Naval Postgraduate School
Fall 2008

 

 

Reading List

Week 1 - Sep 29: Introduction

Welcome to Information Crime, Law and Ethics.

Introduction

This course is about rules, and what happens when they are broken. But where do the rules that govern our society come from?

At its heart, the law that governs our society is a system of rules that is designed to keep society orderly. In as much as possible we want the law to have some kind of moral standing---to be fair and just, to punish those who do things that we find morally wrong and to reward those who engage in behavior that benefits society. The law doesn't always do that, of course.

We would like to think that our law is designed to encourage ethical behavior. By ethical, we mean behavior that is consistent with some kind of moral system or philosophy. Some of the ethical principles that US society is based upon is articulated in the Declaration of Independence---phrases like "all men are created equal" come to mind. Other ethical standards are frequently left unmentioned---such as our society's approach to revenge, gambling, and the social use of alcohol. A question that continues to be debated in modern American society is whether or not our laws should be based on the ethical standards set forth in the Bible---assuming that people can agree on what those ethical standards actually are, of course.

In this course we'll see that there are many sources of both law and ethical standards when it comes to computers and information technology. Besides US law and regulations, many professional organizations have adopted codes of conduct or ethics. Another source is the actual codes that we run on our computers---they too place limits on what can and cannot be done.

In this class we'll be discussing:

Overview of the US civilian Legal System

Issue - What are the facts of this particular case. If this is an appeals case, write a summy of the lower court's findings of fact and the procedural history (ie: the date that the person was arrested, when it went to trial, when the judgement was issued, when the appeal was filed, etc). What court authored the opinion? What was decided? If this is not an appeals case, do your best to identify the issue and the facts yourself.

Rule - What are the relevant laws, regulations, or precedents that apply to this case?

Application - How do the facts of this case apply to the rules?

Conclusion - If the case has been decided, the give the final outcome. If the case is pending, explain what you think should be the conclusion, and explain why.

As usual, Wikipedia has a good article about the IRAC, including a worked example.

Video

Assignment:

Write a 1-page brief using the IARC method of the Javier Perez Case.

Some Wi-Fi Material

Readings


Week 2 - Oct 06: Privacy and Anonymity

What is privacy? What is anonymity? Are they different?

Readings

Optional Readings

Slides

Assignment


Week 3 - Oct 13: Search

Readings

Slides


Week 4 - Oct 20: The Crypto Wars

Readings

Assignment


Week 5 - Oct 27: Property in Cybersapce

Readings


Week 6 - Nov 03: Free Speech

Readings

References


Week 7 - Nov 10: Security

Readings


Week 8 - Nov 17: Reliability

Readings


Week 9 - Nov 24: Professional Ethics

Readings


Week 10 - Dec 01: Economy

Readings


Week 11 - Dec 08: TBD