Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Computer as a Humanizing Agent
- 3 Philosophic Belief Systems
- 4 A Philosophic Inventory
- 5 The Possibility of a Unifying Ethical Theory
- 6 The Ethical Decision-Making Process
- 7 Psychology and Computer Ethics
- 8 The Computing Field as a Profession
- 9 Computer-Related Codes of Ethics
- 10 Computer Ethics and International Development
- 11 Robotics and Ethics
- 12 Theft and Piracy Concerns
- 13 Cases Concerning Theft and Piracy
- 14 Privacy Concerns
- 15 Cases Concerning Privacy
- 16 Power Concerns
- 17 Cases Concerning Power
- 18 A Miscellaneous Collection of Cases
- 19 Parasitic Computing Case
- Appendix: Topics for Presentations, Discussions, and Papers
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
19 - Parasitic Computing Case
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Computer as a Humanizing Agent
- 3 Philosophic Belief Systems
- 4 A Philosophic Inventory
- 5 The Possibility of a Unifying Ethical Theory
- 6 The Ethical Decision-Making Process
- 7 Psychology and Computer Ethics
- 8 The Computing Field as a Profession
- 9 Computer-Related Codes of Ethics
- 10 Computer Ethics and International Development
- 11 Robotics and Ethics
- 12 Theft and Piracy Concerns
- 13 Cases Concerning Theft and Piracy
- 14 Privacy Concerns
- 15 Cases Concerning Privacy
- 16 Power Concerns
- 17 Cases Concerning Power
- 18 A Miscellaneous Collection of Cases
- 19 Parasitic Computing Case
- Appendix: Topics for Presentations, Discussions, and Papers
- Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
(© 2007 by Robert Newton Barger)
Introduction
The last chapter of this book is reserved for the treatment of a unique computer ethics dilemma. Few dilemmas can literally be called “computer” ethics dilemmas. This is because most such dilemmas are not restricted only to the use of computers. They often can employ some other medium. For instance, the action of a bank teller pilfering a bank account by shorting each deposit a fraction of a cent through the use of a computer is not a unique computer ethics crime. This crime could also have been committed without the use of a computer.
The dilemma to be described in this chapter involves a proof-of-concept experiment performed by four faculty members at the University of Notre Dame. The four were Vincent Freeh and Jay Brockman of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and Hawoong Jeong of the Department of Physics. This dilemma might best be introduced in the researchers' own words:
Parasitic computing is an example of a potential technology that could be viewed simultaneously as a threat or healthy addition to the online universe. On the Internet, reliable communication is guaranteed by a standard set of protocols, used by all computers. These protocols can be exploited to compute with the communication infrastructure, transforming the Internet into a distributed computer in which servers unwittingly perform computation on behalf of a remote node. In this model, one machine forces target computers to solve a piece of a complex computational problem merely by engaging them in standard communication. […]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Computer EthicsA Case-based Approach, pp. 219 - 226Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008