Code and moral values in cyberspace

This essay is a critique of LarryLessig's book, Code and other Laws ofCyberspace (Basic Books, 1999). Itsummarizes Lessig's theory of the fourmodalities of regulation in cyberspace: code,law, markets, and norms. It applies thistheory to the topics of privacy and speech,illustrating how code can undermine basicrights or liberties. The review raisesquestions about the role of ethics in thismodel, and it argues that ethical principlesmust be given a privileged position in anytheory that purports to deal with the shapingof behavior in cyberspace. Finally, itproposes a philosophy of ethicalself-regulation instead of an over-reliance ongovernment policy to deal with certainimproprieties and negative externalities thattend to disrupt the Net.     

The moral value of informational privacy in cyberspace

Solutions to the problem ofprotecting informational privacy in cyberspacetend to fall into one of three categories:technological solutions, self-regulatorysolutions, and legislative solutions. In thispaper, I suggest that the legal protection ofthe right to online privacy within the USshould be strengthened. Traditionally, inidentifying where support can be found in theUS Constitution for a right to informationalprivacy, the point of focus has been on theFourth Amendment; protection in this contextfinds its moral basis in personal liberty,personal dignity, self-esteem, and othervalues. On the other hand, the constitutionalright to privacy first established by Griswoldv. Connecticut finds its moral basis largelyin a single value, the value of autonomy ofdecision-making. I propose that an expandedconstitutional right to informational privacy,responsive to the escalating threats posed toonline privacy by developments in informationaltechnology, would be more likely to find asolid moral basis in the value of autonomyassociated with the constitutional right toprivacy found in Griswold than in the varietyof values forming the moral basis for the rightto privacy backed by the Fourth Amendment.     

An emerging ontology of jurisdiction in cyberspace

The emergence of the new information economy hascomplicated jurisdictional issues in commerce andcrime. Many of these difficulties are simplyextensions of problems that arose due to other media.Telephones and fax machines had already complicatedjurists' determinations of applicable laws. Evenbefore the Internet, contracts were often negotiatedwithout any face-to-face contact – entirely bytelephone and fax. Where is such a contractnegotiated? The answer to this question is critical toany litigation that may arise over such contracts. Thelaws of contract are often quite different from onejurisdiction to the next.The Internet has brought with it new forms ofcommunication which make determining the loci of actseven more complicated. Where are contracts negotiatedwhen they are negotiated in cyberspace? Business isbeing conducted in chat rooms, on web sites, andthrough e-mail. Each of these is technically distinctfrom telephones and fax machines. More importantly,these tools seem ontologically different, in varyingdegrees, from traditional methods of communication.The question is, are these ontological differencessufficient to warrant new legal notions ofjurisdiction in cyberspace?Only a thorough ontological analysis of the parts ofcyberspace and acts ``in'' it can reveal the answers tothe legal questions posed by this new medium.Traditional legal analyses have relied, in part, on acrude legal ontology. That is, courts have grappledwith notions of the topology and mereology of theworld and legal objects when considering questions ofjurisdiction. There is a simpler, theoretically soundmethod for determining legal jurisdiction which isbased upon the notion of ``purposeful direction,'' andwhich treats computer-mediated transactions as justanother form of communication. I will explore thatmethod below.     

Emerging roles for third parties in cyberspace

In `real' space, third partieshave always been useful to facilitatetransactions. With cyberspace opening up, it isto be expected that intermediation will alsodevelop in a virtual fashion. The articlefocuses upon new cyberroles for third partiesthat seem to announce themselves clearly.First, virtualization of the market place haspaved the way for `cybermediaries', who brokerbetween supply and demand of material andinformational goods. Secondly,cybercommunication has created newuncertainties concerning informational securityand privacy. Also, as in real space,transacting supposes some decency with one'spartners. These needs are being addressed byTrusted Third Parties, anonymizers, escrowarrangements, facilitators and externalauditing. Virtual reputation trackingmechanisms are being developed as well.Finally, in order to resolve disputes,mediators and arbitrators have started offeringtheir services online. In the closing sectionthese emerging cyberroles are assessedcritically. It is argued in particular, thatboth cybermediaries and cyberjustice poseserious threats to privacy. Moreover, onlinedispute resolution, as it is practised now,neglects its duties of public accounting.     

Informational privacy and moral values

A case from 1996 in Oregon in which citizens' legally publicmotor vehicle information was disseminated on a World Wide Website is considered. The case evoked widespread moral outrageamong Oregonians and led to changes in the Oregon records laws.The application of either consequentialist ornon-consequentialist moral theories to this and otherinformational privacy cases is found to be inadequate.Adjudication of conflicting desires is offered as the appropriateanalytical model for moral disputes. The notion of adjudicationoffered here diverges from traditional moral theories in itsindeterminate nature.     

Lost in cyberspace: ethical decision making in the online environment

In this study, a 20-item questionnaire was used to elicit undergraduates’ (N = 93) ethical judgment and behavioral intention regarding a number of behaviors involving computers and internet usage. Machiavellianism was found to be uncorrelated with both ethical judgment and behavioral intention. Gender was found to be negatively correlated with both ethical judgment and behavioral intention, such that females judged the behaviors as being less ethical than males, and were less likely to engage in the behaviors than males. A disconnect was found between ethical judgment and behavioral intention, for both males and females, such that the ethical judgment mean for a number of issues was significantly lower (towards the “unethical” end of the continuum) than the behavioral intention mean (towards the “more likely to engage in” end of the continuum). The study raises questions regarding ethical awareness of technology-related issues, and the authors make suggestions for future research.     

网络空间安全视阈下恶意软件攻防策略研究

网络空间安全是国家安全和经济安全的基础。本文基于恶意软件的两种攻击方式和三种用户防治策略,构建网络空间安全视阈下恶意软件攻防的系统动力学模型,对攻防组合策略进行了交叉分析,并用调研数据验证了模型的有效性。研究发现：在恶意软件的预防、应对阶段,安全教育和安全工具投资可抑制恶意软件传播,减少系统安全脆弱性;恢复阶段的成本投入可减少用户损失;针对不同的防治目标,用户应采取不同的组合防治策略。最后提出的对策建议为用户实施有效的恶意软件防治提供理论与实践指导。     

The body and communities in cyberspace: A Mmarcellian analysis

Many who speak glowingly about the possibilities for human relations in cyberspace, or virtual communities, laud them precisely because such communities are to a great extent free of the real spatial-temporal restrictions rooted in the limitations of our bodies. In this paper I investigate the importance of the body in establishing and maintaining human relations by considering the thought of the twentieth century French philosopher Gabriel Marcel. Because Marcel emphasized the central importance of the body in one's personal self-identity as well as in initiating and maintaining intersubjective bonds in human communities, he is able to offer some interesting reflections on the character of virtual communities. I suggest that a number of the features of cyberspace and its communities that make it attractive to many are precisely the characteristics that Marcel would consider detrimental to establishing intimate lasting human communities. I conclude by indicating why I think that Marcel would be concerned that certain trends in our high tech culture may well lead many to prefer ``living' in virtual, rather than real communities.     

SIMPLE ANALYTICS OF THE EMPLOYMENT IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

In the debate concerning the economic consequences of technological change much has been written about the possibility of job loss. Relatively few studies have used an explicit framework of micro- and macro-economic analysis to examine this topic, however. Assertions about the employment outcome of the process of technical change tend to involve pessimistic generalisations from particular cases or a resort to optimistic predictions based on elegant but unrealistic neoclassical analysis. The present paper is designed to use simple tools of micro- and macro-economic theory to illustrate a variety of factors which may impinge upon this complex question and to show the circumstances in which technologically-induced unemployment may arise.     

环境与矿产资源双重约束下的中国制造业全要素生产率研究

利用ISP生产率指数法,将环境和矿产资源纳入全要素生产率测算体系,并从要素效率的角度进行分解.研究结果表明:首先,从整体上来看,中国制造业全要素生产率平均以1.16%的速度增长,技术变化是全要素生产率增长的主要推动力.其次,从细分行业来看,技术变化仍然是全要素生产率增长的主要动力,不少行业在各要素效率方面都存在远离有效前沿面的情况,行业要素效率分化严重.最后,基于实证结论,针对性地提出政策建议.     

企业技术创新会受到同行企业社会责任明星的影响吗？

企业技术创新投入和企业社会责任的关系已被国内外学者关注和探讨，而鲜有研究考虑同行社会责任水平对企业技术创新投入的影响。基于信号理论和利益相关者理论，本文研究了同行企业社会责任（Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR）明星的治理水平和产出水平对私营企业技术创新投入的影响。通过对16个行业的CSR明星和3546家私营企业进行实证分析，研究发现同行CSR明星的治理水平负向影响私营企业技术创新投入，但其负向影响程度随着私营企业创办者社会地位的提高而减弱；同行CSR明星的产出水平正向影响私营企业技术创新投入，其正向影响程度随着私营企业创办者社会地位的提高而增强。进一步研究发现，中国市场化水平较高的地区为以上结论提供了更好的证据支持。研究进一步深化了现有企业技术创新投入前因研究和同行企业社会责任效应研究。     

电子商务网络空间安全建设的零售商投资协同机制研究

针对电子商务中零售商的网络空间安全投资问题,在考虑存在负外部性的前提下,采用博弈论理论首先对两个零售商的投资博弈进行均衡分析,然后对多个零售商的博弈进行均衡分析,并进行仿真模拟。研究结果表明:投资阈值与零售商的网络空间安全水平呈正相关关系,与已投资网络空间安全的零售商数量呈负相关关系。根据结论分析,提出需要制定合理的规章制度和采取必要的补贴措施,加强对电子商务零售商网络空间安全风险的防范。     

EXOGENOUS FACTORS IN ECONOMIC THEORY

Economists have frequently treated technological change as exogenous, as having important economic consequences but not being controlled by economic forces. This justifies reporting a current attempt to develop an international, interdisciplinary discussion of exogenous factors in economics.     

我国区域之间技术创新能力差异的实证分析

以专利授予量代表技术创新能力,采用广义熵指数(GEM)、基尼系数(GINI)和变异系数(CV)测量分析了1996~2005年间中国八大地域以及各个省份之间技术创新能力水平的差异。运用Box-Cox模型对不同区域的技术创新能力差异进行比较分析,发现在1996~2005年,区域之间的技术创新能力差距有拉大的趋势,研发费用的投入水平和地区城市化水平两大因素对增强地区技术创新能力有重大贡献,成为区域间技术创新能力不均衡发展最主要的两个影响因素。     

Sticks and stones and words that harm: Liability vs. responsibility, section 230 and defamatory speech in cyberspace

This article explores recent developments inthe regulation of Internet speech, inparticular, injurious or defamatory speech andthe impact the attempts at regulation arehaving on the `body' in the sense of theindividual person who speaks through the mediumof the Internet and upon those harmed by thatspeech. The article proceeds in threesections. First, a brief history of the legalattempts to regulate defamatory Internet speechin the United States is presented; a shortcomparative discussion of defamation law in theUK and Australia is included. As discussedbelow, this regulation has altered thetraditional legal paradigm of responsibilityand, as a result, creates potential problems forthe future of unrestricted and even anonymousspeech on the Internet. Second, an ethicalassessment is made of the defamatory speechenvironment in order to determine which actorshave moral responsibility for the harm causedby defamatory speech. This moral assessment iscompared to the developing and anticipatedlegal paradigm to identify possible conformityof moral and legal tenants or to recognize theconflict between morality and law in assigningresponsibility to defamatory actors. Thisassessment then concludes with possiblesuggestions for changes in the legal climategoverning the regulation of defamatory speechon the Internet, as well as prediction of theresult should the legal climate continue todevelop on its present course. This is not tosuggest that all law, or even the law ofdefamation, be structured to reflect thesubjectivity of a moral construct, but since itis the authors position that the legalassignment of liability in online settings ismisaligned, this reflection can serve asbeginning reassessment of that assignment.     

论基因技术共同体的社会责任

从伦理学视野揭示基因技术共同体的特殊本质,并以现代基因技术的发展趋势为立论基点,站在发展伦理学和责任伦理学立场上,建构了基因技术共同体的实践伦理原则及行为规范。     

Black and white transparency: contradictions of a moral metaphor

Transparency has evolved from an individual, dangerous power in Plato to a desirable, collective property in the contemporary world. This paper intends to give a brief account of this long and somehow surprising path and extract some interesting consequences for economic and political activities, as well as for information technologies. Six literary masterpieces are used to highlight the contradictions and dangers entailed by the abuse of the fascinating metaphor of transparency. In the end, what is usually intended when demanding transparency from a corporation, a firm or a state is more (or more accessible) information about it, i.e., understandable and abundant black and white data. This means reporting, picturing, producing material, becoming apparent, which is precisely the contrary of being transparent. We don’t want to look through, but to look directly at. The question, then, is not transparency, but opacity: what do we need and want to see, and how is this going to be produced?     

论技术责任的主体

本文通过对技术责任的主体的历史演变过程和技术责任主体基本构成的研究 ,在区分技术责任主体的意义和价值的基础上 ,分析了技术责任主体应该是一个由工程师、科学家以及企业、国家等构成的技术责任主体群     

考虑技术进步偏向性的全要素生产率分解及其演变——来自1992～2009年中国省际面板数据的经验依据

基于1992²009年中国省际面板数据,采用非参数DEA方法测算了28个省份的全要素生产率指数并考察其地区差异与变化根源。在此基础上,进一步将技术进步分解为投入偏向型技术进步与中性技术进步,重点分析了偏向型技术进步对我国各省份全要素生产率的作用机制。结果表明:样本期内,我国全要素生产率实现了年均2.37%与累计41.25%的增长,并主要依靠技术进步来推动;中性技术进步是我国技术进步的主要表现形式,偏向型技术进步总体上对我国全要素生产率提升起到促进作用,但是力度在逐渐减弱。为了推动全要素生产率持续增长,各省份一方面必须要同时重视技术进步与技术效率的提高,另一方面应根据自身的资源禀赋与产业结构特点进行适宜的技术选择。     

基于技术创新的企业社会责任对绩效影响研究

以公共事件为切入点,从绿色创新角度出发,将从基于技术创新的企业社会责任对企业财务绩效影响这条意识的路径来研究,而不是基于社会责任的创新对企业财务绩效的影响。从大量文献研究发现,创新的绿色也就是基于技术创新的社会责任,我们将剖析基于技术创新尤其是产品和工艺创新的企业社会责任对于企业社会绩效和财务绩效的影响机制和媒体曝光度在这种影响机制中所起到的调节作用。研究认为,基于技术创新的企业社会责任会积极影响企业社会绩效,社会绩效会积极影响企业财务绩效,而媒体曝光度则会正向调节基于技术创新的企业社会责任对社会绩效影响机制。