Social Impact of Computing, CSI300z, Department of Computer Science, University at Albany



Course Content Ethics Professionalism Privacy Risks & Trust Hacking Internet Issues Design Copyright Education Work Accountability AI Games Microsoft Computing History Writing Assistance Other Useful Resources Computer Science Department University at Albany	Resources Note: This resource essay is more or less in a state of continuous revision as new materials get posted or older materials (and corresponding links) are removed. In some cases, references are incomplete. Still, making this essay available in this pre-release version increases its utility for students in this class, even if it does not show off the author at his best. A fair trade-off, I guess. There are a number of web sites that can supplement the materials introduced in this course. Students are encouraged to check these out and to refer to them as necessary. Some are used directly in the class lectures and/or assignments. Others provide additional instruction or insight into related topics. Course Content The rationale for this course and courses like it that address social and ethical issues can be found in the Joint ACM-IEEE committees that have formulated the model curricula for Computer Science programs. The most recent of these is the 2001 Computing Curricula for Computer Science; see especially Chapter 10 endorsing the need to make professional practice a "seamless part" of the curriculum. The main components of this course and courses like it generally follow the recommendations to address "social and professional issues" as described here. Also see the draft for 2005 is under development and circulating at this writing. An earlier recommendation can be found in Computing Curricula 1991 Report. There are several textbooks that guide instruction for this course. One that has been used in this class is Sara Baase's Gift of Fire, now in its 2nd edition. For additional material related to this text, see Sara Baase's A Gift of Fire Instructor's Manual web site. Another textbook used in this class that has continuing utility is Deborah Johnson's Computer Ethics, now in its 3rd edition. A more recent textbook of equal utility in a class like this is Michael Quinn's Ethics for the Information Age. A reader that reprints many relevant articles is Terrel Bynum Ward and Simon Rogerson, Computer Ethics and Professional Responsibility. Ward's 2000 essay reviews the "short" history of computer ethics. There are numerous bibliographies that catalog materials for this course. Perhaps the best known is Herman Tavani's Bibliography of Computing, Ethics and Social Responsibility. Other web sites provide additional material on specific topics generally oriented for instructors (some of these are noted below). The Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies is notable for its diversity of topics. The History of Computer Ethics and similar classes is reviewed in Stanford's Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Wikipedia's version is here. A listing of courses that have similar objectives to this class is available here. The ACM's special interest group (SIG) for this topic is Computers and Society. Ethics Several university and professional centers consider ethical behavior in technological settings that complement this course's material. Among them are the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Case Western, ComputingCases.org, and the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility in the UK. The most well-known Code of Conduct that can guide behavior for computing professionals is the ACM's Code of Conduct. Besides this code and the IEEE's similar code, additional codes for computing professionals can be found at the Illinois Institute of Technology's web site. Professionalism & Professional Organizations Many computer-based organizations foster professionalism. The Association for Computing Machinery (a name initiated in the ancient history of computing in 1947, but better known today simply as the ACM), is the 'first society' for computer scientists (faculty and students) and by extension for computer professionals. The IEEE plays a similar role for electrical engineers. These two organizations are centered primarily in the academic world, but speak out often on public issues too. A more outspoken group is composed of Computing Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). The public debate over President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) galvanized this group into action in the 1980s. An organization that fosters professional behavior by examining ethics in business is the Institute of Business, Technology & Ethics, chiefly known through its publication ethix. Several groups combine computing skills with non-profit, pro bono type activities, including techsoup (the technology place for non-profits), Compu Mentor, Voluntech, Charity Focus, Volunteer Match,Geekcorps, etc. The ICCP offers a certification program for computer professionals. Privacy No doubt, the largest sub-topic of the overall subject area of the social impact of computing is privacy. For many, it seems almost foreordained that computers jeopardize privacy. While the class itself attempts to parse this connection, there are numerous resources that address threats to privacy. Robert Ellis Smith's web site (Privacy Journal) is one of most useful sites, cataloging privacy issues and recommending day-to-day privacy protection actions both. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse are good sites to start from for assessing privacy issues. Similarly, other advocacy groups like the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) have cataloged numerous materials regarding privacy, including current legislation that will affect privacy. Several books have examined the relationship of computers and privacy. The first to address the topic in systematic terms was Alan Westin's Databanks in a Free Society (1972). While the choice of words in the title today seems archaic, the book is still topical, having set the terms for the relationship of large-scale computerized data bases and freedom for more recent writers to explore. Among the most successful of recent books are Simpson Garfinkle's Database Nation (2000) and Daniel Solove's The Digital Person (2004). An article that applauds the "upside of zero technology" is Declan McCullagh, "Database Nation" (also see the front cover of the June 2004 issue of Reason magazine where McCullagh's article was published for a provocative combination of aerial imagery and subscription services). The emerging threat that the computerization of medical records represents is conveniently addressed at the Georgetown University Health Privacy Project. TRUSTe is one of several groups that attempt to provide means to assure privacy. The computing industry has generated similar attempts over the years too: the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) is the best-known of these, although not entirely successful to date. While it seems axiomatic that computers threaten privacy, there is a cottage industry of sorts for companies using technology to enhance privacy. The encryption software Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and the Anonymizer service and products are perhaps two of the best known examples of privacy enhancing technologies (PETs). An article that appreciates the potential of PETs is Toby Lester, "Reinvention of Privacy" available at the The Atlantic web site (see below for additional comments about this site as a resource for a course like this). Another article that appeared in The Atlantic considers privacy in the context of national security is Charles Mann's "Homeland Insecurity." Risks & Trust Perhaps the best introduction to the risks that computers foster can be seen at Peter Neumann's ongoing Risks Forum that catalogs thousands of incidents that have occurred over more than twenty years. Alternatively, Neumann's book Computer Related Risks reviews the topic more substantially than this course allows; also see his web site for the breadth of his activities. The problem of computer reliability, of course, starts with software design and construction, neither of which is as accomplished as those of us in the computer trade like to think. For reasons why this occurs, see Charles Mann, "Why software is so bad." Attempts to improve the design and construction of software are championed by Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute; see their site's engineering section for more. Standard setting groups like the International Standards Organization also recommend ways to improves software design and construction: see, for example, the guidelines for the application of ISO 90001:2004. The most well-known case study of the risks of computing involves the use of the Therac 25 in the 1980s. The key text on these events is Nancy Levenson & Clark S. Turner, "An Investigation of the Therac-25 Accidents," first published in IEEE Computer, v. 26, n. 7, July 1993, 18-41. It is also available on line here. There is a very imaginative synopsis of this case assembled by students at Niagara University where they imagined the topic as told by the characters from South Park. Bruce Schneier has become a very visible proponent for improving computer security through his books (esp. Beyond Fear), articles, and Crypto-gram newsletter. One recent article notes that liability law and related insurance can also improve software design and construction. Hacking Hacking and the related computer sub-culture that is often populated by hackers and assorted rogues, eccentrics and occasional criminals has been assessed in a number of books. Stephen Levy's book Hackers is one of the first; Kevin Mitnick's books (The Art of Deception and The Art of Intrusion) are among the more recent. The best book of this type is Cliff Stoll's detective story-like chase The Cuckoo's Egg. Its dramatic plot notwithstanding, its compelling lessons on trust and community make it a continuing staple in this class. A Wikipedia review of Hacker Ethics is available here. Unfortunately, computer viruses are the most notorious output of hacking today. A necessary corrective to this alarming situation is the rise and continuing role of the Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT. The programming sub-culture extends well beyond the more reported topic of hacking. For example, the web site Slashdot is the most interesting of the many sites that demonstrates a programmer ethos; it routinely addresses many of this course's themes and interests. Internet The Internet has become so pervasive today that it's easy to forget how recent it is. Its history can be seen here; see especially the Requests for Comments (RFCs) that called for ideas that, on implementation, ultimately produced the Internet. A popular introduction on the origins of the Internet is Katie Hafner, Where Wizards Stay Up Late (1998). A brief history by one of the architects of the Internet is Vinton Cerf's 1993 article, "How the Internet Came To Be." Tim Berners-Lee's book Weaving the Web recounts the development of the World Wide Web and how its front end to the Internet became the portal of choice for most of us. The growth of the Internet for better or worse has opened up unexpected venues for all kinds of activities from e-commerce as practiced by the likes of Amazon or e-Bay to political advocacy from sites like moveon.org or Andrew Sullivan's blog as well as the sites noted above EFF, CDT, and EPIC). While the Internet offers much promise, numerous sites reveal the dangers of social dislocation and anomie that the Internet fosters. Pornographic sites, hate sites, gambling sites, name your own misgivings here: the Internet has it. One site taking stock of all this good and bad is the Berkman Center for Law and the Internet at Harvard. Through its web site, research, and seminars, it provides continuing commentary and insight on the growing pains of the Internet. Its periodic on-line report The Filter is available for free; please subscribe to it to remain current with topics of interest in this class. Censorship is one of the most alarming of Internet topics; it is reviewed in the Berkman Center's research on filtering. One of the most interesting demonstrations of the Internet's reach is to observe the evolving role it plays in the delivery of the news. While established news organizations like the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC and CNN have showed the state of the art of electronic journalism, the hit or miss contributions of the Drudge Report, Slate, Salon, even the Onion as well as numerous bloggers like Boing Boing explore the potential of the Internet as an alternative to the more established media. Dan Gillmor attempts to define this area in his recent book We the Media; his blog is one such experiment. A recent speculation on the intersection of the Internet and news leads to the possibility of an emerging Googlezon. Design As the Internet has made users of virtually the entire universe, good design and usability are more and more valued. Among the many advocates here, Jakob Nielsen's and Donald Norman's sites and books are must reading; see especially several chapters from The Invisible Computer that are available on-line. Douglas Engelbart is the sui generis for a comprehensive vision as well as the design of specific computing tools incorporating everything from the desktop to the Internet. His own site and the related appreciation of his work testify to his role in computing history; see especially, his 1968 demonstration of all that we take for granted today. Of course, we learn by example and by mistakes too: that's why Web pages that suck and Bad Designs are so amusing and instructive. Usability, of course, requires more than a set of design guidelines; it requires specific tool sets too. Among these, the W3C Accessibility Initiative is paramount. A site that certifies compliance is Bobby. Federal and State regulation as well as corporate citizenship require familiarity with this topic. New York's policy for state agency web sites can be found here. Intellectual Property & Copyright With the amazing explosion of digitized content in recent years, intellectual property and copyright issues have jumped to the fore in classes like this. Formerly arcane issues like fair use principles are now hotly debated in classrooms and dorm rooms, both. An excellent source for explaining copyright material is Stanford University's Copyright and Fair Use page. The official site for copyright matters (for this course anyway) is the United States Copyright Office; highlights of and full text versions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act materials are available here. A number of writers have tackled this topic in recent years. Charles Mann, for example, has written two articles that detail the issues and draw out the consequences (both published in The Atlantic; see "Who Will Own Your Next Good Idea?" and "The Heavenly Jukebox." One of the most informative treatments of the day-to-day application of copyright is the University of Texas' Crash Course on copyright. A number of scholars and organizations argue for copyright latitude. Lawrence Lessig's books (Code, The Future of Ideas, and Free Culture) and articles are chief among these. His legal arguments in the Supreme Court case Eldred vs. Ashcroft are very instructive (background, arguments, decision are available here). A profile of Lessig was published in Wired (where he also writes a monthly column). Likewise, the voluntary modification of copyright restrictions allowed by the Creative Commons copyright principles is basic reading material at this writing. Practicing what he preaches, Lessig released the text of Free Culture under the Creative Commons copyright. Another proponent of expanded copyright principles is, of course, Richard Stallman. The Free Software Foundation and the practice of "copyleft" that he initiated were critical to the open source phenomenon and to the recognition of the limitations of copyright. Other web sites that advocate for new approaches are Digital Consumer (see its basic rights page, especially) and Magnatune (an e-commerce site for "Internet music without the guilt"). Industry views on copyright and piracy can be found at the recording industry and motion picture associations web sites (RIAA and MPAA). While the record and movie industries have captured headlines with their copyright protection activities (and related prosecutions), the software industry's view on copyright is contained at the SIIA web site. University of Albany students should also be familiar with campus policies on copyright contained in the Responsible Use of Technology policy. Computers in Education Undergraduates today typically have a lifetime of experience with computers beginning in the primary grades, if not at home as well. Despite that hands-on experience, there is surprisingly little academic research that justifies the placement of PCs in schools. The Alliance for Childhood recently issued a critique of computers in education in 2004, Tech Tonic. Todd Oppenheimer's widely reviewed article from The Atlantic "The Computer Delusion" is still useful in this context (his article was recently expanded into a book, The Flickering Mind). Larry Cuban's Oversold and Underused also questions our infatuation with computers in schools. Cliff Stoll's books Silicon Snake Oil (1996) and High Tech Heretic (2000) are well known critiques of this trend. Proponents of computers in education can be found at the Consortium for School Networking. The state of Maine's laptop and related technical initiatives have attracted much attention. Computers for Schools is an association of computer refurbishers that tries to channel PCs to schools. One of the most ambitious programs for incorporating computers into higher education is the initiative begun by the Western Governors' Association, leading to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. This consortium supports and coordinates long distance learning in fifteen western states where geography, especially, can impede access to learning facilities. Closer to home, see SUNY's Learning Network. MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative is the most systematic effort to date to port almost all aspects of the curriculum to the Internet. Private sector higher learning sites include the University of Phoenix, DeVry, et al. A spirited objection to (some) of these trends and initiatives can be found at David Noble's "Digital Diploma Mills." Computers at Work Computers today are entrenched in the workplace, transforming the traditional office desktop, the service counter, the factory floor, even the auto garage. With the introduction of these tools has come new opportunities and techniques for monitoring worker output and behavior. This, in turn, can as easily exacerbate worker-manager relationships as it may improve productivity. A number of authors have reviewed this situation, including ... Besides contesting for control of the workplace, computer technology also introduces health hazards. Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI) are the most visible example of this. Web sites that address this and related workplace health hazards include Paul Marxhausen's RSI site, Harvard's RSI site, etc. Ergonomic guidelines are available here. The CPSR addresses several work-related computing issues here. Accountability, Access & Critiques of Computing There are several thoughtful critiques of computers and the role they play in society (and, especially the hype that seems to attach itself to the discussion of that role). One of the most engaging of these is by Langdon Winner, "How technomania is overtaking the millennium". In fact, students can learn much from Winner's writings: his 1977 book Autonomous Technology (currently out of print) set the stage for much of what is taught in classes like this. His web site contains many articles as well as his own course materials. Similarly, Hubert Dreyfus and Joseph Weizenbaum have made many critical contributions over the years. The latter's Wiki page is available here, including his work with the famous ELIZA program Artificial Intelligence When Alan Turing first posed his variant of the parlor game to detect the presence of machine intelligence in 1950, the requisite technologies (hardware and software) to satisfy the test seemed too distant to make the Turing Test itself anything more than a parlor game. A half-century later, we are still debating the terms of artificial intelligence, even as we recognize that computers are or might or perhaps one day will be mature enough to display real intelligence. Hugh Loebner's self-named prize contest sponsors an annual competition to encourage the development of software that can pass the Turing Test. Alas, no one has one the full prize yet (although Richard Wallace's Alice bot has been acknowledged as the best of breed for several years). For some like Ray Kuzweil that day seems almost imminent. His books (The Age of Spiritual Machines, especially) and website make the case with notable flair. Alternatively, Hubert Dreyfus, John Searle, et al. remind us that artificial intelligence may be as difficult to define as it is to deliver. Still, significant progress has been achieved in particular fields, especially robotics. While various moon and Mars rovers have done extra-terrestrial work of note, the Kismet and Grace projects at MIT and Carnegie Mellon respectively have raised the bar in creating social robots. Honda's ASIMO has also garnered a great deal of attention, starring at industrial shows and the like. Sony's AIBO dog (now discontinued) and the cheaper, but less capable Robosapien have pushed the prototypes out of the labs and into the toy store and conceivably a living room near you. Their ultimate utility as companions is often predicted. Besides robotics, computer chess has been regarded as a harbinger of machine intelligence. The series of matches played by Gary Kasparov versus a variety of programmed opponents captured the popular imagination on this. Kasparov's views on chess and computers are noted here and his life is cataloged in his wiki entry; IBM's take on Deep Blue is available at an IBM site and in a recently published book by Feng-Hsiung Hsu. Computers & Games While chess software traditionally provided the stimulus for many AI advances, today's fast processors, graphic capabilities, and network bandwidth are all propelling the computer game industry and player experience. With a market that rivals Hollywood, computer games are the subject of numerous web sites. Some exhibit an industry point of view; others like Game Design show academic roots. Gaming experience whether played on Playstations, X-boxes, GameBoys, or on PCs is the subject of much concern in the popular press ... as well as specialized game sites like ... Microsoft Until the Department of Justice brought Microsoft to trial a few years ago, most undergraduates' familiarity with antitrust law was restricted to historical cases like the US Steel or Standard Oil cases from a century ago. As with the IBM prosecution in the 1960s or the AT&T breakup in the 1980s, the Microsoft antitrust trial introduced us to some compelling testimony about industry shenanigans and re-introduced us to the debate about the operating principles of the competitive marketplace. The Department of Justice case materials and the equivalent counter-case from Microsoft log out the details of their respective positions, but the original trial Judge's Finding of Facts and later Conclusions of Law are still dramatic reading in spite of a higher court's overturning the initial decision. At this writing, Microsoft has settled with all of the states and almost of the industry grievants (except Real). The last court hurdle for Microsoft is now being negotiated with the European Union. Computing History The Computer History Museum web site is a good place to start for an overview of the historical roots of computing. Those roots are generally acknowledged to have been planted by Charles Babbage (with assistance from Lord Byron's daughter Ada, Lady Loveless, the first "programmer"). Babbage's role in history is considered here. Two scholarly accounts of computing history are contained in Computer: A History of the Information Machine by Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray and A History of Modern Computing by Paul Ceruzzi. A less formal approach is taken in the PBS documentary guided by Robert X. Cringely: Triumph of the Nerds. Any chronology of computing roots should also include the likes of Herman Hollerith; the ENIAC architect's Mauchly and Eckert, Alan Turing, and John Von Neumann. Herman Goldstine's book The Computer from Pascal to Von Neumann incorporates their contributions (usually from first hand knowledge). David Noble's Forces of Production picks up the story in the post-war period. A very recent book considering the sub-culture that engineered the first PCs is John Markoff's What the Dormouse Said. Writing Assistance This course is also an upper-level writing intensive course, requiring the demonstration of writing and oral communication skills. Given this, there are numerous resources that can be helpful in adopting a writing regimen or preparing materials for presentation. Editing Guidelines for Peer Reviews University at Albany Style Sheet for Print and Electronic Citations Albany students are encouraged to take advantage of the University at Albany Writing Center on campus. The Writing Center's Resources for Publishing & Web Authoring are also useful for this class. PowerPoint is--for better or worse--the standard presentation tool. Recognizing this, Wired magazine published contrasting viewpoints on PowerPoint. For a caustic review, see Edward Tufte's essay "PowerPoint is Evil." For a more appreciative essay, see David Byrne's "Learning to Love PowerPoint." While neither is the last word, they are both compelling takes on yet another Microsoft tool that we love to hate. Other Useful Resources Michael Knee's SUNY Albany Computer Science Resource web site New York Times Navigator (A Selective Guide to the Internet) Fee Based Archives. As noted in the text above, several articles of interest in this class have been published in The Atlantic. Until recently, these articles were posted on their web site and made available for free. More recently, The Atlantic has adopted a fee-based subscription model (as have Technology Review and Scientific American). I have retained links to these articles, hoping that either these publications will return to a no fee model or, more likely, students may have access to these articles by way of campus based subscription plans.
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Last updated: 6/18/05