Understanding Networking, Email, Spam, and Ethical Perspectives on Internet Use

1. Chapter 3 Networking

2. Chapter Overview (1/2) • Introduction • Email and spam • Fighting spam • World Wide Web • Ethical perspectives on pornography

3. Chapter Overview (2/2) • Censorship • Freedom of expression • Children and the Web • Breaking trust on the Internet • Internet addiction

4. Introduction • Networking increases computer’s utility • Internet connects millions of computers • Powerful computational resource • Distributed computing (SETI, Human Genome) • Even more powerful communication medium • Network utility grows as number of users squared • 10 users  90 sender-receiver combinations • 100 users  9900 sender-receiver combinations

5. Email and Spam • How email works • The spam epidemic • Ethical evaluations of spamming

6. How Email Works • Email: Messages embedded in files transferred between computers • Email address: Uniquely identifies cyberspace mailbox • Messages broken into packets • Routers transfer packets from sender’s mail server to receiver’s mail server via intermediate servers (indirect transmission)

7. The Spam Epidemic (1/3) • Spam: Unsolicited, bulk email • Amount of email that is spam has increased • 8% in 2001 • 40% in 2003 • More than 50% in 2004 • Spam is effective • More than 100 times cheaper than “junk mail” • Profitable even if only 1 in 100,000 buys product

8. The Spam Epidemic (2/3) • How firms get email addresses • Opt-in lists • Dictionary attacks • Net crawlers • Spoofing • Spammers seek anonymity • Change email and IP addresses to disguise sending machine • Hijack another system as a spam launch pad

9. The Spam Epidemic (3/3) • Spam blockers • Attempt to screen out spam • Have led to more picture-based spam • AOL blocks 1 billion per day • Hard to control as spammers change email addresses easily and frequently

10. Ethical Evaluations of Spamming • Kantian evaluation • Act utilitarian evaluation • Rule utilitarian evaluation • Social contract theory evaluation • From all these perspectives, it is wrong to send spam

11. Ethical Evaluations of Spamming • Kantian Evaluation • Assume that I have a great idea for a product or service • I send unsolicited email to a large list • Some recipients must pay by the message • I am treating recipients as a means to the end of selling my product

12. Ethical Evaluations of Spamming • Act Utilitarian Evaluation • I send the email to 100 million people • 1 in 100,000 may buy my product • Assume that 90% of customers are happy, 10% unhappy • We have 99,990,000 unhappy people • 9,000 happy customers • 1 happy me

13. Ethical Evaluations of Spamming • Rule Utilitarian Evaluation • Use the same scenario as before • If everyone were interested, I could not fulfill the orders • People may be inclined to drop or change email to prevent spam • Usefulness of email decreases

14. Ethical Evaluations of Spamming • Social Contract Theory Evaluation • We each have the right to free speech • That right does not include the requirement that the rest of us have to listen • If email is an invitation to correspond, the sender must identify subject and author

15. Making Direct Email Moral • Evaluating spam from four perspectives each concludes it is unethical • Can it be made ethical? • Use real address and subject • Send only to those who opt in

16. Fighting Spam • Mail Abuse Prevention System • Ethical evaluations of blacklisting by MAPS • Proposed solutions to the Spam epidemic • CAN SPAM Act of 2003

17. Fighting Spam • Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) • http://www.mail-abuse.com/ • Uses a Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) • List of IP addresses that generate or forward spam • Use their own guidelines to determine who should be black listed • http://www.mail-abuse.com/support/pdf/WP_MAPS_RBL_060104.pdf

18. Fighting Spam • Proper email guidelines • Recipients must have asked to receive email • Must provide recipients with simple way to be removed from the list (including at least one non-email communication method) • Must remove invalid addresses in a timely manner

19. Fighting Spam • Proper email guidelines • Must disclose how recipient addresses will be used, including frequency and subject of future mailings • When a violation is suspected • MAPS contacts marketer (or ISP) • Warns of potential blacklisting

20. Fighting Spam • When a violation is suspected • Evaluates response • Makes decision • Those who have been Blockholed may apply for removal

21. Fighting Spam • Arguments against MAPS • It prevents free speech • If an entire ISP is blocked, innocent individuals may be blocked

22. Ethical Evaluations of Publishing Blacklist • Social contract theory evaluation • Utilitarian evaluation • Kantian evaluation

23. Ethical Evaluations of MAPS • Social Contract Theory • MAPS presumes email should be of “direct and equal benefit to the sender and the recipient” • Negates the argument of having a right to have a message delivered • Use of MAPS is by request (and payment) only

24. Ethical Evaluations of MAPS • Utilitarian Evaluation • ISP’s benefit - decrease in spam = less network traffic and improved performance • ISP’s lose - useful email may be blocked which reduces the value of the net • Innocent senders may be harmed • Must compare net benefit of senders to net benefit of receivers

25. Ethical Evaluations of MAPS • Kantian Evaluation • Goal of RBL is to improve ISP’s behavior • Customer’s inconvenience may lead to complaints to ISP and suppression of spammers • MAPS is treating customers as a means to an end • This violates the Categorical Imperative

26. Proposed Solutions to Spam Epidemic • Require an explicit opt-in of subscribers • Require labeling of email advertising • Add a cost to every email that is sent • Ban unsolicited email

27. CAN SPAM Act of 2003 • Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN SPAM) http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:s877enr.txt.pdf • Divides business email into three categories • Transactional or relational • Message header, sender, organization and transmission information must be correct • Must not disguise ID of the sending computer

28. CAN SPAM Act of 2003 • Divides business email into three categories • Consensual commercial email • Must inform recipient of option to be removed from list • Must provide internet based removal functional for at least 30 days after the message was sent • Must contain postal address of sender • Unsolicited email

29. CAN SPAM Act of 2003 • Divides business email into three categories • Unsolicited email • Must contain “clear and conspicuous” notice that it is an advertisement • If sexually explicit, must contain notice in subject line • Prohibits dictionary attacks

30. CAN SPAM Act of 2003 • Penalties for violations • $250 per message, $2 million max • $6 million max for repeat offenders • Criminal penalties and jail time up to five years if used to further felonies or repeat offenders • Forfeiture of property or equipment used in commission of crime

31. CAN SPAM Act of 2003 • Critics call it the “You CAN SPAM Act” • Defines and permits unsolicited email • Does not prevent spam at all • Opt out not feasible as it confirms the email address and address can be sold to other spammers • Weaker than some existing state laws • Enforceable only in the US

32. The World Wide Web • Attributes of the Web • How we use the Web • Too much control or too little?

33. Attributes of the Web • It is decentralized • Every Web object has a unique address • It is based on the Internet, therefore it is cross platform and accessible to all operating systems

34. How We Use the Web • Shopping • Promoting business • Learning • Exploring our roots • Playing games • Entering virtual worlds • Paying taxes • Gambling • Blogging • Lots more!

35. Too Much Control or Too Little? • Not everyone in world has Internet access • Saudi Arabia: centralized control center • Blocks pornography, gambling, non-Islamic religious organizations • Women’s health and sexuality, gay rights, Middle Eastern politics, ways to circumvent filtering

36. Too Much Control or Too Little? • People’s Republic of China: ISPs sign“self-discipline” agreement • Allows many ISP’s • Each must agree to voluntarily block politically or morally objectionable web pages • Also blocks BBC news, CNN, sites related to Taiwan and Tibet • Can affect Hong Kong which routes through PRC

37. Too Much Control or Too Little? • Germany: Forbids access to neo-Nazi sites • United States: Repeated efforts to limit access of minors to pornography

38. Control of theWorld Wide Web • US • Children’s Internet Protection Act upheld • Argument transcript http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/02-361.pdf • Opinion http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/02pdf/02-361.pdf

39. Ethical Perspectiveson Pornography • US government mandates filtering in public libraries that receive federal funding • Should the government restrict access? • Pornography is hard to define • Book’s definition for this discussion

40. Ethical Perspectives on Pornography • Pornography is immoral • Adult pornography is moral • Commentary

41. Pornography Is Immoral • Kant • Loved person an object of sexual appetite • Sexual desire focuses on body, not complete person • All sexual gratification outside marriage wrong • Model(s) are used as means to an end • Used as objects, not persons • Violates Categorical Imperative

42. Pornography if Immoral • Utilitarianism • Pornography reduces dignity of human life, harming everyone • Pornography increases crimes such as rape • Pornography reduces sympathy for rape victims • Pornography is like pollution that poisons the environment • Pornography industry diverts resources from more socially redeeming activities

43. Adult Pornography Is Moral • Presumes viewers and models are consenting adults • Utilitarianism • Those who produce pornography make money • Consumers of pornography derive physical pleasure • Pornography is a harmless outlet for exploring sexual fantasies

44. Commentary • Performing utilitarian calculus is difficult • How to deal with contradictory “facts” by “experts?” • How to quantify harms/benefits, such as harm done to people who find pornography offensive?

45. Censorship • Attempts to suppress or regulate public access to offensive or harmful material • Usually exercised by government or religious institutions • Printing press allowed wider dissemination of material • Made more difficult by divergence of church and state

46. Censorship • Direct censorship • Self-censorship • Challenges posed by the Internet • Ethical perspectives on censorship

47. Direct Censorship • Government monopolization • State controls all media • No private radio, TV or newspapers • Made more difficult by computers and internet • Prepublication review • Essential to keep secrets • Generally accepted for national security • Used by totalitarian governments to suppress dissent

48. Direct Censorship • Licensing and registration • Used to apportion limited bandwidth • Radio, TV frequencies, channels • Allows de facto censorship

49. Self-censorship • Most common form of censorship • Group decides for itself not to publish • Reasons • Avoid subsequent persecution • Maintain good relations with government officials (sources of information) • Ratings systems • Movies, TVs, CDs, video games • Agreement not to show mature material during prime time

50. Challenges Posed by the Internet • Many-to-many communication • Dynamic connections • Huge numbers of Web sites • Extends beyond national borders, laws • Can’t determine age of users