CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL PROBLEMS

TEXT: ETHICS AND TECHNOLOGY -BY: HERMAN T. TAVANI

Part 1:

1. What are the two different senses of "regulation" we examined, and how can they be applied to the regulatory issues involving cyberspace?

2. What is Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, and how is it used in conjunction with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)? Why do some critics believe that DRM systems have gone too far?

3. What is electronic spam, and why is it controversial from a moral point of view? Can spam be viewed as a form of "speech"?

4. What is pornography? Why is interpreting what is meant by "community standards" especially difficult in establishing pornography laws for cyberspace?

5. What do we meant by "hate speech"? Give some examples of hate speech in cyberspace.

Part 2:

6. What is the "digital divide", and why is it significant?

7. What are some of the global issues involving the digital divide?

8. What are some of the special equity-and-access issues affecting disabled persons who use cybertechnology?

9. How has cybertechnology affected both the quantity of work and the quality of work?

10. What is globalization? What impact could the outsourcing of highly-skilled programming jobs, traditionally held by employees in American companies, to China and India have for the United States in the new global economy?