Thu, 10 May 2007
Computers, Ethics, and Society
STSC 465 ∙ Summer 2007
The electronic computer is the defining technology of the modern era. For many of us it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine life without computers: we use computers to do our work, to help us study, to create and access entertainment, and to communicate with friends and family. Computers pervade our homes, our workplaces, our schools, and even our own bodies.
But what does it mean to live in a computer-mediated “information society”? Computers and other information technologies pose difficult legal, social, and ethical challenges: how do we benefit from increased communications capability without losing our privacy? How do we enforce law, protect our citizens, and ensure justice for all in an increasingly global “cyberspace?”
This course will explore the various social implications of computers and other information technologies: social, cultural, political, and economic. We will examine the relationship between new information technologies and changing notions of community, identity, property, and democracy. Topics will include intellectual property rights, Linux and the free software movement, cyber libertarianism, and the rise and fall of the dot.com economy.
Professor Nathan L. Ensmenger Office Hours: M-W, 4-6 pm, 362 Logan Hall nathanen@sas.upenn .edu
Course Format:
This course will meet twice a week. Due to the compressed format of the summer sessions, preparation and attendance are particularly important. If you do need to miss class please let me know in advance. Grading will be based on three components: class participation (30%), short reading response assignments (40%), and a final paper (30%).
Course Schedule:
Introduction
May 21: Everything you wanted to know about the Information Revolution but were afraid to ask
Cyberpunks
May 23: Hacker Ethics & Hacker Crimes
Steven Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, chapters 1-2. Spafford, Are Computer Break-ins Ethical? Available online.
Software, Spleens and Shamans
May 30: Intellectual Property and Information Technology
Richard Stallman, “Why Software Should be Free.” Available online. Eric Raymond, “The Cathedral & Bazaar.” Available online.
The Open Society
June 4: Open Sources and Public Spheres
Cass Sunstein, “The Future of Free Speech.” Available online. Winner, Langdon. “Cybertarian Myths and the Prospects for Community.” In Cyberethics: Social and Moral Issues in the Computer Age (Eds. Baird, Ramsower and Rosenbaum).
The World is Flat?
June 6: Globalization and the Internet Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. Selected excerpts.
Code is Law
June 11:Can we regulate technology?
Lawrence Lessig, Code, and other laws of cyberspace. Selected excerpts. In-class discussion: Case study on Digital Music
Like nailing jello to the wall …
June 13: Does Google change China, or does China change Google?
Timothy Wu, James Goldsmith, Who Controls the Internet?. Selected excerpts.
I know what you did last summer
June 18: Living in the surveillance society
Jeffrey Rosen, The Unwanted Gaze. Selected excerpts.
Web 2.0
June 20: You are your social network …
In-class discussion: Towards an ethnography of Facebook
Where did all the women go?
June 25: Digital divides in contemporary culture
Susan Herring, “Gender and Power in Online Communication.” Available online. Lisa Nakamura, “Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet.” Available online.
The Big Finish
June 27: In which all is made clear
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