Overview

Objectives

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson Five: Internet Ethics
Disclaimer: This web site provides information and guidance on a wide variety of topics. For legal advice, you should consult the guidance of an intellectual property attorney.

Lesson five will provide you with the background information needed to better understand Internet ethics and netiquette. Internet ethics and netiquette relate to the ways an Internet user should behave while using the Internet. In their simplest terms, netiquette is about behavior and ethics is about the rules guiding behavior.

History
When the Internet first evolved back in the 1960s, users were predominantly academics. These users were more professional, they practiced free speech and promoted their own work. There were written and unwritten rules about the use of the Internet.

Today there is a strong need for Internet protocols with such a large increase in Internet users who are unaware of past practices. The best information to provide you with can be found at the Internet Society's web site. If you are Internet user, then take the time to visit the Internet Society's web site to read the document "Ethics and the Internet." This paper was written by the Internet Advisory Board (IAB) to address the issue of proper use of the Internet. The document can be viewed at: http://www.isoc.gov/internet/conduct/ then click on "Ethics and the Internet."

For those of you creating web sites, you may want to read "Ethics for Information Providers" found on the World Wide Web Consortium web site at: http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/Etiquette

Ethics and Communication
One of the issues of ethics relates to email. Why is email an issue? Because it is considered unethical to distribute electronic mail inappropriately, or to publish personal messages without the consent of the author.

The following are email terms you should be familiar with:

• Flame: sending an angry or insulting email message. Watch your language.
• Flame wars: having an argument by email is a flame war. Avoid flame wars.
• Shouting: using all caps implies that you are shouting. Always use upper and lower case letters when typing messages.
• Lurking: reading messages already posted on a newsgroup before posting your own message. This avoids re-posting the same message and informs you about the newsgroup's proper protocol.

Symbols:
:-) smile
:'-( cry
:-D laugh
:-( frown
:-o surprise
;-) wink
*<|:-) santa

Unlike paper memos or letters, email can be sent to a mailing list (listserv) or unwillingly forwarded to many individuals.

Read the FAQs (frequently asked questions) before posting a question to a newsgroup or site. The FAQ provides information that was previously asked.

Grammar and spelling: proofreading your messages for spelling errors and proper use of grammar before sending it out.

Ethics and Spamming
What is spamming? Spamming, unsolicited email or junk mail, is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services.(1)

Why is spamming an issue? Because respecting the rights of groups and individuals is a part of Internet Protocol. Take a look at the Information Bulletin by the U.S. Department of Energy CIAC "I-005c: E-mail Spamming Countermeasures: Detection and Prevention of E-mail Spamming." Web address is: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/I-005c.shtml

Ethics and Internet Use
Disrupting the use of the Internet is also regarded as unethical by the Internet Activities Board. Earlier this year, Yahoo! And other sites have been attacked by several computers causing the sites to close for several hours before the problem could be fixed. Read the following articles for more information:

"Yahoo! Portal is shut down by web attach," by Khanh T.L. Tran, Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2000, B6

"Hackers disrupt Yahoo! Web site: Concerted online attack blamed for 3 hour outage," by Ariana Eunjung ChaJohn Schwartz, The Washington Post, February 8, 2000, A01

"Hackers attack major internet sites, cutting off Amazon, Buy.com, eBay," by Khanh T.L. Tran and Rhonda L. Rundle, Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2000, A3

The above articles can be accessed through WCC's Electronic Databases.

References:

(1) Scott Hazen Mueller. "What is Spam." Online. Promote Responsible Net Commerce: Help Stamp Out Spam. Available: http://spam.abuse.net/whatisspam.html July 5, 2000.

Additional Sources:

Langford, Duncan. Internet Ethics. St. Martin's Press: New York, 2000. Available at the WCC Library. Call Number : TK 5105.875 .I57 I547 2000