In this course, students will discuss the social impacts of computing technology. The course will provide a brief introduction to ethics and to the history of computing and the Internet. It will focus on a number of areas in which computers and information technology are having an impact on society including privacy, freedom of speech, intellectual property, work, distribution of wealth, and the environment. Current issues that will be discussed include electronic voting, spyware, spam, and intellectual property issues associated with digital content distribution. This course is intended for freshmen and sophomore students from across the university. [This course was previously offered as 15-290.]
Spring 2007 (Lorrie Cranor and Rahul Tongia)