It is encouraging to encounter a textbook for undergraduate students that is devoted to information age ethics, since this development represents the arrival of another marker of civilization in the “Wild West” world of computer technology.
This third edition contains three new chapters. They are: “Computer Networks and Online Crimes,” “Computer Crime Investigation,” and “Biometrics.” The new total of 14 chapters makes a convenient number for the typical university semester. About half of the chapters have a significant legal component. Some of this material could be presented with more subtlety and depth. The discussion scenarios that begin most chapters are thought provoking and will work well in stimulating classroom discussion. Likewise, the footnoted references and further reading lists collected at the end of each chapter may be used for additional assignments.
I have two major criticisms of the text. First, it is quite superficial. Second, the end-of-chapter exercises require the recall of facts, rather than the application of concepts to realistic situations. For example, chapter 6 is titled “Intellectual Property Rights and Computer Technology.” The chapter is chiefly legal, without mention of the great classical property theorists. While it may be correct that “Western culture emphasizes individuals, rewards individual achievements, and hence upholds intellectual property issues as a golden egg,” it is also true that the divide between individual and collective ownership is as old as Aristotle and Plato. This is not discussed.
As an illustration of my second criticism, exercise question 12 at the end of chapter 6 asks: “Most copyright violations are found in developing, usually poor countries. Why?” I would prefer a question that compared the cost of software to average personal income in nation A and nation B, and asked the student to struggle with this issue in the context of a tool that is essential to personal and national economic development. In fairness, I must note that chapter 7, “Social Context of Computing,” does contain a discussion of the digital divide.
Appendix A contains The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Appendix B covers the Federal False Claims Act. Appendix C contains a brief listing of projects. Appendices A and B reflect the legal emphasis of the text. The projects listed in Appendix C might be better listed at the end of chapters.
Kizza states that “this book satisfies the requirements of the new CC 2001 Computer Science Curricula for undergraduates: CS 265s Social and Professional Issues.” At the same time, I wonder if a single course actually changes behavior. Kizza comes close to articulating a broader reason why one should behave ethically when discussing the social and ethical consequences of e-attacks. These include psychological effects, moral decay, loss of privacy, and loss of trust.
In conclusion, I appreciate Kizza’s work in the ethical education of information technology (IT) students. I encourage him to develop a deeper treatment of these issues in future editions. Overall, I recommend this very basic treatment of a frequently neglected, but significant educational topic as an introductory text.
