There has been an emphasis on how the changes will affect each one’s pocketbook as the technology expands in strength, capabilities and functionality .
Well, this time we are going to take a look at the growing concern with what is felt to be a problem that is and continues to reach beyond the scope of everyone’s ability to correct and navigate through.
Some of the greatest minds of our times are completely baffled and stumped at how to institute a means of providing a sustainable moral and ethical roadmap for the information highway, and the effects of the void are growing increasingly obvious with each passing day.
Consider the recent e-mail intrusion that claimed several high-ranking U.S. senators had died, even though they had not; and to take it even further, the e-mails appeared to come from each of their offices.
This, of course, created a panic and potential security breach throughout the capitol as there was a move to beef up security around the senators in question.
It is obvious that this was a case of hackers breaking into their e-mail accounts and, if you recall, I did recently write a column on this very matter indicating just how ramped e-mail hacking is becoming.
Furthermore, it goes without saying that the government is supposed to have the top cyber security hardware and software in place with protocols that should make it almost impossible to penetrate.
Yet it happens all the time and more than we will ever know or hear about.
One must ask the question, “What kind of ethics and moral understanding did the person or persons have who, without any feelings or conscience, felt it was perfectly acceptable to hack the Senate e-mail accounts? And then falsify obituaries indicating that they had died and send it out to numerous news agencies, both print and TV?”
I remember watching an episode of a TV show called “The Closer” that centered around a young woman who was the daughter of a prominent senator.
The woman had been murdered in a most horrifying and brutal way by a teenage boy, who frequented a
particular Web site that specialized in bringing people together who were into what is considered S&M sex.Now for the clincher! As the investigation progressed, the real situation began to unfold and it was determined that it was not a true murder in the sense of break in and robbery.
Without going into all the gory details, what had really happened was that an ex-boyfriend of the women was angry at the fact that she broke up with him and wanted to get his payback.
So he hacked into her computer, created an online profile relative to her being into S&M and then, from her own e-mail account, he posted it on a Web site requesting an S&M sexual encounter, which was false, as the woman was never involved in that practice, and as a result of what he did she lost her life.
This an extreme case, but it is something that is very possible as there are individuals and groups who operate in the dark and evil recesses that are void of ethics and morality in our society.
Consider that ethics and morality, relative to the information highway, have been studied and continue to be under intense scrutiny for the last 30 years and yet, to date, there is still an overwhelming amount of unanswered questions and the list grows ever longer with each passing day.
As the power and reach of the technology increases, it has a residual effect that comes with it of those who are going to be unethical and immoral having a greater playground on which to exact their sinister plans and desires without being seen, as well as being able to more effectively and easily link up with those of like mind on a global scale.
So how do we survey our society in an attempt to find out just how we, human beings, view and perceive ethics and morals on the information highway?
We will look at the groups that are studied on this issue and what has been determined about their viewpoints as a result of the information obtained from the studies.
Do you have an opinion or negative experience relative to ethics and morality on the World Wide Web or the Wild Wild West? Whichever you prefer!
- Andino Ward
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