Cyber Ethics

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The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.

Cyber ethics is the philosophic study of ethics pertaining to computers, encompassing user behavior and what computers are programmed to do, and how this affects individuals and society. The Internet and modern technology have enabled the creation and sharing of vast amounts of content. The ease of documenting, sharing, and publishing resources has never been easier. Yet many of the guidelines and expectations around how to do this taking into account sensitivity to intellectual property – has been largely ignored. In some cases, it is simply either misunderstood and/or disputed.

Digital responsibility deals with the ethics of technology. Unethical use manifests itself in form of theft and/or crime. Ethical manifests itself in the form of abiding by the laws of society.” It is basically about what you are and are not allowed to do while surfing and using the Internet.

The GREY areas are those common behaviours that, in certain circumstances, seem to be appropriate and acceptable. For example, file sharing between students at school where it may be unclear who owns some of the original content.

Various types of violations related to digital domain are

• Illegal File Sharing – The sharing of files between people using computers connected to the internet. The term covers both the making available of the file (uploading), for instance on a file sharing service such as the YouTube to MP3 Website, and the downloading of that file from the internet to a computer.
• Pirating Software – When software which has been duplicated and distributed without authorization.
• Creating Viruses – A software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer.
• Hacking – Unauthorized use of computer and network resources.
• Stealing other’s Identity – When someone pretends to be someone else in order to access their personal information such as social security number, credit card, etc. in order to obtain resources or benefits.
• Copyright Infringement – The act of violating any of a copyright’s exclusive rights given to them by the country’s Copyright Act.

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