Internet Ethics: Issues that Push the Boundaries

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Internet Ethics: Issues that Push the Boundaries

Ethics in a Virtual World

While the internet has brought with it a vast amount of resources, business opportunities, artistic expressions and an endless number of new conveniences, it has not been without its share of criticisms. With the emergence of this virtually unsupervised world, has come the realization that "the internet knows no physical boundaries and also no moral or ethical ones"(Emmans, 2000, p.25). The internet is a world that seems to meet every type of person's needs, wants, and expectations. Therefore, defining a set of ethics and then regulating the content of the web based on it would inevitably violate someone's constitutional rights. A few of the most ethically and morally scrutinized areas of the internet have been the use of the web to display/sell pornography, to present false information or identities, and to provide data and files suspected of enabling and promoting piracy. Aspects of each of these types of internet information have caused a stir among many who question the benefits of the freedom and leeway that the web provides. These questions and controversies introduce "the free speech and censorship debate"(Porter, 1998, p. 122). In the book, Rhetorical Ethics and Internetworked Writing, James Porter examines this debate and recognizes that although free speech is a right, harassment is a form of free speech in which legal action can be taken(1998)

Internet Pornography: Easy Access

Possibly the largest, easiest to access and most accessed type of information on the internet is pornography. Perhaps this is the reason, in addition to its controversial content, why it is so widely discussed and judged. Concerns about porn on the web are b...

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...orporation.

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Emmans, Cindy. (2000, September). Internet Ethics Won't Go Away. Education Digest, 66(1), 24-26.

Morris-Cotterill, Nigel. (1999, August). Use and Abuse of the Internet in Fraud and Money Laundering. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 13(2), 211-229.

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Business Software Alliance(BSA). (2000-2001). Internet Piracy. Retrieved December 6, 2001, from http://new.bsa.org/usa/netpiracy.

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