Cyber Ethics (Essay Sample)

Cyber ethics
This is known to be the study of code of ethics that are used pertaining computer networking and what behavior should be expected in such cases. It also deals with what computer is networks are used and how they are programmed (Richtel, 2004). This affects all computer users and the community at large. Some of the ethics that will be dealt with is how ethical it is to display people’s personal information or their location like some networking programmes do. Others will be things like ownership of data, security, privacy and freedom among others (Spinello 2006).
Thesis: Computer networking has standard of ethics that should be upheld.
There have been several controversies concerning ethics that apply in cyber and computer programmes. However, all of the issues are centered on freedom to get information form a computer and at which point it becomes too much. There is an issue on the right of ownership especially intellectual property rights (McGowan, 2007). There are so many documents that are being uploaded on the internet such as music, films and file sharing of certain things. This is due to advancement in technology that has improved on anonymity when it comes to doing these things. There are programmes that have been developed that help people to transfer certain files from one network to another. This was first experience in programs such as Napster that was very rare and then went on to be recognized in BitTorrent program which is one of communication protocol (Reynolds, 2010).
Most of these shared files are pirated since some of it is copyrighted which makes it illegal to do this transferring. There is a question that has been raised whether it is ethical to transfer copyrighted music in any way. There are those that have argued that sharing files and this is including the copyrighted ones unrestrictedly, is one of the things that has made people have a faster and broader access to media. They argue that artists of certain music have become popular by use of sharing creating a positive exposure to them. However, others have argued that people who have produced original data should be able to get their income from the toils of their works (Bott, 2010).
This is mostly by pointing out that these artists earn very little money from their work if they put their original music on internet. There is also the same debate existing when it comes to software development ownership. The views that are being discussed in such case are by use of views opposing each other. These is having sources of these soft wares being closed and being distributed on licenses that have been restricted or the software that has been free and open (Freeman & Peace 2004).hose supporting the open source argue that information should be available to everybody who is studying them while those proposing restricted sources argue that there has to be incentives available for a software development to be of use (Herman, 2010).
When it comes to security, there has been a very serious debate on how secure it is to use cyber in today’s world. This is in the wake of having cyber terrorism in the world, where terrorist are communicating using internet and new technology to reach each other. However, there are those that are not in support of having common good of the community being protected by keeping tabs on what is talked of in cyberspace. It is important to note that with people putting their personal data on internet, identity can be stolen and used by other people when they are committing cyber crimes. This is possible since many hackers are present in the computer networking, many of those who have specialized in the way computer networking happens (Schneider, 2000). This is what brings on the question as to whether cyber activities should be regulated or watched over.
There is another issue on how accurate information got from the internet is. This is because it is hard to get who is responsible for making that information authentic and maintain its fidelity this also brings up the issue of when and who on the right track to contribute this information (Quinn, n.d.).
Usually, there has to be a person who should take the fall in case this information is not right and in case there is a wrong use of such information. The information should e accurate and should not cause harm to anybody. There are those who distort good information for personal purposes and not caring as to who gets hurts in the belief of the false information being believed. Other ethical issues that have been raised are those that are dealing with censorship, accessibility and filtering of information. This is where people do not understand of the terms that deal with privacy, participation and security of the society. There are programs that have been set up in order to oversee security and protection of certain groups that are found in the society (Ess, 2009).
These are applications that are mostly used in controlling or filtering information passed on to users of computer networks. This is what makes some information not to be easily found or accessed without circumvention that is elaborate or on a level where business and personal information is obtained. This is done by use of content-control software which filters the information that seems to be out to cause harm to people or certain age groups who should not view it. This is where people argue whether it is better to have people access information on certain levels or should the information be regulated in terms of where it is directed. There are groups that have been formed to bring awareness on accessibility (Akdeniz 2001).
Filtering and censoring of information is happening all the way from small scale to large scale business industries. This is where benefits are considered in various places and the information released depending of the analysis made by regulating bodies. An example is where censorship of certain information which is done by Golden Shield Project in China or bodies such as League Against Racism and Antisemitism also known as LICRA where they control access to certain information online or offline (Warren 1998) (Network Working Group, 1989).
Conclusion
Just as we have discussed above, most of these ethics deal with freedom involved in communicating certain information as one of people’s rights. However, this should not be at expense of safety of others in the community. This means that there should be a boundary as to where the restriction on using cyber space reaches and they should be well thought and applied. There are those people that should be considered when one is thinking of putting information on internet and there also are copyrights that need to be respected when people are contemplating sharing files on line. This is to say that there should be a respect for intellectual property rights (Barlow, 1996).
There should be a certain level of freedom to discuss anything on internet and everybody has a right to say anything they want to on internet as long as they are expressing themselves. This has well been stipulated in freedom of speech and information all people have a right to be well informed on issues that are taking place (Harris, 2003). This is subject of being limited depending on the society one comes from and the culture that exists. Internet is a media-like medium of passing across messages from one person to another and should be regulated by each government so that it ban be used for the benefit of all people in the society.
Works cited
Akdeniz, Y. (2001). HYPERLINK "-rights.org" "Case Analysis of League Against Racism and Antisemitism (LICRA), French Union of Jewish Students, v Yahoo! Inc. (USA), Yahoo France, Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris (The County Court of Paris), Interim Court Order, 20 November 2000"  HYPERLINK "-rights.org/"
-rights.org/. [April 19, 2012].
 HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perry_Barlow" \o "John Perry Barlow" Barlow, J. P. (1996).  HYPERLINK "http://homes.eff.org/%7Ebarlow/Declaration-Final.html" "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace."  HYPERLINK "https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html"
https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html. [April 19, 2012].
Bott, F. (2011).“ Professional issue in information technology.” British Computer Society.
Ess, C. (2009)....