups to be maintained in a global electronic environment, are discussed. A primary task for the Internet community is to establish a Code of Ethics. This could be based on the following principles: a strong and coherent Internet infrastructure; maintenance of interconnectivity; open Internet commerce; privacy of communications; freedom of speech within the Internet (with the proviso that the best interests of children are protected in information delivery); universal Internet access; freely accessible "public good" information; mediation between national and global organizations in the interests of the Internet; authentication of information (or establishment of levels of verification of information sources); and maintenance of adequate bandwidth. These principles encompass some of the fiercest debates of the Internet regulatory environment, including those on issues of cryptography, copyright, software patents, first-level domain names, and pornography.
- Rheingold,1994.Rheingold, H. The ~"rtual Community. Martin Secker & Warburg (1994) UKGoogle Scholar
- Maurer,1996.HyperWave. The Next Generation Web Solution. Addison Wesley (1996) Google ScholarDigital Library
- Shearer,1995.Shearer, J. One Net, One World. Global Citizenship and the Internet. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 2:12 (1995) <http:tlwww.iicm.eduljucs>Google Scholar
- Hill,1995.Hill, J. Can We Talk About Ethics Anymore? Journal of Business Ethics Vol I4: pp 585-592. (1995)Google ScholarCross Ref
- Kymlicka,1995.Kymlicka, W. The Rights of Minori{y Cultures. (I995) Oxford University Press, UK.Google Scholar
- Shearer & Gutmann,1995.Shearer, J. Gutmann, P. Government, Cryptography, and the Right to Privacy. Journal of Universal Computer &ience, 2:3 (1995) <http:/t www.iicm.eduljucs>Google Scholar
- Mulhausler,1994.Mulhausler, P. Babel Revisited (1994) The Unesco Courier, Feb. 1994, pg 16- 21.Google Scholar
- Condren,1996.C. Condren. Business & Professional Ethics Journal. Code Types: Functions and Failings and Organizational Diversity. (1996)Google Scholar
- Shearer,1997.Shearer J. Interventions in National and Global Regulatory Processes by Nation- Based Intemet Organisations. Accepted for WebNet '97 World Conference.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- The campaign for an ethical Internet
Recommendations
The campaign for an ethical Internet
The fostering of an Internet societal infrastucture which is consciously ethical, is needed to curtail the new era of global irresponsibility that is at hand. The positive view advanced is contrasted with a scenario of the silencing of a moral Internet ...
The Internet, ethical values, and conceptual frameworks: an introduction to Cyberethics
What exactly is Cyberethics? How did the field develop? What are some of the central issues and themes in this field, and what methodologies are used by those working in this area of applied ethics? These and related questions are considered in the ...
Ethical decision-making in the Internet context: Development and test of an initial model based on moral philosophy
This paper proposes an ethical decision-making model in the Internet context based on moral theories and then empirically tests the model. The model posits that five moral philosophy variables-justice, relativism, egoism, deontology, and utilitarianism-...
Comments