The Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information

There are different kinds of freedoms: freedom of expression, of opinion, of speech, of information, to copy, to own and to read, and freedom from interference and observation. This research is an ethical analysis of the freedom of information in the new Internet era and how the new technology should be implemented globally as a universal human right. Not so many years ago, I still remember in High School my research with books, magazines, and newspapers as the only resources to get information. When I did my undergraduate thesis in Direct Reduced Iron, I could get information thanks to my brother in law directly from the company that owns the technology.

It is not possible to get all the information that you want from the Internet, because some are confidential documents or data with personal information, but there are people that find ways to access information illegally that is not open to the general public. These people called Hackers are not acting morally, because they are not respecting the people’s rights of privacy. This case is not included in the freedom of information mentioned in this research, but the issue itself is affecting in some way the freedom of information.

Global Information Infrastructure

Something that brought my attention to this subject was the speech of the Vice President Al Gore in 1994 at the International Telecommunications Union Conference about his determination for the creation of a network of networks to all members of our societies and his ethical analysis in Global Information Infrastructure (GII).

The plan was based on five principles:

Encourage private investment Promote competition Create a flexible regulatory framework

Provide open access to the network Ensure universal service

Now in 2003 we can see the tremend us benefits of GII in all the countries where it has been implemented. When I started to do this research I didn’t realize all the advances in communications this commitment made. Most of these advances were in the telecommunications industry with private investments and free competition in an industry that was in the past a monopoly.

Each country has their own laws in telecommunications, and it is a universal right from an ethical point of view that each individual around the world has to have some kind of access to get information. Let’s say a li...

... middle of paper ...

...f the person is literate or illiterate.

Endnotes

[1] Deborah G. Johnson and Helen Nissenbaum, Computers, Ethics & Social Values (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1995), 621.

[2] John Weckert and Douglas Adeney, Computer and Information Ethics (Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1997), 32.

[3] Johnson and Nissenbaum, 622.

[4] “Motivating a Human Rights Perspective on Access to Cyberspace: The Human Right to Communicate”. CPSR Newsletter Vol. 18, Number 3.6 June2003 http://www.cpsr.org/publications/newsletter/issues/2000/Summer2000/mciver.html

[5] Richard A. Spinello, Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997), 249.

Bibliography

Hester, D. Micah, and Paul J. Ford. Computers and Ethics in the Cyberage. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001.

Johnson, Deborah G. Computer Ethics. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1985.

Johnson, Deborah G. and Helen Nissenbaum. Computers, Ethics & Social Values. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1995.

Spinello, Richard A. Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997.

Weckert, John and Douglas Adeney. Computer and Information Ethics. Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1997.