Trespass and Kyosei in Cyberspace

Author(s):  
Richard A. Spinello

This chapter considers the theme of trespass in cyberspace. In order to prevent unauthorized use of their data several U.S. companies have hastily filed lawsuits alleging trespass to chattels. But some of this data usage, especially for metasites, is socially valuable. Nonetheless, the courts are generally sympathetic with these trespass claims even if this means that activities like spidering or e-mail are constrained in certain contexts. Legal scholars have criticized this trend because it creates a novel property right in factual data which is not eligible for copyright protection. These legal concerns are justified, but what should moralists be saying about this matter? We argue here that both eastern and western philosophies recognize the need to respect the common good of a community or common venture. This awareness should temper a company’s narrow focus on proprietary property rights. We attempt to define the Net’s common good (or commonly shared values) and make the case that Internet users have a prima facie duty to support that common good. Thus, prudent and morally responsible companies operating on the Net will seek to balance their property entitlements with this affirmative duty to support the Internet’s common good. There is no magic formula for achieving this precarious balance, but we offer some general criteria that will orient managers toward the right direction. Finally, we explain that a private settlement of trespass matters is clearly welfare-enhancing.

Horizons ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-134
Author(s):  
Patrick T. McCormick

ABSTRACTMany oppose the mandatum as a threat to the academic freedom of Catholic scholars and the autonomy and credibility of Catholic universities. But the imposition of this juridical bond on working theologians is also in tension with Catholic Social Teaching on the rights and dignity of labor. Work is the labor necessary to earn our daily bread. But it is also the vocation by which we realize ourselves as persons and the profession through which we contribute to the common good. Thus, along with the right to a just wage and safe working conditions, Catholic Social Teaching defends workers' rights to a full partnership in the enterprise, and calls upon the church to be a model of participation and cooperation. The imposition of the mandatum fails to live up to this standard and threatens the jobs and vocations of theologians while undermining this profession's contribution to the church.


2020 ◽  
pp. 34-50
Author(s):  
Terence Irwin

Aristotle agrees with Plato that virtue requires the cooperation of the rational and the non-rational parts of the soul, and that the virtuous person is always better off than the non-virtuous, even though virtue alone is not sufficient for happiness. To strengthen Plato’s argument for this claim, he offers a more detailed account of the nature of happiness, and of the relation between virtue and happiness. Since happiness is the supreme human good, it should be identified with rational activity in accordance with virtue in a complete life, in which external circumstances are favourable. A virtue of character is the appropriate agreement between the rational and the non-rational parts of the soul, aiming at fine action (i.e., action that promotes the common good). This requirement of appropriate agreement distinguishes virtue from continence (mere control of the rational over the non-rational part). To show that a life of virtue, so defined, promotes the agent’s happiness, Aristotle argues that one’s own happiness requires the right kind of friendship with others, in which one aims at the good of others for their own sake.


Author(s):  
Joseph T. Gilbert

What does ethics have to do with computer security in the new millennium? What, for that matter, did it have to do with computer security in the old millennium? To answer these two questions, we will start with a more fundamental question: what is ethics? In the first part of this chapter, we will briefly review ethics as a part of philosophy. We will examine three approaches that have been taken for hundreds of years as humans have tried to decide what is the right way to behave. We will then examine business ethics, which is an applied subset of the more general topic. Finally, we will explore specific issues which currently present themselves as matters of ethical concern in the world of computer security, and provide a framework for analyzing issues which have not yet presented themselves, but will do so at some future date. Is it ethical to lend a friend a set of discs which contain a three hundred dollar program that you have purchased, knowing that he intends to load the program onto his computer before returning the discs? Is it ethical to hack into computer systems, as long as you don’t disrupt or corrupt the systems? Is it ethical to monitor the e-mail of your employees? In order to answer these and a host of other questions, it is useful to think about the common element in all these questions: is it ethical?


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik O. Eriksen

Deliberation has not only epistemic and moral value, it also has transformative value. Even if deliberation faces the problem of indeterminacy, it is assumed to have explanatory power. This article spells out why this is so and suggests a way to establish the causing effect of deliberation. It outlines a reason-based (RB) model of political decision-making applicable also to international affairs. By specifying a theory of argumentation on collective decision-making, we get to the nuts and bolts of deliberative decision-making, which, when supported by institutional powers, ensures a justified and well-grounded decision. The model contains a set of rules of inference and offers ‘mechanismic’ accounts of social events. It allows for explanations, but not predictions. The RB model conceives of decision-making as consisting of three sequences: claims-making, justification, and learning, each containing a set of explanatory mechanisms: values referring to conceptions of the common good, mandatory norms concerning the right thing to do, and evidence to the fact that non-compliance is wrong. The explanatory potential of this scheme is exemplified with reference to agreement making in the European Union. Some actors changed opinion voluntarily with regard to empowering the European parliament.


2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Rochet

Public management has been dominated by the quest for efficiency and has left us with fundamental ethical questions that remain unresolved. It is argued that Machiavellian thought may provide us with concepts and tools applicable to ruling societies confronted with uncertainties and change that are (1) in line with the most recent insights into institutional evolution and (2) appropriate to solve complex decision-making problems. The common good — a central concept of Machiavelli's thought — appears to be an invisible hand that lowers the transaction costs and acts as the keystone of complex public affairs thinking. This analysis is illustrated by a comparative case study of the two management projects of infrastructure crossing the Alps, the AlpTransit in Switzerland, and the Lyon Torino Link. It concludes with a proposal to upgrade the research program in public management that allows effectiveness (legitimacy of the ends) and effectiveness in its implementation. Points for practitioners The mainstream of public management theories and reform has been dominated by the quest of efficiency as a Holy Grail. I argue that theses reforms didn't deliver with their promises and left us with fundamental ethical questions unresolved: doing things right do not answer to the question of doing the right things. The main reason is a profound misunderstanding of the very nature of the ongoing change process that makes any kind one size fits all recipes inappropriate. Such a sea change occurred in the Renaissance era and Machiavelli bequeathed us a comprehensive understanding of how to rule a public body in a changing and uncertain world. I explain Machiavelli's misunderstood legacy and apply his teaching to analyzing two huge management projects of public infrastructures. I conclude on what has to be upgrade in the research programmes in public management to confront with the challenges of our era that call for a back to basics of classical political philosophy


Author(s):  
Dr. Leon BASHIRAHISHIZE,

Alan Paton’s wistful novel Cry, the Beloved Country which was released at the threshold of Apartheid in South Africa relates the South African socio-political instability at the time when racism and poverty are profoundly shaking the nation’s foundations [1]. The work explores the aftermaths brought by racial bondage that the subjugated black endures and the repercussions it casts on the whole South African society. This chapter examines how the writer grapples with the dangers brought by racial discrimination and urban life on the South African community as a whole. Paton’s view of Race and city projects a negative perception about the white racism and black crime that create tensions between the national forces [1]. This social polarity puts at risk the nation’s prospects that would build and maintain the “beloved country” which is gradually collapsing. It is this decaying state of the nation that Paton mourns in the novel. The study establishes that race and skin color do not have any relation that would define an individual’s nature and inner feelings to justify one’s deportment. The wrong or the right is a result of an individual’s moral predisposition coupled with the socio-cultural forces that feature his environment. It has also been noted that urban life corrupts; in some situations, it converts an individual into a rogue becoming a threat against society and an enemy against oneself to impair the common good.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Anna Lusińska

Social media management in the context of social projects against hate speech on the example of the project Grażyna Żarko. Catholic voice on the Internet Argument/objective: In view of the growing negative phenomenon of hate speech in the social media, targeted informational and educational activities in the public sphere seem important and necessary, for the common good and in the common interest, as a reminder of respect for the other person and respect for his or her rights. The aim of the article is to identify and analyse the selected project in terms of the occurrence, spread and scale of the hate speech phenomenon in social media and to try to evaluate this type of communication. Research methods, research questions: The text uses methods such as case study, desk research and media content analysis. The following research questions were posed: how does the broadly understood civil society, and in principle its representatives, try to oppose hate speech? For what purpose are social projects against hate speech created and implemented? Do social projects against hate speech show the scale of this phenomenon, its horror and immorality? What image of Poles, including Polish Internet users (and in the case of a selected YouTube project) emerges from them? and how do they exchange views on the subject and what conclusions do they draw from this? Results and conclusions: Research has shown that when modern society, which is largely civic, starts to rebel against injustice, lack of respect for others, or socially unacceptable behaviour, including hate speech, it reaches for tools of opposition, among others. Projects such as these are born in this way: Incubator of Ideas, #StopMowieNienawiści, or the title one, analysed: Grażyna Żarko. Catholic Voice on the Internet. This non-commercial, over two months long project, and at the same time a media, Internet provocation carried out in the form of a Polish vlog, showed not only the enormous scale of the problem of “verbal violence”of Polish Internet users on the example of YouTube, but also the lack of preventive actions and responsibility, or rather criminal consequences, for example, incurred for this type of conduct. Cognitive value: The article is part of the discussion on the way and quality of communication of Polish society, with particular emphasis on hate speech, through new media.


Author(s):  
Dr. Shivakumar GS

Every human being has the right to decent life but today there are elements in our environment that tend to militate against the attainment and enjoyment of such a life. The exacerbation of the pollution of environment can cause untold misery. Unhappiness and suffering to human beings, simply because of our lack of concerns for the common good and the absence of sense of responsibility and ethics for sustaining a balanced eco-system. If we are to aspire to a better quality of life – one which will ensure freedom from want, from disease and from fear itself, then we must all join hands to stem the increasing toxification of this earth. What we need in order to defuse this environmental time bomb is immediate concerted action of all the people, but such needed action will come only if we reorient such citizenry values, i.e., imbibe them with proper awareness and values (ethics), specifically those that will lead to a greater concern for preserving balance in the ecosystem, besides teaching them how to save the environment from further degradation, and to help, make it more healthful and progressive place to live in, springs from a strong sense of social responsibility. KEYWORD: Environmental Ethics


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Regina Joseph Cyril ◽  

The advent of industrialization and the advancement of technology at a rapid rate has been a concern for countries that aim to meet the demands of globalization and future job markets. The stability of a country’s economy is the aspiration of politicians as opposed to equipping individuals with survival skills to live in a sustainable world as human beings capable of solving problems. What are the essential ingredients for our future generation? The curriculum should produce individuals who can solve problems in the future regardless of the circumstances or a generation equipped with knowledge for future jobs, which are non-existent now. The targeted product should be a human being who is able to balance the demands of modernization through knowledge of artificial intelligence or a holistic individual who can balance mind and matter to thrive in a sustainable world for the common good of our planet and its citizens. This paper attempts to study the right ingredients needed for a future curriculum design by examining what is lacking now and recommending a design suited for sustainable economic and ecological living.


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