Ethics

Discuss the right to privacy as a legal concept? Include a discussion of the relevance
reaSO€nuI}derlylng basis for this right in United States law and the underlying ethlcal
S or glvmg these rights to citizens in a democracy. (10 points)
3- Discuss the issue of employee/employer loyalty Include both parties point of view
(15 pomts).
1:th CitYOCouncil of YourTown, MD, is debating a new program: the Your Town
S h , :1 service that would allow residents to access a wide variety of municipal and
2100 serV1ces from their home computers. If the program is approved, residents will be
3 e to scan the City’s Job listings, apply for building permits, ask questions of the police
epartment, Or get their children’s homework using the Internet.
City Council agendas would be posted, and citizens could testify at council meetings
from off31te computers. Recreation Department schedules would be available on the
network, and parents could sign their children up for sports teams online. Parents could
also communicate with teachers. Businesspeople who require city permits and licenses
could apply for them via the Your Town Web.
About a third of YourTown’s 60,000 residents own computers equipped with internet
access, which would allow them to log on to the system from their homes. The city has
promised to provide 10 additional computers at elementary schools, senior centers, and
libraries for those who do not have ready access at home.
You have been asked to testify at City Council about the ethical implications of the Your
Town Web.
Will you urge the members to vote yes or no? Construct a formal logical argument using
ethical principles from our class discussions to support your recommendation. Use the
seven step method to analyze your argument. (25 points)
5. Discuss the issue of the U.S. government regulating content on the internet in light of
the freedoms enjoyed by Americans. (15 points)
6. – 8.
Discuss the ethical issues suggested by the following scenarios. Include the answers to
the following questions: What issues discussed in class are related to the situations?
What is your opinion of the behaviors involved? What solutions would you suggest? (5
points each)
6. A group of older boys has found out Tony’s email address and signed him up for
pornographic web sites. When Tony goes to the library to check his email, his inbox is
full of “verification” emails for these websites. Clicking on the “remove” link within
these emails takes him to the sites themselves to unsubscribe-which also brings up
detailed graphic images. One of the reference librarians, sees these images on Tony’s
screen, which are a violation of the library’s Internet policy, and suspends Tony’s Internet
privileges for one month.
7. Some students find a way to obtain system administrator passwords to the school
computer network. They learn how to mask the identity of the computers they are logging
in from, so no one can trace their actions or figure out who they are. The students use the
passwords to poke around the system, including reading some teachers’ files and tests.
When they finally get caught, they are in big trouble. The students know they have
broken the rules, but they claim that they did not delete or change files, look at personal
e-mail or student records, or even personally benefit from seeing the tests. Therefore,
they feel their punishment should not be too severe.
8. Charlene a senior at Eastern High School discovers that when she is logged into the
server she can look at others’ directories, make copies of files, and deposit new files. The
operating system was designed to allow this functionality so that people could share their
work. The vice principal objects when he observes Charlene poking around in another
student’s directory. She responds by saying, “If the system allows me to do it and there’s
no specific rule against it, what’s the problem?”