Internet Ethics

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Recommended: Cyber ethics in short

No one denies that the Internet is the most useful tool for research, business, and education, yet the Internet is the subject of a topic that is as controversial as the legalities of abortion or homosexual rights. Many racy, illegal, and controversial materials are available on the Internet such as pornography and pirated software; on the other hand, many educational tools are on-line as well. This brings a need for a case of ethics in the Internet realm.

A definition of terms used regarding the Internet is necessary for the full understanding of how “unethical” data broadcasts itself around the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide computer network of home, organizational, corporate, and government computers. It is necessary to understand that the Internet is not just composed of web pages, but of files, e-mails, newsgroups, internal computer networks, personal computers, etc. Electronic mail (E-mail) enables computer users to communicate with and transmit digital material to other groups of users. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a chat system in which messages are displayed real-time, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows remote computers to transfer information stored in files. Each medium of spreading information plays a large role in the spread of pirated software

Software piracy, often called “warez” as a vulgar term by the pirates themselves. This is not just a problem to people; it is a problem to the software industry of the world. Studies show that though the percentage of pirated software has reduced in the past 5 years, the per capita expense of the software industry due to piracy has grown. Additionally, the rate of software piracy is still 36 percent, which is rather substantial.

The fact that the rate is 36 percent may lie in the fact that many so-called software pirates hide behind myths that they believe protect them. For instance, there are myths that it is legal for one to post links to pirated software on one’s site, or that a disclaimer of acceptable usage will shift liability to someone else. The fact of the matter is you could be liable for anything that you do that contributes to the infringement of copyrighted works

Perhaps the reason that money lost due to piracy has increased finds its roots in the actual heart of why software is pirated. Computer software has grown increasingly expensive in the past few years; many people seek to find their software free or at a reduced price, and in this folly, another myth is brought out: Software is expensive and it is okay to download programs as long as you delete them after 24 hours.

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