Ethical Responsibilities of Internet Users

Ethical Responsibilities of Internet Users

2005 Ethical Responsibilities of Internet Users

I . Introduction

Nowadays , the presence of internet is becoming more dominant within activities of modern societies . The discussion about the is never again considered light and the effect of the `connections ' never again underestimated . For the educational community , business society political environment , journalistic community and even social interactions of common citizens , the presence of internet has become a part of daily lives . The technology has no longer pose as merely a tool of communication , but has become an independent

`virtual world ' that directly connected to the infrastructure of the real world , supporting its endeavors and daily activities . Nevertheless , the technology also results risks as well as benefits

Present discussion is no longer about the obvious advantages , but also about the disadvantages of the technology . Many have stated that ethical and moral considerations have practically been left behind as the internet grows within the community . Due to the `virtual ' nature of the system , laws and regulations are harder to enforced , resulting the internet to be used as tool of anarchy as much as it has contributed to progress . Because roles of the technology have been increasingly dominant , we are demanded to consider both the positive and negative side of the internet . Through discussions and elaboration , we hope that stronger future commitments are made to preserve the advantages of internet and eliminate the disadvantages

Change in Technology

Internet is a technological development , which means that it is actually a cultural activity that involves science and engineering , which has a role in the formation of human culture itself (`Technology , 2005 . By definition , internet is the publicly accessible worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that transmit data , guided by standardized Internet Protocol (IP . It contains various information and services interchanged between thousands of smaller commercial , academic domestic and government networks (`Internet , 2005

I .1 Past and Present

The internet was actually contributed by the rush of space war between the United States and the Soviet Union . The launch of Sputnik and the testing of first intercontinental ballistic missile by the USSR have resulted extreme atmosphere of competition . Shortly after , US established the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA ) to handle all space and strategic missile research . After NASA was born in 1958 , ARPA moved away from aeronautics activities and focused on computer science and information processing . By connecting computer mainframes at different universities under a single protocol , the world 's first multiple site computer network -the ARPAnet- was born in 1969 (`The Birth , 2005

Along the years , the ARPAnet receive massive amount of attention from every aspect of society . After being used for governmental activities the concept was then applied for education , journalistic purposes , and political symbol of technological advancement . By the year1986 , 5 ,000 hosts were already on the ARPAnet . In 1987 , ARPAnet , who was already known as `the internet , contains 10 ,000 host . Two years later , the number of host multiplied 10 fold and the term `surfing the internet was already...