CMPSC 309
Study Guide for Final
Spring 2007
Your final exam is scheduled for Thursday, May 10 from 8-9:50AM. You will have all that time to devote
to it. Please make sure you arrive on time, as you will not be able to stay later than 9:50 to complete your
work. The test is mainly short essay format, with questions coming from the list of questions provided on this
hand-out. Full credit for your answers depends on your ability to address the questions with a grounding in
the material we have covered this semester. A list of the concepts that we have studied this semester is
provided below, along with related sections from your text and our additional readings.
Readings:
Quinn, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
Brey, Disclosive Computer Ethics
Foster & Jaeger, RFID Inside: The Murky Ethics of Implanted Chips
MacFarland, Urgency of Ethical Standards Intensifies in Computer Community
Martin & Schinzinger, Codes of Ethics
Moor, Just Consequentialism in Computing
Moor, Towards a Theory of Privacy in the Information Age
Nissenbaum, Should I Copy My Neighbor’s Software?
Samuelson, Computer Programs and Copyright’s Fair Use Doctrine
Shneiderman, ACM’s Computing Professionals Face New Challenges
Velazquez et al, A Framework for Moral Decision Making
Topics:
Introductory computer ethics
Ethical theories & their application
Digital Divide
Intellectual property issues
Privacy issues
Computer system reliability issues
Professional ethics for computing professionals
Introductory computer ethics
 When you implement Johnson’s definition of computer ethics issues (new species of older ethical
problems), how do you proceed? I.e., given a particular area (such as privacy, reliability or
intellectual property), how do you approach the ethical issues using Johnson’s definition?
 When you implement Moor’s definition of computer ethics issues (conceptual muddles, policy
vacuums), how do you proceed? I.e., given a particular area (such as privacy, reliability or
intellectual property), how do you approach the ethical issues using Moor’s definition?
Ethical theories & their application
 What are Gert’s four requirements for sound moral systems? Explain why each is important. Add a
fifth of your own. Justify its addition to the list.
 What role do core values play in the establishment of a moral system? Why do we say that it is
rational to protect one’s own core values, but ethical to protect others’ as well?
 Why do we say that ethical relativism is a non-viable ethical theory?
 When we begin to analyze a particular problem of ethics, why is it valuable to start with a
stakeholder analysis? How does this type of analysis inform a Kantian approach? A utilitarian
approach? A social contract theory approach?
 Explain how the two Categorical Imperatives combine to define Kantianism.
 Explain two major strengths & two major weaknesses of the Kantian theory of ethics.
 Explain how the valuing of happiness, the slogan “the greatest good for the greatest number,” and
the importance of consequences all fit together to form the utilitarian theory.
 Explain two major strengths & two major weaknesses of the utilitarian theory of ethics.
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Explain the basis of social contract theory and how Rawls’ Principles of Justice improve upon the
basic theory.
Explain two major strengths & two major weaknesses of the social contract theory of ethics.
Describe a non-computer-related example in which the Kantian approach makes the most immediate
sense. Justify your answer.
Describe a non-computer-related example in which the utilitarian approach makes the most
immediate sense. Justify your answer.
Describe a non-computer-related example in which the social contract theory approach makes the
most immediate sense. Justify your answer.
How do analogies assist us in crafting ethical analyses? Within the realm of computer ethics, what
are the advantages and disadvantages of relying on analogies to particular scenarios or problems?
What are the steps involved in performing a just consequentialist analysis? Be sure to provide them
in the proper order.
What are the main points of disclosive computer ethics?
Discuss the morality of breaking the law from the perspectives of our ethical theories.
Digital Divide
 How is the digital divide a new species of an older ethical problem?
 Provide a stakeholder analysis of the digital divide.
 On what basis would each of these theories oppose the digital divide?
o Kantianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory
 Imagine that you have graduated (yes!) and are a computer professional out in the working world!
Describe what you might do to address the digital divide problem (at work, in the community etc)
Intellectual property
 How and why have intellectual property rights issues changed since the advent of digital media and
the Internet?
 Discuss the legal concept of fair use from an ethical perspective.
 Provide arguments pro and con to software copying, using Kantian, utilitarian and social contract
theories. Which do you find most compelling?
 How is the growing popularity of open source software and its accessibility changing the landscape
of the software property rights debate?
 Your boss asks you to install unlicensed software on every machine in your department (ten pc’s in
all). Outline the argument (based in ethical analysis) you will give him in opposition to this action.
 Which is more likely to enable an ethical solution to the protection of intellectual property in digital
media: stricter copyright laws or new technologies that incorporate more sophisticated anticopying features? (This question is adapted from your text.)
Privacy issues
 Why have we had to reshape our thinking about privacy ethics with the advent of widespread
computerization? Consider the methods of data collection, storage and use, as well as more current
definitions of data itself.
 Discuss Moor’s concepts of greased data and zones of privacy.
 Discuss this statement: “If you don’t have anything to hide, you shouldn’t be concerned about
electronic surveillance (workplace monitoring, cameras at intersections etc)
 An employee in the data department of a major credit card company uses a data-mining software
package on the company’s databases to explore patterns of customer behavior (purchasing habits,
payment behavior etc). She notices that certain zip codes are highly correlated with loan defaults,
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and that, in fact, the company’s generated revenue in these areas is generally less than its losses. She
also notices that individuals with certain recognizable ethnic surnames typically charge over $50,000
in purchases annually, and pay these charges off in a timely manner. She presents these findings to
her boss who congratulates her and advocates marketing strategies that follow from the software’s
uncovering of these trends. Analyze this scenario from a Kantian, utilitarian and social contract
theory perspective. (adapted from Johnson, Computer Ethics)
Most website’s privacy policies have changed dramatically in recent years. Discuss how and why
they have changed.
Computer system reliability issues
 How reliable can we expect complex computer systems (hardware/software) to be?
 Why is the Y2K problem an excellent example of modern computer reliability issues?
 Using Moor’s “zones of privacy” concept as a starting point, discuss what a “levels of reliability”
concept might look like. You will need to consider different kinds of computer applications and the
consequences of their unsuccessful operation.
 Choose a position and support it: Most people do / do not trust computers.
Professional ethics for computing professionals
 What is meant by “professional ethics?”
 A few years ago, I heard a student in a computer ethics class say “Why do we have to study all this
stuff? When I’m out in the computer profession, my company will have a legal department, and
they’ll tell me what I can or cannot do.” What do you say to this student?
 Discuss the pros and cons of codes of ethics, using Martin & Schinzinger’s aricle as a guide.
 What is whistle-blowing? Discuss whistle-blowing from a Kantian perspective. From a
utilitarian perspective. From a social contract theory perspective.