Readings

The readings for this week focus on corporate personhood and antitrust:

Corporate Personhood

These articles discuss the idea of corporate personhood.

• When Did Companies Become People? Excavating The Legal Evolution

• How Corporations Got The Same Rights As People (But Don’t Ever Go To Jail)

• Corporate Personhood’s Long Life

• If Corporations Are People, They Should Act Like It

Antitrust

These articles discuss the recent growing discussion over monopolies and antitrust regulation.

• Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

• Conglomerates Didn’t Die. They Look Like Amazon.

• Inside the new battle against Google

• Breaking from tech giants, Democrats consider becoming an antimonopoly party

Case Study: IBM and the Holocaust

These articles describe IBM's involvement in the Holocaust:

• This Is the Hidden Nazi History of IBM — And the Man Who Tried to Expose It

• IBM Statement on Nazi-era Book and Lawsuit

• IBM and the Holocaust

• I.B.M.'s Sales to the Nazis: Assessing the Culpability

Case Study: Muslim Registry

These articles describe a recent pledge to avoid building a Muslim Registry in the US:

• "Muslim registries", Big Data and Human Rights

• Tech workers pledge to never help Trump build Muslim registry

• Apple, Google, and Uber join list of tech companies refusing to build Muslim registry

• America Already Had a Muslim Registry

Case Study: Sony Rootkit

These articles discuss Sony's infamous rootkit scandal:

• Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far

• Inside the Spyware Scandal

• Sony's DRM Rootkit: The Real Story

• Sony BMG Rootkit Scandal: 10 Years Later

Case Study: Microsoft Antitrust

These articles discuss the historic Microsoft Antitrust case:

• U.S. VS. MICROSOFT: The Overview; U.S. Judge Says Microsoft Violated Antitrust Laws With Predatory Behavior

• The eternal antitrust case: Microsoft versus the world

• Long antitrust saga ends for Microsoft

• A Judge Ordered Microsoft to Split. Here's Why It's Still a Single Company

Case Study: Google Antitrust

These articles discuss the recent Google Antitrust case:

• Yelp’s Six-Year Grudge Against Google

• EU Hits Google With Record $2.7 Billion Antitrust Fine

• Google challenges record EU antitrust fine in court

• Ends, Means, and Antitrust

Here are some related podcasts:

• 'World Without Mind': How Tech Companies Pose An Existential Threat

• Episode 787: Google Is Big. Is That Bad?

Questions

For this week, please read a selection of the readings regarding Corporate Personhood and then a selection of readings from one of the case studies above (IBM and the Holocaust, Muslim Registry, Microsoft Antitrust, Sony Rootkit, and Google Antitrust). Afterwards, please write a response to the following questions:

1. First, what exactly is the concept of Corporate Personhood and what are its legal, social, and ethical ramifications?

2. Next, explain the ethical controversy or moral dilemma presented in your chosen case study:

   • For the IBM and the Holocaust case study, do you believe IBM was ethical in doing business with Nazi Germany? Should corporations be responsible for immoral or unethical use of their products? Should corporations refrain from doing business with immoral or unethical organizations or persons?

   • For the Muslim Registry case study, do you believe tech workers and tech companies are right in pledging to not work on building an immigration database based on their moral and ethical views? Should corporations make business decisions based on morality and ethics? Who decides what is right and what is wrong for a caompany?

   • For the Sony Rootkit case study, do you believe what Sony did was unethical or immoral? If so, do you believe Sony has been sufficiently punished for their actions? If you don't believe Sony was unethical or immoral, then what sort of limits do you put on "shady" business practices?

   • For the Microsoft Antitrust case study, do you believe what Microsoft did was unethical or immoral? If so, do you believe Microsoft should have been broken up as originally intended, or do you believe the enacted punishes were sufficient? If you don't believe Microsoft was unethical or immoral, then what sort of limits do you put on "ruthless" business practices?

   • For the Google Antitrust case study, do you believe what Google did was unethical or immoral? If so, do you believe Google is being sufficiently punished for their actions? If you don't believe Google was unethical or immoral, then what sort of limits do you put on anti-competitive business practices? Is there such a thing as a company being too big?

3. Finally, reflect on the following question:

   If corporations are afforded the same rights as individual persons, should they also be expected to have the same ethical and moral obligations and responsibilities? Discuss why or why not, particularly in the context of your chosen case study.

   Alternatively, if you do not agree with the concept of Corporate Personhood, explain whether or not morality or ethics apply to corporations. If so, what does it mean for a corporate entity to behave morally or ethically?

Feedback

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the course, please provide your feedback at the end of your response.