Reflection Blog 1

So far, the assigned readings have provided a general overview of the ethical issues that we face with information technology, as well as theories that can be used to evaluate these issues. With the advances in technology, the digital world definitely brings rise to many ethical issues. While the introduction to the online world has provided many advantages, including additional ways to communicate and collaborate and more accessible tools and services, it also opens the door to a completely different category of ethical issues.

As I read through the chapters, I found it hard to construct a solid opinion on many of the ethical issues discussed. Instead, I found myself constantly changing my mind on what I thought was right or wrong. One topic in particular was on the disputes concerning intellectual property, or even more specifically, the discussion of downloading copyrighted music from the internet. As with all ethical issues, I feel like there is more than one way to view the situation, therefore making it difficult to take one side. The argument that the software industry provided seems too logical to not be valid. The argument that I am referring to is:

PREMISE 1. Stealing a tangible object is morally wrong.

PREMISE 2. Making an unauthorized copy of proprietary software is identical to stealing a tangible object.

CONCLUSION. Making unauthorized copies of proprietary software is morally wrong.

(Tavani, p. 233)

Although I think it is a valid argument, it is still hard to consider both situations to be of the same severity. When I asked my roommates for their opinions on the matter, their responses also seemed to vary.

Another thing that I read, which I found a little shocking, was the actions that the recording industry took in an attempt to stop unauthorized sharing of copyrighted music files online. Tavani states, “One way it [the recording industry] fought back was by uploading corrupted music files onto the popular P2P sites, so that users downloading these files would be discouraged from downloading music from those sites” (Tavani, p. 239). I found it a little shocking that the recording industry would handle the situation in such a way.