Contemporary Issues in CS

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Contemporary Issues in CS
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Who is this Person and Why do we Care?
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The Class
http//www.cs.utexas.edu/users/ear/cs349/ https/
/www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/dms/faculty/projects
/index.php?direxamples2F
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Who Owns That Song?
Capitol v. Thomas
Oct. 2007 - In the first RIAA suit against an
individual to reach a courtroom, the court found
in favor of the RIAA. Jamie Thomas, a 30 year-old
single mom, has been ordered to pay 220,000 to
the RIAA for sharing 24 music files on Kazaa
(9,250 per song). Sept. 24, 2008 Judge
ordered new trial.
At issue making available
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Computer Ethics
The analysis of the nature and the social impact
of computer technology and the corresponding
formulation and justification of policies for the
ethical use of such technology.
James Moore, 1985
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An Example The Case of Tanya Rider
http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333554_rider29
.html
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An Example The Case of Tanya Rider
http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333554_rider29
.html

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Real Anonymity?
Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission releases
anonymized medical data. Voter registration
lists can be bought for 20.00. Governor Welds
medical records are suddenly public.
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How Bad is the Problem?
Data from the 1990 US Census show that 87 (216
million out of 248 million) of the United States
population provided data that likely make them
unique based on only the three attributes of zip
code, date of birth, and gender.
Latanya Sweeney, k-Anonymity A Model for
Protecting Privacy
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Computer Ethics
Why are computers special?
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Computer Ethics
Why are computers special?

• Logical malleability
• Impact on society
• Invisibility factor

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Computer Ethics
Why are computers special?

• Logical malleability
• Impact on society
• Invisibility factor

• Invisible abuse
• Invisible programming values
• Invisible complex calculation

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An Ethical Dilemma?

• Your first job after graduation is system
  administrator for a 200 person
• privately held manufacturing company.
• The president/owner sends this message to the
  employees
• I want to encourage each of you to make comments
  to me about any facet of our operation you care
  to. Your response should be made through our
  anonymizer program so that your identity will not
  be disclosed
• The president/owner finds one response saying
• This company sucks. The only way I find to
  retaliate for the way I have been treated is
  sabotage. Every tenth part I turn out is
  defective.
• The president/owner insists that you examine the
  computer usage records to determine the identity
  of the alleged saboteur.
• What should you do?

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Do these factors affect your decision?

• The security of your job
• Your hope for promotion
• The impact of the sabotage (the company make
  party favors the company makes pacemakers)
• The consequences for the alleged saboteur
• A belief that even if you refuse to assist in the
  identification, someone else could do it instead
• The message instead is
• A coworker says this company sucks. He says the
  only way he can find to retaliate for the way he
  has been treated is sabotage. He claims every
  tenth part he turns out is defective.
• You believe you know the alleged saboteur and
  that person is your friend (your enemy)

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Do You Ask?

• What is the effect on you?
• What is right and what is wrong?
• What is the greater good for the company?
• What is the greater good for the employees of the
  company?
• What is the greater good for your community?

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Googles Ethical Dilemma
January, 2006 Google launches google.cn.
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The Great Firewall of China
http//www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/chinese-fire
wall
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Privacy vs Free Speech
In October 1999, 20-year old Amy Boyer was
murdered by a young man who had stalked her via
the Internet. The stalker, Liam Youens, was able
to carry out most of the stalking activities that
eventually led to Boyers death by using a
variety of tools available on the Internet.
Using standard online search facilities available
to any Internet user, Youens was able to gather
personal information about Boyer. And by paying
a small fee to docusearch.com, Youens was able to
find out where Boyer lived, where she worked, and
so forth. Youens was also able to use another
kind of online tool that was available to
Internet users to construct two Web sites, both
dedicated to his intended victim. On one site he
posted personal information about Amy Boyer as
well as a photograph of her. And on the other
Web site Youens described, in explicit detail,
his plans to murder Boyer.
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Privacy You Thought You Had
Yellow dots http//www.instructables.com/id/Yello
w_Dots_of_Mystery_Is_Your_Printer_Spying_on_/
What about your printer? http//www.eff.org/pages/
list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-
dots
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Wrecking Havoc on the Internet
Megan Meier
Lori Drew
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Meier
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Who Tracks Your Searches?
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Who Tracks Your Searches?
Tracking the flu http//www.google.org/flutrends
/ http//www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/128
993.php
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Risk and Trust

• Intersection management

http//www.cs.utexas.edu/kdresner/aim/?pvideo
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Risks vs Rewards

• Autopilot
• Avoiding Plane Crashes by Crunching Numbers

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RiskWhat Really was the Bug?A Study of the
Software Failure in the Patriot Missile System

• 1. The incident of February 23, 1991
• 2. Getting the information - the background of
  Patriot
• 3. The official explanation
• 4. Contradictions in the official explanation
• 5. A broader view of the development process

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(No Transcript)
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Electronic Voting
http//homepage.mac.com/rcareaga/diebold/adworks.h
tm
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Civil Society in the Digital Age

• Voting machines
• The power of blogs
• Grassroots campaigns
• The bad guys

http//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic
le/2008/12/02/AR2008120203519.html?navrss_email2
Fcomponents
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Jobs

• There will be huge job losses by 2040 or 2050 as
  robots move into the workplace. For example
• Nearly every construction job 6 million jobs.
• Nearly every manufacturing job 16 million jobs
  lost.
• Nearly every transportation job 3 million jobs
  lost.
• Many wholesale and retail jobs at least 15
  million lost jobs.
• Nearly every hotel and restaurant job 10
  million jobs lost.
• If you add that all up, it's over 50 million jobs
  lost to robots. That is a conservative estimate.
  By 2050 or so, it is very likely that over half
  the jobs in the United States will be held by
  robots.

From Marshall Brain, Robotic Nation
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The Rights of Robots?

• The movie AI. Consider the artificial boy
• Does he have rights?
• Who is responsible for him (his parents, his
  creator)?

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Who is You?

• Suppose we can scan your brain.
• Now suppose we download the scan into a computer.
  
• Finally, suppose that you are in an accident and
  your brain dies.
• Is your body you? Is the computer you?

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Who Cares?

• Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
  (CPSR)
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
• Online Ethics Center at the National Academy of
  Engineering

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Learn More?
The Ph.D. program in Computation, Organizations
and Society (COS)