Information Technology

Engineering 124
Spring 2005
 Information Technology
 Appreciating the benefits
 Entertainment-games-DVD’s, etc.
 World Wide Web and the Internet
 Business data
 E-mail and e-commerce
 Digital libraries
 Automobiles/trucks/hybrid cars, ABS brake
sensors, night vision drivers
 Information Technology
 Distance learning.
 Speech recognition.
 Simulation-air traffic.
 Crime fighting-crime reports, records, analysis,
database fingerprints,etc.
 Health and medicine-ct, MRI, patient monitoring
devices, microprocessors, pacemakers, distance
surgery, device to control surgeons shaking,
computerized gene mapping, protein modeling,
telemedicine,
 Tools for disabled,
 Smart thing sensors,
 Reducing paper loss.
 Information Technology
 Ethical Issues
 Privacy and personal information
 Freedom of speech in cyberspace
 Intellectual property
 Cyber crime
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Intellectual colonialism
 Related to the internet and WWW:
 Loss of the ability to recognize relevance

 Acquiring skill

 Loss of a sense of the reality of people and

things
 Anonymity and nihilism
 Information Technology
 Ethical Issues
 Privacy and personal information
 Freedom of speech in cyberspace

 Intellectual property

 Cyber crime
Privacy and Personal Information
 What is the right to privacy?
 Background
 Legal decisions supporting privacy in social
and business activities were based on
property rights and contracts.
 1890, “The Right of Privacy”, by Samuel
Warren and Louis Brandeis, argued that
privacy should be a distinct right. Courts
still decide both ways.
 Privacy and IT
What are the privacy Issues related to IT?
 Freedom from intrusion of unwanted information into one’s
personal space There is no privacy violation if information is
obtained or published with the person’s consent.
 Spam (Junk)

 Unsolicited Commercial (UCE)

 Freedom from surveillance and improper access by

computer hacking [monitoring, tracking/interception]
 Cookie-Encryption/”Carnivore”

 Autonomy over personal collected and disclosed to others

 Theft

 Phishing

 Anonymity-Discuss under 1st Amendment

 Privacy and IT
What are the privacy Issues related to IT?
 Freedom from intrusion of unwanted information into one’s
personal space
 Spam (Junk Mail)/ Unsolicited Commercial (UCE)

 AOL v. Cyber Promotions. AOL got injunctive relief to

block incoming spam based on an infringement of
their property rights (i.e. spam used AOL computers,
costing the customer money and thus, giving AOL the
right to say what should come across their property).
 Opponents of the decision argue that the 1st
Amendment prohibits the government restricting our
freedom of speech. AOL is not a government
organization as such no right to block.
 Should a company like AOL be free to filter incoming
mail? Do filter’s violate spammer’s freedom of speech?
 Privacy and IT
What are the privacy Issues related to IT?
 Freedom from intrusion of unwanted

information into one’s personal space.

 Spam--Solutions

 Filters
 Anti-spam laws
 Problem with government interference is infringement of
1st Amendment rights.
 Restriction on commercial spam stand a better chance of
being restricted.
Provisions in proposed laws:
 Spam must be labeled so it can be easily filtered

 ISP’s must provide filters

 Spam must identify sender, include valid email

address, false and misleading subject lines are

prohibited and all unsolicited commercial email
banned.
 Privacy and Personal
Information
Freedom from surveillance & improper access by
others [improper monitoring, tracking, hacking
& interception]:
 Cookies--Website stores information about visitor’s
activity (data spillage--allow advertiser’s to use this
information or leaks due to the complexity of the
software
 Spyware--surfing monitors, buying habits, keystroke
monitors.
 Secondary Use of Information
 Sale of consumer information
 Computer matching-comparing databases
 Detecting fraud,
 Law enforcement
 Privacy and Personal
Information
Freedom from surveillance & improper access
by others [improper monitoring, tracking,
hacking & interception]:
 How do we balance the need for effective law enforcement
and guarantee our 4th Amendment right?
 Surveillance
 Global positioning devices-track our movement
 Cell phones and wireless watch bands for children
 “Carnivore” sniff’s information traffic going through net.
 FBI’s “Magic Lantern” program similar to “Carnivore”
except uses a different technology. Based on “key-
logging” program-tracks keystrokes to bypass code
breaking encryption software. (Used only with a court
order).
 Privacy and Personal
Information
 How do we balance the need for effective law
enforcement and guarantee our 4th
Amendment right?
 When does crime prevention become a
violation of 4th Amendment Rights?
 Patriot Act I & II
 Allows easier access for government agent to
use the above surveillance tools
 Privacy and Personal
Information
Freedom from surveillance & improper access by others
[improper monitoring, tracking, hacking & interception]:
 Encryption & Interception of Communication
Uses of Encryption
 Authentication
 Digital Cash (for buying services on the Web).
 electronic books, songs and movies sold on the
Web;

cable-television signals.
 Privacy and Personal
Information
 Freedom from surveillance & improper access
by others [improper monitoring, tracking,
hacking & interception]:
 Privacy Enhancing Technology

 Examples---Anonymizer.com and Zero Knowledge

to use digital money.
 Platform for Privacy (P3P). Software protecting
privacy and user specifies privacy level required.
 Businesses are getting the message and website
operators do privacy audits
 Privacy and Personal
Information
 Freedom to access information
 Hacking versus “Hacktivism”. Is Hacktivism a means
to safeguard human rights? [Freedom of Speech
issue]

“the combination of hacking in the traditional sense of the term--not

accepting technologies at face value, opening them up, understanding
how they work beneath the surface, and exploring the limits and
constraints they impose on human communications--social and
political activism is a potent combination and precisely the recipe I
advocate to students and use to guide my own research activities,”
--Professor Ronald Deibert, University of
Toronto’s Citizen’s Lab
 Privacy and Personal
Information
 Autonomy over personal information collected &
disclosed by others
 Biometics (Identification of bodily indicators such as
fingerprints, iris, bone structure in the hand, etc).
 School ID’s and civil liberties?
 How do you design privacy safeguards? Build them into system
rather than retrofit a complex system?
 Guard against theft, make system trustworthy, update system
without infringing on civil liberties?
 Phishing
 Email or access link containing request for data and it is fraudulent

 Debate over National ID Card-HR 418 and/or Standardized

driver’s licenses.
 Privacy and Personal
Information
What Privacy Protection and Regulations exist?
 4th Amendment-protection against intrusion
 Philosophical-Warren & Brandeis
 Free Market v. Consumer Protection view
 Contract
 Regulations (consider the cost to compliance)---Example:
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
 EU---Comprehensive Privacy Directive--Processing
personal data.
 Privacy and Personal
Information
 Encryption & Interception of Communication
 “The technologies of anonymity and cryptography may be the
only way to protect privacy.”

---Nadine Stossen, President of the American

Civil Liberties Union---
 Information Technology
 Ethical Issues
 Privacy and personal information
 Freedom of speech in cyberspace

 Intellectual property

 Cyber crime
 Freedom of Speech in
Cyberspace
 First Amendment
 “Congress shall make no law…abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press…”
 Protection against objectionable speech, pictures, and other
forms of expression of ideas and opinions
 Restriction are on “the power of government”, not individuals
or private business.
 Supreme Ct has developed guidelines
 for example advocating illegal acts is (usually) and truthful
advertising are protected
 Anonymity protected.
 Libel and direct, specific threats, Inciting violence, in certain
circumstances, are all illegal.
 Freedom of Speech in
Cyberspace
 Regulatory Paradigm
 Internet is given a high standard of protection by the
Courts
 For example the Communication Decency Act (CDA) 1996
was ruled unconstitutional even though this was an attempt to
regulate pornography that would impact children. Federal
Judge commented that “as the most participatory form of
mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest
protection from government intrusion.”
 Freedom of Speech in
Cyberspace
 Regulatory Paradigm
 Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations restrict

anonymity in the form of disclosure and financial

requirements established before the Web.
 Anonymity on the Internet is taken advantage of for criminal

and antisocial purposes.

 Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

 Child Online Protection Act (COPA) 1998

 Supreme Ct found it unconstitutional Targets Internet

terminals in schools and libraries that participate in

certain federal programs.
 Filters better solution
Offensive Speech
What is illegal?
 Obscenity is offensive and not protected by US
Constitution. Criteria for obscene material
 1) it depicts sexual acts whose depiction is
specifically prohibited by state law,
 2) it depicts these acts in a patently offensive
manner, appealing to prurient interest as judged by a
reasonable person using community standards, and
 3) it has no serious literary, artistic, social, political,
or scientific value.
Offensive Speech
What is illegal?
 1996, Congress passed the Child Pornography

Prevention Act to extend the law against child

pornography to include “virtual children”.
Supreme Ct rules in 2002 that it violated 1st
Amendment.
Censorship laws
 Talking about bombs
 No federal law against bomb information on
Internet until 1999--after shootings at Columbine
HS.
 Freedom of Speech in
Cyberspace
 Is Anonymity Protected?
 Right to express political opinion anonymously (in
print) is protected .
 Right to anonymity by IP is protected.
 Providers must have good identity protection programs and
must train their employees to monitor policy effectively.
[Stems from “sailor case’ AOL employee violated anonymity
of customers by selling list and provider held liable].
 Information Technology
 Ethical Issues
 Privacy and personal information
 Freedom of speech in cyberspace

 Intellectual property

 Cyber crime
 Intellectual Property
 Intangible creative work protected
 U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 of the U.S. Code of
Federal Regulations)
 Copyright holder has exclusive rights (life of
the holder plus 70 years), with some
exceptions (backup software permitted):
 To make copies; to produce derivative; to perform in
public; to display work in public.
 Intellectual Property
 Cheating
 “Rising Number of Cheating Cases Being
Reported At UC Berkeley”
 Professors Aided by Improved Plagiarism-tracking Devices
 IT makes it easy for students to plagiarize papers posted
online by copying and pasting text into documents.
 Tracking cheaters also easier
 Intellectual Property
Legislative History
 No Electronic Theft Act (1997)
 Act makes it a criminal offense to willfully
infringe copyright by reproducing or distributing
one or more copies of copyrighted works with a
total value of more than $1000 within a six
month period.
 Intellectual Property
 Fair-Use Doctrine (Copyright Act of 1976)
 Four factors to consider in determining whether
particular use is fair
 Commercial or non-profit educational purpose
 Nature of copyrighted work (creative v. factual)
 Amount and significance of portion used
 Effect of the use on the market or value of the
copyrighted work
 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
 Extends copyright from life of the author plus 50
years, to the life of the author plus 70 years.
 Intellectual Property
 Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA] (1998)
 Prohibits the making, distributing, or using of tools
(devices, software, or services) to circumvent
technological copyright protection by copyright
holders (encryption).
 Protects Internet Service Providers (IPSs) from
liability for copyright infringement by their users. (In
exchange IPS obligated to provide copyright
holders with the identities of suspected infringers
subject to certain safeguards
 Intellectual Property
Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA cont.)
 Content Scrambling System (CSS) or CSS-compatible open-
source software known as DeCSS.
 CSS, (which includes both player-host mutual authentication and
data encryption), is used to protect the content of DVDs from
piracy and to enforce region-based viewing restrictions.
 DeCSS, which is open source, allows Linux-based systems to
access the content of DVDs by emulating a licensed player and
performing the authentication and decryption.
 Court ruled that distribution of the DeCSS source code violates the
Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and it is illegal to distribute
CSS compatible source code, including by URL reference ("link")
to the same.
 Another court found 1st Amendment protects the software?
Inconsistent rulings!
 Intellectual Property

Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA cont.)

 Content Scrambling System (CSS) or CSS-compatible open-
source software known as DeCSS.
 “there exists a very clear distinction between human ideas expressed
unambiguously and concisely in source code and the machine that
exists after this source code is compiled or interpreted, and made
runnable within a machine's memory. I believe that ideas expressed
in this source code are Constitutionally protected speech, and that
only the executible machine may be considered a "circumvention
technology". “
--Gregory Kesden, Professor Computer Science-- Carnegie
Mellon University, 15-412/Fall 2000
 Intellectual Property

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA cont.)

 Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) Form of digital
copyright protection. Case in which team of researchers found
flaws in the scheme of the encryption mechanism, however,
decided not to present paper with their findings for fear of DMCA
lawsuit. But the contents of the paper leaked anyway. A
watchdog group brought a law suit.
 DMCA has exception for encryption research and development
but the scope is unclear and DMCA ultimately has chilling effect
on research and development. Fear of prosecution could cause
researchers to leave the country eroding leadership in the field.
 Intellectual Property
 Ethical argument about copying
 Who owns the content ?
 What are the rights of the owner of the media? Can they
backup their material?
 Who should be held liable for infringement
 Individual consumer? (Napster)

 Internet Service Provider?

 What are the rights of business and Universities

 Intellectual Property
 Major Legal Decisions
 Sony v. Universal [Betamax Case] (1986)
 Allows home users to make video recordings of programs for
archival and non-commercial purposes
 Makers of recording devices not liable if the device has
substantial legal uses if some people use it to infringe on
copyright laws.
 Intellectual Property
 Major Legal Decisions
 Napster
 Issues
 Was copying and distribution of music by Napster

illegal?
 Was Napster responsible?

 Fair Use
 Was it similar to Betamax case? Copying songs for

personal use permissible but “personal” meant very

limited use not trading 1000’s of copies.
 However, it seems it was the impact on the market for

the songs that justified the courts ruling.

 Intellectual Property

 Napster’ s legal responsibility-Court ruled that Napster

“knowingly encouraged and assisted in the infringement of
copyrights”.
 Napster argued that it had legitimate uses in promoting new
artists, etc who were willing to let users copy their songs.
 Music industry argued that Napster used technology to aid
copyright infringement
 Court decided that Napster was different from Betamax in that
Betamax’s relationship with the user stopped when they bought
the machine whereas Napster interacted with customers and
was therefore liable because it failed to supervise use.
 In addition it had an ongoing financial interest in activities.
 Intellectual Property
 Major Legal Decisions
 MGM v. Grokster

 Twenty-eight of the world's largest

entertainment companies brought the
lawsuit against the makers of the Morpheus,
Grokster, and KaZaA software products,
posing the question of when can a
distributor of a multi-purpose tool be held
liable for the infringements that may be
committed by end-users of the tool?
 Intellectual Property
 Major Legal Decisions
 MGM v. Grokster

 Their theory of liability holds that Grokster and

StreamCast are responsible for the software users'
copyright infringement -- either because they
contribute to users' infringement, or because the
infringement is, in effect, their own. These two
varieties of infringement are called "contributory"
and "vicarious" infringement, respectively.
 Court is faced with deciding between competing

needs: innovation and creativity and copyright

laws.
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. Grokster
 difference between VCRs and the software
 "Time-shifting" is a classic instance of "fair use" exempt from the
copyright law.
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. GROKER
Why the stakes are potentially momentous
 The stakes in the case considered higher than in Sony.
 If the plaintiffs win, distributors of software that allows peer-to-peer file sharing will face
immense damage awards that are likely to put them out of business -
 use of offshore servers and companies -- which are beyond the jurisdiction of U.S.
courts -- as well as of anonymity -- you can't effectively hold an unknown person
liable -- will mean that peer-to-peer file sharing continues. Thus, it may well be that
this is, in effect, an unstoppable technology.
 It might also stigmatize peer-to-peer file sharing in the eyes of some - especially if
the Supreme Court used stern language equating piracy to theft, and derogating
peer-to-peer file sharing software as a criminal's tool.
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. Grokster
 Why the stakes are potentially momentous
 On the other hand, if the defendants win, the market for peer-to-peer file
sharing software will probably boom.

 In addition, the software distributed by Grokster and StreamCast will provide

a model of how to craft such software so that it passes legal muster; so
those who seek to distribute similar software may simply opt to reverse-
engineer the software that the Court has already blessed.

 The upshot of this analysis is that the Court may reach for a compromise
solution. One such solution might be to require Grokster and StreamCast to
police their networks for users' infringement.
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. Grokster .
 Why the stakes are potentially momentous?
 In sum, a win for the defendants here seems lawless - as if it would, in effect,
give a Supreme Court blessing to a possible scofflaw community. But a win for
the plaintiffs seems somehow un-American - allowing courts to tell companies
what to do, even though the companies aren't themselves breaking the law.

 We don't even do this with gun manufacturers whose products are used by
some to kill. Is the Supreme Court likely to mandate it for mere software
distributors whose products are used by some to infringe copyright?

 The court has substantial freedom here

 Similar difficult questions arise within a theory of "vicarious" infringement. A key

question is: Did the software distributor have the "right and ability" to supervise
for infringement?
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. Grokster .
 How might the distributor reserve the right and ability to supervise for
infringement? It might require users to agree to provide copyright registration or
licenses for each use of the software. Obviously, that would be quite
burdensome for the user.

 And doing so might only put the distributor in a worse legal position: Ironically,
this test seems to suggest that the distributor will be better off if it remains
ignorant of illegal uses, for then it cannot be held vicariously liable for them.

 Some courts might want to address this irony by saying that the distributor must
reserve this right and this ability -- and thus must expose itself to a vicarious
infringement claim. But arguably, a court that forced this, might be going too far.
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. Grokster
 Why the stakes are potentially momentous

 Given that Congress has not specifically required the inclusion of such
provisions in the relevant contracts, should courts interpreting copyright
law take it upon themselves to tell Grokster how to structure its software,
and force it to police its own users? Or should the onus be on copyright
owners to devise "lockware" that makes illegal uses of particular files
impossible?

 Reasonable minds can differ on the answers to all these questions, I think
-- and for this reason, the Supreme Court will likely feel free to make law,
rather than to simply interpret it, in this crucial case.

FIRST NAME:
 Intellectual Property
 MGM v. Grokster
 Why the stakes are potentially momentous
 A key question is: Did the software distributor have the "right and ability" to
supervise for infringement?
 We don’t even do this with gun manufacturers whose products are used by some
to kill. Is the Supreme Court likely to mandate it for mere software distributors
whose products are used by some to infringe copyright?

 Reasonable minds can differ on the answers to all these questions, I think --
and for this reason, the Supreme Court will likely feel free to make law,
rather than to simply interpret it, in this crucial case.

FIRST NAME:
 Intellectual Property
 Peer to Peer
 Benefits-allows for Open Source and enhanced
research capability and collaboration
 Consistent with a network or ecological
worldview/paradigm
 Downside-copyright infringement
 Intellectual Property
 Webcasting generally refers to the streaming of audio on the
Internet. It is sometimes called "Internet radio” and licenses are
required for each of the two copyrighted works embodied in a
musical recording (underlying music and recording).
 DMCA allows webcaster to provide programing without
obtaining individual license provided
 Offers non-interactive programing
 Primarily offer audio or other entertainment programing as opposed to
selling music or promoting particular products
 Information Technology
 Ethical Issues
 Privacy and personal information
 Freedom of speech in cyberspace

 Intellectual property

 Cyber crime
 Information Technology
 Ethical Issues
 Cyber crime
 Child pornography
 Copyright piracy
 Consumer fraud
 Embezzlement
 Attacks on digital assets (computer is the target)
 Identity theft

 Identity changed (programmer to criminal)

 Medical records changed

 Life of investigator erased

 Information Technology
 Factual Issues
 Privacy and personal information
 Freedom of speech in cyberspace
 Intellectual property
 Cyber crime
 Axiological Issues
 Colonialization of consciousness through IT.
 Related to “On the Internet”
 Loss of the ability to recognize relevance

 Acquiring skill

 Loss of a sense of the reality of people and things

 Anonymity and nihilism

 Broader Impacts of IT
 Computers and Community
 Reduce face to face gathering and hurts local
community resulting in “isolation” and eroding the
family and community life.
 Robert Putman argues that an indicator is the number of
clubs that people join--other factors at play including:
modern transportation and communication (increased
mobility), changes in family patterns and TV.
 Addiction to computers and TV
 Digital divide---Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility (CPRS) push for universal access.
 Broader Impacts of IT
 Criticism of Computer Technology
 Unemployment and deskilling of jobs
 “Manufacture needs”
 Social injustice
 Dehumanizing
 Separates humans from nature
 Benefits big business and big government
 Use in schools thwarts development of social skill,
human values, intellectual skills and create an “ominous
uniformity of knowledge” consistent with corporate
values.
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Information colonialism
 Peter Hershock “A Buddhist Response to the

Information Age”
 Related to the Internet
 Loss of the ability to recognize relevance

 Acquiring skill

 Loss of a sense of the reality of people and

things
 Anonymity and nihilism
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Loss of the ability to recognize relevance
 Limitations of hyperlinks---Web crawlers and search

engines respond only to Syntax and not meaning.

 Failure of AI and limitation of information retrieval---

we need bodies to provide a sense of relevance that

comes from background and tacit knowledge and
primary knowledge.
Note: Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking Malcolm
Gladwell
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Loss of the ability to recognize relevance
 How the actual shape and movement of our bodies

play a crucial role in our making sense of our world,

so that loss of embodiment would lead to loss of the
ability to recognize relevance.
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Distance Learning and Acquiring skill
 Every stage of skill acquisition beyond the first three

requires personal involvement. Something must be

risked. Professional and cultural skills passed on
only by means of apprenticeship.
 People acquire skill by imitating the style of experts

in specific domains and acquire the style of their

culture in order to gain “practical wisdom”.
 Body picks up shared moods, etc.
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Loss of a sense of the reality of people and things---
telepresense
 Decartes concluded that we are only directly present

to the content of our minds (not the world or even our

bodies).
 James and Dewey argued that the continual stream of

feedback we get from the world gives us a direct

sense of reality.
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Loss of a sense of the reality of people and things---
telepresense
 Merleau-Ponty claims that we need our bodies to get

“an optimal grip on the world” and to be able to grasp

the parts and the whole
 Our physical presence in a situation gives us a sense

of both our power and of our vulnerability.

 Risk encourages meaning
 Information Technology
 Axiological issues
 Anonymity and nihilism
 Web turns us into anonymous spectator with nothing

at risk and no commitment. Tendency for many to

keep up on everything trivial. Chat rooms give us the
opportunity to play at being many selves
 The ethical sphere (Kierkegaard) involves mature,

unconditional commitments. What role does the Web

play in stimulating such commitments?
 Information Technology

 Axiological issues Related to On The Internet

 Anonymity and nihilism
 What risk do we encounter on the Net?

 Kierkegaard said of the present age, “it transforms

the task itself into an unreal feat of artifice, and

reality into a theatre”