A Gift of Fire : Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing. This item is unavailable.A Gift of Fire : Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing

Designed for courses covering social, legal and/or ethical issues.

This text explores social, legal, philosophical, ethical, political, constitutional and economic implications of computing from a computer scientist's point of view. It covers the issues students will face both as members of a technological society and as professionals in computer-related fields. One of its goals is to develop computer professionals who understand the implications of what they create and how it fits into society at large. Another goal is to bring these issues to the attention of students outside of computer science.

*Extensively updated material--Free speech issues on the Internet (censorship, spam, anonymity); privacy threats on the Web; search and surveillance technologies and their impact on the Fourth Amendment; government interception of telephone calls and e-mail (Carnivore, Echelon); intellectual property in cyberspace; computer crime (hacking, hacktivism, online fraud). * Explores new and emerging issues and controversies and presents students with many arguments and viewpoints. *Recent significant laws, court cases and decisions--Includes the Napster case, recent Web censorship attempts, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. * Enables students to apply arguments to actual cases and understand controversies in a concrete context. *Added boxed information. * Highlights and describes examples, cases, and issues. *Added and updated exercises--Now totaling approximately 300. * Engages students in lively class discussion or individual presentations.