Preface

With the ever-increasing pace of technological change, it is often the case that ethical issues are overlooked in the rush to implement the latest information systems. Technology allows us to gather, process, and disseminate huge quantities of data with ease, and the information produced has increased greatly in value as the global marketplace becomes more competitive. While technology can help to increase profit margins, protect the world from terrorism, and spread knowledge to millions, it may be that fundamental rights and duties are being unconsciously neglected. Once eroded, many of these rights and duties may be gone forever.

Overall Objective

The overall objective and mission of this book is to report on the latest issues and dilemmas regarding information ethics in today’s society, with a focus on intellectual property rights and privacy issues. The book brings together some of the leading authors in the field of information systems and information ethics in order to document and discuss the ethical issues of the information age, especially in the wake of the rising threat of terrorism. Such a compilation serves as a starting point for future research on these and related issues. The goal is not to solve the dilemmas presented—that would require more pages and discussion than possible in a single text—but to present the reader with a range of viewpoints regarding the issues seen to be important by those who study them on a daily basis.

Target Audience

This book is aimed at researchers, educators, and students interested in information systems, information science, and information ethics. However, business executives, government agencies, and interested citizens will find value in reading and thinking about the issues discussed.

The Chapters

The chapters are grouped together into six distinct sections. Each of these is introduced below.

Section I. Information Technology and Ethics/Theory

The book’s editors begin Chapter I with a review of perhaps the most famous paper in the information ethics field. Eighteen years ago, ethicist Richard Mason presented what he saw to be the four most important ethical issues of the information age: privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility. This framework has guided the field of information ethics for almost two decades, but the pace of technological growth has changed the landscape, reducing the relevance of some issues and raising the profile of others. For example, with the rise of the threat of terrorism, rights to privacy have come into question as countries attempt to ensure the safety of their citizens. Similarly, intellectual property rights have been severely undermined by the ease of sharing files that the Internet provides. Chapter I uses Mason’s framework to place the other chapters in an overall context, while also updating Mason’s work and introducing some ethical issues that could not have been anticipated in 1986. In particular, justified hacking—the concept of using hacking in an ethical manner—is discussed. The chapter lays the groundwork for the more specific chapters that follow.

Chapter II uses the Four Component Model of moral behavior, developed in the discipline of moral psychology, to explore the ethics of electronic communications and digital property. Crowell, Narvaez, and Gomberg argue that technology can impact the psychological components of sensitivity, judgment, motivation, and action. For example, technology can create a “psychological distance” between those who use technology as a communication device, thus negatively impacting the four factors listed above. This, in turn, can lead to a greater chance of unethical behavior; it is easier to behave unethically in a virtual communication setting than in a face-to-face meeting. A better understanding of the impact of technology on these factors can aid in developing educational techniques that strengthen moral sensitivity, judgment, motivation, and action in a world in which more and more daily activity is moving into a digital, virtual environment. The use of psychological constructs to study the ethics of technology usage provides a new and unique perspective on these issues.

Completing Section I, Mathieson presents a proposal to use technology to aid individuals in the ethical decision-making process. In Chapter III, he coins the term “Moral Dilemma Support System” (MDSS) to describe his proposed technology. While most of the chapters in this book focus on the ethical or unethical usage of technology, this chapter takes a different view, arguing that technology can be used to aid people in making more ethical decisions, but only if individuals want to do so. Mathieson does not describe the technical specifications of the system, instead choosing to focus on the system’s proposed functionality. He ends with the thought that the system would have to be tailored to the environment in which it was to be used. At a time when many people raise the concern that technology may be leading to a more unethical world, this chapter provides some hope that technology can, in fact, be used to further humanity and aid in the individual’s efforts to “do the right thing.”

Section II. Intellectual Property Rights

The second section of the book delves into the realm of intellectual property rights. Who actually owns the digital information that is being created everyday, and what rights should the creators maintain? Chapter IV begins the discussion with a focus on ethical theory. Kimppa utilizes Locke’s liberalism, classic utilitarianism, and Kant’s deontology to study the current state of intellectual property rights, focusing on digitally distributable media such as software and music. The current trend of copyright and trademark law is leading to greater limitations on the sharing of information. After a thorough and interesting application of each theory to the specific situation of rights of ownership for immaterial property, the author concludes that three paths exist: one that continues the trend of developing stronger copyright protection to fend off piracy; a compromise path that lessens the control of intellectual property creators but seeks to provide some limited protection; or a path that completely abolishes all intellectual property rights, as seen to a great extent in the open source movement. While it may cause short-term hardship, Kimppa argues that the elimination of restrictions may be the most beneficial for society in the long run.

Chapter V takes a different approach to the intellectual property rights issue as de Vuyst and Fairchild focus on whether current copyright and trademark laws are an incentive for individuals and organizations to misallocate funds to the detriment of society due to excessive rent-seeking. Perhaps the typical intellectual property rights debate is focusing on the wrong thing when the question of “who owns intellectual property?” is discussed. Instead, the focus should be on whether the current state of legislation leads to unethical behavior. Would society not be better off if investments were made in more worthwhile things than commercial music or entertainment software? The chapter also provides an interesting history of the development of intellectual property rights beginning with their Roman origins.

Chapter VI focuses on the specific issue of software piracy, taking the more traditional Western view that piracy is an act that should be prevented, if possible, under the current legal climate. After a brief overview of the ethical principles involved, including an application of both utilitarian and deontological perspectives, and a review of recent research into the piracy phenomenon, El-Sheikh, Rashed, and Peace present the results of a study of piracy in Jordan. The data show that piracy is rampant, despite the fact that individuals overwhelmingly believe that it is fair for creators of software to receive payment for their work. Using the survey results and the latest predictive model of piracy behavior, the authors review the effectiveness of the efforts of the software industry in combating piracy and argue that the cost of the software is an overlooked factor. The impact of cultural relativism is also discussed—intellectual property rights are clearly a Western idea, making it unsurprising that non-Western cultures lead the world in piracy activity. Chapter VI concludes with the view that both software cost and cultural differences need to be studied further if software piracy is to be eliminated.

Section III. Technology’s Impact on Ethics

The third section of the book focuses on the impact of technology on some traditional privacy issues and the ethical impacts of a completely new technology. Chapter VII studies the issue of publicly available information.

Information in the public realm has always been available to those who wish to gather it. However, people’s privacy was protected by the time and effort required to gather data from different sources. With the development of database technology and the Internet, it is now a simple matter to gather information on an individual from multiple publicly available datastores and to combine that information to create a detailed view. While each individual database poses little threat to an individual’s privacy, the ubiquitous nature of information technology and the ability to combine data from these various sources may prove to be a different matter. Clearly, technology provides the opportunity to more cheaply and efficiently store information in public and governmental organizations, but the side effects may be more damaging. Miller, Urbaczewski, and Salisbury provide several suggestions to combat this threat, including the delayed availability of information, fees charged to the requester of the information, and opt-out capabilities. Above all, individuals need to be more aware of what information is available about them.

In Chapter VIII, Cassidy, Chae, and Courtney study the issue of consumer information, arguing that privacy regulations are not focusing on the underlying problem of “information externality.” Using economic theory in combination with ethics, the authors argue that information gathered on consumers can lead to both benefits and costs. Consumers receive advertising that is more tailored to their specific needs, but spam clogs our email inboxes. An externality exists when a member of society either fails to pay the costs of information usage or fails to receive the benefits. Property rights are one method commonly used to combat externalities, but this chapter proposes the use of Ronald Coase’s Theorem to the problem. Correcting the externality should lead to all parties behaving in a more efficient manner. A detailed ethical discussion follows, after which the principles developed are applied to the specific case of Doubleclick, a large Internet advertising agency.

In Chapter IX, Barger and Crowell discuss the fascinating concept of “parasitic computing,” where a parasite computer takes a complex problem, breaks it up into smaller pieces, and distributes those pieces to hosts for processing without the knowledge of the owners and operators of those other computers. In effect, the parasite computer is stealing resources from other systems via readily available Internet protocols and technologies. Given the “shared” nature of the Internet, the authors argue that the determining ethical factor should be whether or not the host system is harmed by the parasite. A previously reported proof-of-concept demonstration is used as an example of the issues involved. As technology evolves and becomes more connected and ubiquitous, unforeseen ethical issues such as these will arise. Parasitic computing is a threat to both privacy and property, but also holds the promise of more efficient use of technology to solve complex problems.

Section IV. Privacy vs. Security

With the events of 9/11 and the increased focus on terrorism throughout the world, security has become a major issue. A trade-off exists between security and privacy—the more that is known about individuals and their actions, the easier it is to prevent criminal acts. However, this presents a conflict that is addressed in Chapters X and XI.

Chapter X specifically examines the state of the techniques being used to gather information before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. New technologies, such as biometrics and monitoring devices, increase the security of the population but also pose threats to individual privacy. Freeman details some of the technologies that have been developed and studies them in relation to the privacy issue. After a review of the ethics of privacy, three broad types of technologies are identified: communications surveillance, information surveillance, and identity surveillance. The chapter provides a framework by which it can be determined how technologies can affect privacy and whether or not they should be used. Oversight and common sense solutions can be identified to ameliorate the risks.

In Chapter XI, the USA PATRIOT Act becomes the focus of the debate. Created in the post-9/11 world, the PATRIOT Act is designed to use information to provide greater security for the United States. However, some believe that the increased violation of privacy rights is unjustified. Hartzel and Deegan argue that different justice perspectives can be used to reach different positions on the fairness of the PATRIOT Act. The U.S. Department of Justice uses procedural justice perspectives to defend the Act, while groups such as the ACLU utilize outcome-based justice to criticize it. The case of each is presented and analyzed. The authors argue that the potential outcomes of legislation such as the PATRIOT Act must be presented realistically in order to allow fair-minded individuals to reach a rational conclusion as to the pros and cons. Given the fear of further terrorist acts and the strong belief of privacy rights among many individuals, further debate on the proper trade-off of privacy rights vs. security is inevitable. These two chapters provide an excellent starting point.

Section V. The Healthcare Industry

Perhaps in no other area of society is information so necessary and privacy so expected than in the healthcare industry. This section presents two chapters that focus on issues in this area.

In Chapter XII, Joseph and Cook look at the balance of information in the doctor-patient relationship. In the past, an information asymmetry, or an imbalance in the distribution of information, has existed between doctors and patients, with the doctors in the position of power. This imbalance has created a unique set of ethical principles that have guided the healthcare industry for decades, if not centuries. However, technology, and specifically the Internet, has changed the balance dramatically. This chapter studies the ethical, technical, and social issues involved as the change has taken place. It is commonly believed that a reduction in information asymmetry is a good thing, as it appears to make the relationship more even and balanced. However, the authors argue that new ethical quandaries are created by the reduction of information asymmetry in the medical arena. The chapter is not meant to solve these new problems, but instead intends to make the reader aware of this somewhat counter-intuitive viewpoint.

Chapter XIII, on the other hand, focuses on the U.S. HIPAA legislation, which aims to protect patients’ privacy. New technologies make it easier to transmit patient information between doctors and medical facilities, which has obvious beneficial aspects for patients. However, the increased availability of information and technology also leads to security concerns. After reviewing the HIPAA regulations, Deshmukh and Croasdell provide some insight into the ethical rationale behind the guidelines. Patient trust can only be ensured if patient information is protected.

Section VI. Codes of Ethics

Our book concludes with a discussion of diversity in codes of ethics. Codes of conduct are commonly discussed as a useful tool in encouraging ethical conduct in organizations and professions, and several of the chapters in this book mention such codes. Therefore, it seems appropriate to end this work with a chapter on this topic. In Chapter XIV, Brabston and Dahl examine three frameworks that could be used to create codes of ethics. Five examples of existing codes are used to demonstrate the frameworks. The authors recommend the creation of a unified code of information ethics by an independent organization, as opposed to disparate codes developed by diverse organizations.

The chapters in this book represent a wide range of authors and viewpoints. Sometimes the viewpoints agree, and other times they do not. Such is the nature of ethics. As technology becomes more and more an integral part of our everyday lives, questions regarding privacy rights and the ownership of intellectual property will only increase in complexity and frequency. It is imperative that a healthy discussion of these issues is ongoing for the sake of all involved.