1. Alfreda Dudley
Towson University, USA
James Braman
Towson University, USA
Giovanni Vincenti
Towson University, USA
Investigating Cyber Law
and Cyber Ethics:
Issues, Impacts and Practices
Investigating cyber law and cyber ethics: issues, impacts and
practices / Alfreda Dudley, James Braman and Giovanni
Vincenti, editors.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “This book discusses the impact of cyber ethics and
cyber law on information technologies and society,
featuring current research, theoretical frameworks, and case
studies”--Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-61350-132-0 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-61350-
133-7 (ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-61350-134-4 (print & perpetual
access) 1. Internet--Law and legislation. 2. Computer crimes.
3. Internet--Social aspects. 4. Internet--Moral and ethical
aspects. I. Dudley, Alfreda, 1957- II. Braman, James, 1981- III.
Vincenti, Giovanni, 1978-
3. Product or company names used in this set are for identification
purposes only. Inclusion of the names of the products or
companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global
of the trademark or registered trademark.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Editorial Advisory Board
Doris Lidtke, Towson University, USA
Gabriele Meiselwitz, Towson University, USA
Donna Tupper, Community College of Baltimore County
Maryland, USA
Yuanqiong Wang, Towson University, USA
Cecelia Wright Brown, University of Baltimore, USA
List of Reviewers
Charles Dierbach
Mary Hackley
Dennis Hamilton
Doris Lidtke
Gabriele Meiselwitz
Juliette Townsend
Donna Tupper
Yuanqiong Wang
Cecelia Wright Brown
Table of Contents
Foreword
...............................................................................................
.............................................. xiii
5. Anteneh Ayanso, Brock University, Canada
Tejaswini Herath, Brock University, Canada
Chapter 5
Cyber Law, Cyber Ethics and Online Gambling
.................................................................................. 78
Lee Gillam, University of Surrey, UK
Anna Vartapetiance, University of Surrey, UK
Section 2
Legal and Ethical Implications Involving Social Networks and
Virtual Worlds
Chapter 6
An Overview of Child Abuses in 3D Social Networks and
Online Video Games ............................. 101
Miguel A. Garcia-Ruiz, University of Colima, Mexico
Miguel Vargas Martin, University of Ontario Institute of
Technology, Canada
Patrik Olsson, University of Ontario Institute of Technology,
Canada
Chapter 7
Ethics and Legal Aspects of Virtual Worlds
....................................................................................... 117
Andrew Power, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and
Technology, Ireland
Gráinne Kirwan, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and
Technology, Ireland
6. Chapter 8
Narbs as a Measure and Indicator of Identity Narratives
................................................................... 132
Ananda Mitra, Wake Forest University, USA
Chapter 9
Cloud Based Social Network Sites: Under Whose Control?
.............................................................. 147
Jean-Philippe Moiny, University of Namur, Belgium
Section 3
Legal and Ethical Implications in Cyberspace: An International
Perspective
Chapter 10
Al-Qaeda on Web 2.0: Radicalization and Recruitment
Strategies .................................................... 221
Anne Gerdes, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Chapter 11
Google in China: Corporate Responsibility on a Censored
Internet ................................................... 239
Richard A. Spinello, Boston College, USA
Chapter 12
All’s WELL that Ends WELL: A Comparative Analysis of the
Constitutional
and Administrative Frameworks of Cyberspace and the United
Kingdom ........................................ 254
Jonathan Bishop, Swansea University, UK
7. Chapter 13
A UK Law Perspective: Defamation Law as it Applies on the
Internet ............................................. 264
Sam De Silva, Manches LLP, UK
Chapter 14
The Hellenic Framework for Computer Program Copyright
Protection Following
the Implementation of the Relative European Union Directives
........................................................ 280
Eugenia Alexandropoulou-Egyptiadou, University of
Macedonia, Greece
Chapter 15
Internet Advertising: Legal Aspects in the European Union
.............................................................. 288
Radomír Jakab, University of P. J. Safarik, Slovakia
About the Contributors
............................................................................................. ..
..................... 311
Index
...............................................................................................
.................................................... 317
Detailed Table of Contents
Foreword
9. ........................................................... 21
Gráinne Kirwan, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and
Technology, Ireland
Andrew Power, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and
Technology, Ireland
The practice of hacking conceals a large array of motivations,
generated by intents that may or may not
be malicious in nature. Some argue that this traditionally
questionable practice can be very well utilized
for positive purposes, when directed towards the welfare of the
systems and data by looking for potential
vulnerabilities without necessarily exploiting them. The
majority of the uninformed population does attach
a negative connotation to any form of hacking. This chapter
reviews this widespread practice through
a wide overview, then approaches the discussion of its
ethicality. The authors also offers a perspective
given by international legal systems.
Chapter 3
Emerging Cybercrime Trends: Legal, Ethical, and Practical
Issues ..................................................... 37
Sean M. Zadig, Nova Southeastern University, USA
Gurvirender Tejay, Nova Southeastern University, USA
A natural consequence to the shifting of every-day operations
from a brick-and-mortar paradigm to one
that lives completely in cyberspace also entails that the
typically associated aspect of crime will also
follow this radical change. As more and more crimes committed
on Information Systems and computer
10. hardware are reported in the news, affecting sensitive
information about millions of people and often
involving significant amount of money, the techniques of
committing these crimes as well as their coun-
teractions have to evolve continually. This chapter explores the
methodologies through which perpetra-
tors often carry on their illegal activities against sensitive data
of various natures, focusing especially
on the employment of large networks of compromised
computers, or botnets. The authors also offer
perspectives given by practitioners, law enforcement, and
researchers who made cybercrime the focus
of their attention.
Chapter 4
Law and Technology at Crossroads in Cyberspace: Where Do
We Go From Here? ............................ 57
Anteneh Ayanso, Brock University, Canada
Tejaswini Herath, Brock University, Canada
The variety of computer crimes along with the complexity of the
environments in which they take place,
compounds the problem of devising a mechanism that can
effectively addresses these types of criminal
activities. It is extremely important for organizations and
governments to understand computer crimes
and to establish frameworks and other active measures in order
to be proactive in reducing computer
based crime. In this chapter the authors discuss these important
topics along with a review of academic
literature, industry reports, and information from the media, in
identifying various types of computer
crime and discuss the counter strategies to deal with such
crimes in a legal, technological, and organi-
zational context.
11. Chapter 5
Cyber Law, Cyber Ethics and Online Gambling
.................................................................................. 78
Lee Gillam, University of Surrey, UK
Anna Vartapetiance, University of Surrey, UK
Perhaps one of the most profitable applications of a real-life
practice carried online, gambling is a phe-
nomenon that affects users across cultures, often reaching
pathological levels that cannot be sustained
without external help. The significant relevance of this topic
becomes even more intricate as we observe
the seam that exists in the interaction between gambling in real
life and the one that exists on comput-
ers alone. This chapter observes the difficulties posed by the
variations of the laws, which affect either
the physical world or the virtual one. The authors then go on
and discuss the possibility of creating
systems that embed adherence to laws, providing support for
ethics in an effort of protecting unwary
or ill-informed users.
Section 2
Legal and Ethical Implications Involving Social Networks and
Virtual Worlds
Chapter 6
An Overview of Child Abuses in 3D Social Networks and
Online Video Games ............................. 101
Miguel A. Garcia-Ruiz, University of Colima, Mexico
Miguel Vargas Martin, University of Ontario Institute of
12. Technology, Canada
Patrik Olsson, University of Ontario Institute of Technology,
Canada
The advent of Internet-based technologies has sprung many
different initiatives aimed at replicating
features of the real world through the cybernetic medium. At
times the physical environment in which
we live is enhanced through technology through augmented or
virtual reality; other times instead it is
completely paralleled and often exacerbated. The idea of multi-
user virtual environments contains a
potential that is barely tapped: few educators still use it; virtual
tourism is often limited by the small
amount of real-life destinations reproduced through this
window. Aspects of sexuality though have been
developed significantly enough to also have brought perversions
and illegal activities to virtual worlds,
sometimes replicating flawlessly the morbidity associated with
them. This chapter analyzes child pornog-
raphy through multi-user virtual environments, reviewing
ethical and legal issues that revolve around it.
Chapter 7
Ethics and Legal Aspects of Virtual Worlds
....................................................................................... 117
Andrew Power, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and
Technology, Ireland
Gráinne Kirwan, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and
Technology, Ireland
Any time we wish to visit new places, we usually consider the
physical displacement associated with
the journey. Often times, in addition to the necessity of
reaching the location we wish to visit, we also
13. need to take into consideration aspects that reach different laws
and regulations when we decide to
cross national borders, visiting new countries. The lines are not
so clear, if they are visible at all, when
we interact with virtual worlds and virtual spaces. This chapter
reviews ethical implications, technical
solutions and the privatization of legal remedies of the still
underdeveloped realm of the legal system
in user-driven virtual environments.
Chapter 8
Narbs as a Measure and Indicator of Identity Narratives
................................................................... 132
Ananda Mitra, Wake Forest University, USA
With the increased usage of social networks and the abundance
of information we reveal in contribut-
ing to our online personas, these narrative bits of information
can be used to create a composite of an
individual. In this chapter, the author discusses in detail these
“narrative bits,” or narbs that encapsulate
measurable attributes - content, authorship, frequency of
appearance and spatial information about the
user. Certain characteristics of narbs can be measured though a
narb weight and matrix for each indi-
vidual user to reveal certain information. As social networking
tools become more common place, it is
important to gauge the types of information we reveal and how
such information can be used.
Chapter 9
Cloud Based Social Network Sites: Under Whose Control?
.............................................................. 147
14. Jean-Philippe Moiny, University of Namur, Belgium
The projection of one’s life in cyberspace does not necessarily
have to go through 3-dimensional virtual
environments. The massive advent of social networking sites
has enabled users of any age, culture, and
creed to share information about themselves and their lives with
anyone who is willing to connect with
them. This concept brings a significant stress on the policies
that govern what should and shouldn’t be
shared with others through these social services. The author
focuses on four main themes: privacy, data
protection, confidentiality of electronic communications, and
the unauthorized access to computers. The
main subject of this work includes how American and European
(in particular Belgian) laws empower
users in the process of recovering the control over the global
availability of their data through social
networks. These two legal systems are compared, utilizing
similarities as well as differences as terms
of comparison and evaluation.
Section 3
Legal and Ethical Implications in Cyberspace: An International
Perspective
Chapter 10
Al-Qaeda on Web 2.0: Radicalization and Recruitment
Strategies .................................................... 221
Anne Gerdes, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
As most aspects of life are moving towards their embedding in
the global technological infrastructure
offered by the Internet, also dangerous and controversial aspects
15. of life such as terrorism seem to follow.
This shift towards a highly technological avenue of information
allows for a more capillary distribu-
tion of untainted and unaltered credos and documents,
potentially increasing the recruiting pool in the
eyes of those who actively participate in these practices. This
chapter evaluates in detail the strategy
of proselytism utilized by Al-Qaeda and potentially other terror-
based organizations in modern days.
The author points out the essential components that are missing
from this campaign, which are inherent
characteristics of the Web 2.0 approach to technology and
modern diffusion of ideas.
Chapter 11
Google in China: Corporate Responsibility on a Censored
Internet ................................................... 239
Richard A. Spinello, Boston College, USA
Tracing the path that information takes from its origin to the
end-user is often difficult in today’s age of
open networks and news services. The process of harnessing,
controlling, and filtering such information
is yet more complex, as it seriously undermines the freedom
that is the basic foundation to the major-
ity of online communications in today’s day and age. The mix
of these concepts with strict regulations
often inflicted to its people by strict governments creates a
series of arguments that are of extreme im-
portance. The author analyzes the root causes of disagreements
between what should be published and
what should be available to the end-user, arguing that a
proactive self-regulation may very well establish
a firm foundation towards a more successful collaboration
between information-providing agencies and
16. government-supervised communications media.
Chapter 12
All’s WELL that Ends WELL: A Comparative Analysis of the
Constitutional
and Administrative Frameworks of Cyberspace and the United
Kingdom ........................................ 254
Jonathan Bishop, Swansea University, UK
Understanding where the legal regulations of one country end
and the other begins is relatively simple
in the real world, where we can place physical boundaries
between these two different political enti-
ties, and monitor the grounds to ensure the enforcement of laws.
When we move our discussion to the
Internet, we are not as easily able to identify the shifting
between governments. This chapter illustrates,
through cases and discussion, the importance as well as the
difficulties involved in translating rules and
regulations typical of the physical world into the digital one
represented by websites, flow of informa-
tion, and services.
Chapter 13
A UK Law Perspective: Defamation Law as it Applies on the
Internet ............................................. 264
Sam De Silva, Manches LLP, UK
The act of defamation is one of the many emergent phenomena
associated with social and societal
aspects of the Internet’s predisposition to world-wide
communications. The ease with which messages
17. and information travel over great distances has made the
defense against defamation even more crucial.
This chapter reviews significant legal achievements such as the
Defamation Act and the E-Commerce
Directive in light of these new trends, focusing in particular on
the case of the United Kingdom’s legal
system. The discussions here are applicable and important in
many contexts where defamation and
reputation are involved.
Chapter 14
The Hellenic Framework for Computer Program Copyright
Protection Following
the Implementation of the Relative European Union Directives
........................................................ 280
Eugenia Alexandropoulou-Egyptiadou, University of
Macedonia, Greece
As issues of computer piracy have plagued software developers
worldwide, legislators have been faced
with the challenge to create regulations in the effort to stop
such activities at many levels, both nationally
and internationally. This chapter focuses on the presentation of
the current Hellenic legal framework on
computer program copyright protection following the relative
E.U. Directives. Piracy rates, protection
of right holders, specific cases, and consequences of copyright
infringement are discussed along with
recommendations from the author. In a world where software
can be easily copied, the topics discussed
are important to consider.
Chapter 15
Internet Advertising: Legal Aspects in the European Union
.............................................................. 288
18. Radomír Jakab, University of P. J. Safarik, Slovakia
Often, when we are exposed to something over and over, we
barely pay attention to it any more. In many
cases advertising takes this very characteristic, leading us to
ignoring it while we really should pay atten-
tion, especially if the manner in which it takes place is legal.
Internet-based ads, along with all the other
kinds of publicity, are subject to regulations that often are not
followed entirely or even ignored. This
chapter explores in detail the European regulations that affect
advertising (in many shapes), prompting
for very interesting discussions about these topics well beyond
the areas of application discussed here.
About the Contributors
...............................................................................................
..................... 311
Index
...............................................................................................
.................................................... 317
xiii
Foreword
Everyday each one of us face choices that call for decisions;
some major and others minor. These deci-
sions are often influenced by a set of guidelines, adherence to
19. laws, our morals and/or ethics. In most
situations these guidelines are straightforward (at least
perceivably) for each situation we encounter. In
today’s information rich and technology dependent culture,
many of the lines are blurred when it comes
to how we interact and use technology- making informed
decisions more difficult. The devices, software
and other technology designed to make our lives easier, have in
many situations made our lives more
complicated when it comes to ethics and laws. Issues that did
not exist in the past, now must be addressed
and scrutinized, and new laws developed. In many instances
however, old crimes and social issues have
been reinvented or exacerbated by these new technologies. A
cyber criminal can be hiding in one part
of the world committing crimes in another part using someone
else’s identity. Not only does the crime
itself need to be analyzed, but also the laws that are being
violated and the country. What may be legal
or ethically sound for one location may be illegal in another.
Other such issues arise from organizations
and businesses not fully understanding their vulnerabilities, or
computer based crime and/or their re-
sponsibilities to protect their data. Social networks have also
changed the legal landscape by adding new
dimensions of vulnerability and social engineering through the
creation of our online digital selves. We
spend so much time constructing our online representation, but
forget that the information we post on-
line can sometimes be used against us. These types of problems
are just a few mentioned in this book
as it aims to highlight many mainstream global ethical and legal
problems caused or amplified by tech-
nology.
With this book, Investigating Cyber Law and Cyber Ethics:
20. Issues, Impacts and Practices, observa-
tions can be made about the impact of technology, software and
the Internet through a legal and ethical
point of view. Three main sections provide the framework for
the book, which include: Section 1: Legal
and Jurisdictional Issues Regarding Cyberspace, Section 2:
Legal and Ethical Implications involving
Social Networks and Virtual Worlds; and Section 3: Legal and
Ethical Implications in Cyberspace – An
International Perspective. Through these divisions, a unique
collection of articles, research initiatives,
essays and discussions are presented with the objective to
provided readers with an international view
of current trends in these growing areas of importance.
Today cyber technologies have significant impact on privacy,
security and individual rights. IT
professionals and educators must have a working knowledge of
the professional, ethical, legal, security
and social issues and responsibilities associated with these
technologies. They must be aware of and
adhere to the ethical standards of the profession as they
formulate solutions to meet user needs in an
organizational and societal context. The nature of their
involvement with implementing and managing
xiv
information and communication technologies requires IT
professionals to be aware of relevant legal
statutes and procedures including computer crime rules of
evidence, evidence seizure and handling, as
well as court presentation.
21. Scott Hilberg
Towson University, March 2010
Scott Hilberg is the Assistant Director for Center for Applied
Information Technology (CAIT), the Director of the
undergraduate
Information Technology program, and Clinical Assistant
Professor in the Department of Computer and Information
Sciences
at Towson University. His academic background includes an
Ed.D. in Innovation & Leadership from Wilmington University
and a M.A.S. in Management Information Technology from
Johns Hopkins University. He has taught programming, system
development, and project management. In addition, he has 15+
years of industry experience as a programmer, systems analyst,
and IT manager.
xv
Preface
Computer technologies have continually and rapidly changed
and advanced in the last two decades. The
impacts of these rapid changes are affecting the use and
applications of computer technologies in soci-
ety. These impacts bring about new focus and scrutiny. One of
the fundamental changes in the last decade
has been the realization that the context in which computer
technologies are used must take into account
the ethical implications associated with their use. Examples of
computing ethical issues include, but are
not limited to: cyberterrorism; security and privacy
responsibilities; intellectual property rights; online
piracy; blogger litigation; data recovery; data protection;
22. wireless computing; computer crime; et cetera.
Another fundamental change is the increased importance of the
legal impacts that new computer tech-
nologies introduce. However, these changes do not necessarily
correspond to the changes in the com-
puter technology itself.
Ethics, when applied to technology-related issues, are also
recognized as cyberethics (Tavani, 2010).
There is a plethora of viewpoints regarding the subject of
cyberethics. For instance, one major ques-
tion that many professionals both inside and outside the
computer community consider: Are cybereth-
ics different from “regular” ethics? Regular ethics are defined
as ethics that apply across all contexts
(i.e., medical, legal, business, and religious). In some instances,
this question can be answered with a
definite yes. However, many theorists would state that there are
differences between regular ethics and
cyberethics. They base their arguments on the fact that
cyberethics is based on the impact of computing
technologies on individuals and society. However, this does not
indicate that computing technologies
have introduced new ethical issues. Therefore, some would
argue that there are no differences between
regular ethics and cyberethics. Their arguments are based on the
fact that computing technologies only
bring a new dimension to existing ethical issues. A major
problem is the practice and application of
ethics in computing environments by computing professionals
and users.
In the computing culture, professionals and organizations put
emphasis on proper or improper design
procedures and practices. While this is definitely important,
increasing awareness of the ethical behavioral
23. practices of the computing professional and organization is
becoming crucial. Computing technology is
pervasive in all areas of society; …
PICOT Statement
(P) In-patients in acute care units and acute rehabilitation unit.
(I) –Implementation of adequate nurse-to-patient staffing ratios
(C) –Disproportional nurse-to-patient staffing ratios
(O) –Improvement in quality of patient care
(T) Throughout hospitalization period
(P) For in-patients in acute care units and acute rehabilitation
units(I)will implementation
of adequate nurse-to-patient staffing ratio(C)against
disproportional nurse-to-patient
staffing ratio(O)improves the quality of patient
care(T)throughout the period of the
hospitalization?
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