Ethics and Legal
Issues in Computing
Dannelly's CSCI 101 class
Ethics - SPAM
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Costs
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40% of email is SPAM
consumes lots of disk space!!!
bandwidth?
www.spam-uk.com/images/BlackPepperCan.jpg
Ethics Issues
CAN SPAM Act of 2003
The bill permits e-mail marketers to send unsolicited
commercial e-mail as long as it contains all of the following:
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an opt-out mechanism;
a valid subject line and header (routing) information;
the legitimate physical address of the mailer; and
a label if the content is adult
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_Spam_Act_of_2003
Ethics Issues
Ethics - Web Censorship
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The US government does not censor content
 several
anti-web-porn laws have been struck down as
unconstitutional
 CIPA requires libraries to install filter software
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Many Foreign governments do censor web
content
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Are ISPs responsible for what their users' post?
 maybe
Ethics - Online Privacy
 Q:
Does shopping online at home
give you more or less privacy?
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more privacy - your neighbors will not see you there
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less privacy - online shopping gives the company
much more info about you (exactly what you looked
at, how long you looked, other places that you shop,
etc…)
Beware of those cookies!
Ethics Issues
Online Privacy Example
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DoubleClick.com gathers cookie data from
advertising banners placed on many web sites
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DC can cross-reference data to build profiles of
individual users' surfing habits
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DC owns Abacus Inc., a consumer database
company containing the names, addresses,
phone numbers, etc... of 90% of American
Households
Legal Issues
Legal Issue: Workplace Privacy
Question: How much
privacy are you entitled to
at work? Is your
company allowed to read
your email? …
 Answer: They can do
almost anything. It is their
office, their phone, their
computer, etc.
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Legal Issues
Privacy v. Government
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Katz v US
 police
must have a warrant to eavesdrop
and record a phone conversation

USA PATRIOT Act
 warrants
to monitor phones and email are VERY
easy to get
Legal Issues
Katz v United States
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without a warrant, police placed a bug on the
outside of a public phone booth used by Katz to
make illegal bets
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In 1967, the US Supreme Court ruled Katz's
rights were violated.
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Katz reasonably thought his conversation was
private, hence the recording was an illegal search
and seizure
the 4th amendment protects people, not places
the 4th amendment governs seizure of tangible items,
as well as recording of oral statements
Legal Issues
Patriot Act
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Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT)
allows officials to track emails without showing
probable cause
allows roving surveillance for intelligence (not
just crime investigation)
tapped device does not have to be owned by the
suspect
search warrants no longer have to be served
warrants for records do not require probable
cause
…
Legal Issues
Legal Issues - Intellectual Property
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Intellectual Property is any unique product of
the human intellect that has commercial value.
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For example: books, songs, movies, software
No Electronic Theft Act of 1997
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illegal to reproduce or distribute (even without profit)
more than $1,000 worth of copyrighted material in 6
months.
Opinion Homework
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Dannelly Software Inc. created software to
allow researchers to share data files over
the internet.
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Should Dannelly Software Inc be held
responsible if you use its software to
illegally share files over the internet?
Legal Issues
Sony v Universal Studios
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In 1976, Universal and Disney sued Sony
stating that the Betamax enabled people to
copy copyrighted material.
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In 1983, the supreme court ruled 5-4 that the
private, noncommercial use of copyrighted
material is "fair use".
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Also, the Betamax machine could copy noncopyrighted as well as copyrighted material.
Legal Issues
MGM v Grokster
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MGM et.al. sued because 90% of
Grokster content was copyrighted.
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Lower court judge quickly ruled in favor of Grokster.
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citing Sony v Universal, Grokster has "substantial noninfringing uses"
August 2004
Supreme Court overruled in favor of MGM et.al.
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"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting
its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other
affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting
acts of infringement by third parties."
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June 2005, vote count was 9-0
Legal Issues
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
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illegal to possess the technology to
circumvent copyright protection technology
 eg.
figuring out how to decode a DVD that you own is
illegal
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making any copy of a digital copyrighted
work is prohibited
 eg.
making a backup copy of a software application is
illegal (unless the maker says okay).
Legal Issues
Computer Crime

Most corporate computer crime
is done by employees
58% unauthorized employees
 24% authorized employees
 13% outside hacker
 5% other
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Legal Issues
Computer Crime
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Stealing Corporate Data
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Destroying Corporate Data
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Denial of Service Attack
 you
can shut down cnn.com by quickly hitting
it with thousands of bogus requests
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Making and Spreading Viruses
Viruses
Harmful Software
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Virus
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usually destroys files
 copies itself
 ex - a MSWord macro sent via email
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Worm
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objective: destroy the network, not your PC
 copies itself via network connections
Viruses
Harmful Software
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Trojan Horse
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arrives inside something else
 replicates itself
 the really bad ones wait for a particular date
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Spyware
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objective: steal information
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personal information (bank account info, …)
passwords
monitor and transmit web activity
Viruses
Virus Protection
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Anti-Virus Software
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looks for known viruses and common virus
formats
Firewalls
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prohibits unauthorized external access
 good for cable modem users who leave their
machine on
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Be Careful of Cookies
Next Classes…
Next Week:
Storing Information
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media : flash drives, CDs, …
image and movie files
the defrag program
etc...
Two Weeks from Today:
Midterm Exam