Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Private and Public in a New Age?
Private/Public: How do we draw the line between the uses of the Web that are appropriate and meaningful for private citizens and those that transcend necessary standards of public behavior?
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Ethics in the Internet Age: Morality Tale #1 .
Read: Chapter II, of Michael Lewis , Next (in your Reader).
In this section, I want you to wrestle with the idea that the Internet is a welcome new realm of freedom. I've chosen this particular case of Jonathan Lebed's adventures on the WWW to the explore the empowering nature of this medium. Jonathan's case is interesting in that, even though we know what he is doing is wrong, we can't help but root for him along the way. As you'll see, Michael Lewis is definitely an admirer. He is happy to portray the controversy as a struggle between stuffy old adults and innovative, if also naive, youth.What do you think? Should Jonathan's dad be proud? Should Jonathan get to keep the Mercedes? Should Jonathan go to jail? Watch and Listen to Jonathan's Point of View
(If you need it, download the free version of Real One Player )
Contact Jonathan. Ask him a clever question about the reading (you can do this as a group): staff@lebed.biz
Look at Jonathan's site: lebed.biz
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Ethics in the Internet Age: Morality Tale #2
Read: 'A Rape in Cyberspace'
I'm asking you to read this important and influential article to begin wrestling with the concept of the Internet as a realm of danger. It's much harder to sympathize with 'Mr. Bungle.' But for the purposes of this discussion, I'd like you to develop good reasons for taking your stand.. To get to this point, let's ask what the 'reality' is in Virtual Reality (VR)? Is VR the same, existentially or practically, as Real Life (RL)? Do the abuses and harms inflicted on others over the Net have the same significance and meaning as those inflicted in RL, even though the latter may be physical as well as psychological? What kinds of behavior are appropriate to interactions over the Net? Is the standard of appropriateness the same we would use to judge behavior in real life? Should you be able to punish those who commit transgressions over the Net? Or does justice have no meaning in VR?
Who is Julian Dibbell? Where does he live? Read what he has to say about himself:
Julian Dibbell
And what others have to say about him.
Others
Contact Julian and ask him a question about 'A Rape in Cyberspace' (you can do this as a group): julian@juliandibbell.com
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