Ethics Blog for COMM 150 Fall '09

I  would like to do my paper on piracy on video game software for computers. The ethical issue is sharing and downloading video game software from the Internet without proper authorization is considered piracy.

I  would like to do my paper on Illegal files sharing. On my paper I will focus on illegal sharing of music. The ethical issue is sharing and downloading copyrighted music from the Internet without proper authorization is considered piracy-a violation of federal copyright laws.

I’d like to do my paper on the ethical issues involved in advertising to children online. Advertisers frequently create virtual playgrounds for children to come and play games online, all the while bombarding them with advertisements. The ethical controversy lies in the fact that children are not always able to distinguish whether they are being exposed to an advertisment and are susceptible to manipulation.

I would like to do my paper on hoaxes and how people create fake news stories. The ethical issue is how these people lie to the public and manipulate the media but also damage the credibility of the journalists who report the story to the public.

For my paper, I want to look into how fast food restaurants advertise themselves as having healthy options that are not actually healthy.  The ethical issue is whether or not their ads are truthful and what the consequences are on the consumer

I have chosen to do my paper on the Google Books controversy. Google launched a new project called Google Books in which they will take library books, scan them and upload them to an online database for convenient searching, resourses and free access on the Internet. The problem that Google has encountered is a copyright issue. They are requiring that authors and publishers who do not want their work on the Internet to have to notify Google themselves. The correct approach is to ask the authors and publishers for permission to use their work prior to uploading it to Google Books. There is more to this story but that is just a taste. I want to delve into this controversy and find out what the actual legal and ethical issues are that are creating such a stir. I think Google has a great idea!…. So, now I want to highlight the actual ethical and legal problem involved.

I want to do my paper on the issue of spamming on social networking sites on the Internet and its possible illegality. The main ethical issue here is whether people are allowed to be spammed online, where new media has yet to really establish rules regarding them. There are laws regarding spamming so the issue surrounds the companies right to advertise vs. the people’s right not to have to be spammed.

I want to do my paper on copying of music. The ethical dilemma here is that its stealing from the music artist.

Identify the topic you will address in your law and ethics paper. State what you believe to be the major ethical issue.

I would Like to do my ethical dilemma report on Oprah.