Ethics, Social, and Legal Aspects on the Electronic Frontier

CECS 311

Syllabus/Course Outline
Fall 2009

Instructors:

Overview:
This class will examine some of the legal, ethical and social issues associated with computers, information systems, public and private networks including the Internet⁽³⁾.  Balancing of the needs and desires of individuals or groups against those of other individuals or groups, including business, economic, professional, individual, governmental and social interests, will be a focus of the class. The course will provide an overview of the legal system and ethical decision making, highlight legal issues and appropriate cases (both case law and case studies) and discuss how these relate to the individuals planning computer science/computer engineering careers.  It will provide a forum for discussions of the competing interests and rights of individuals, groups, and the government.

Class participation, technical writing, and oral presentations are integral components of the course. This is a writing requirement (WR) course.

Course Objectives:
A student successfully completing the course should:  

·         apply selected codes of ethics/professional conduct,

·         identify potential civil or criminal liability arising from the use of technology, including invasions of public and private rights relating to 

• Intellectual property
• Privacy and/or personal injury
• State power and its limits

·         communicate in written and oral form an analysis of law and fact situations problems in computing and technology (e.g., civil or criminal liability, unethical conduct.)

·         advocate for a particular solution, position or analysis relating to such issues.

Course Requirements and Grade Components

1.      25% for Participation- Participation is very important to this class. Class participation, short case or other presentations and online discussions contribute 25% of the grade.

Attendance will be taken at each class session. 

You will write a minimum of three electronic comments on the material studied during the course of the semester.

If you are not in class, you cannot receive credit for in-class participation. The extent to which you are prepared for class and make constructive contributions to class discussion (both in class and electronically) will be a significant factor in class participation. Sharing your expertise and/or outside research, when appropriate and pertinent, will also be given weight.

Students are to act respectfully towards each other and the instructors/guest speakers. Students will refrain from ad hominem argument in their responses.

Assignments may be given to a student, or group of students, to do additional reading or research on a particular topic and to share pertinent items of this supplementary reading/research with the class. For example, a student might be asked to read supplemental readings, to do research on the web for pertinent materials, and to report to the class (in person or electronically) about their findings.  Students may also be asked to do peer review of the work of other students in the class as a part of class participation.

Assignments are due at the start of class on the due date unless notice is given to the contrary.  Late assignments may be accepted provided the instructor(s) is provided with appropriate explanation, but are subject to late penalties.

Each of you will be a member of at least one team/group. Your team/group will be required to give a least one class presentation.  (See Team Project below.) You should get to know the members of your team/group and call upon them for advice, analysis and support where needed.

2.      35% for Student Papers - The papers will constitute 35% of the grade for the course. Students will be required to submit a final research paper (7-10 typed pages).  Format is to be 12-point Times Roman or Arial font, one inch margins, double-spaced pages exclusive of title page (unnumbered) and references/bibliography, in English. The research papers must address legal, ethical and social issue(s) associated with computer science, information systems or networks.  Topics must be approved in advance by the instructor(s).

The first outline of your research paper will be submitted in a review process to another class member who will critique it for ideas and organization.  In such case, the critique and the outline would be a factoring the grade of both the person doing the critique as well as the person receiving the critique.

The first draft of your paper will be submitted in a review process to another class member who will critique it for ideas, organization, clarity, objectivity, logic, grammar and spelling. In such case, the critique would be graded and the first draft would be given a recommended grade with suggestions for improvement.

The first draft of the research paper is expected to be 9 -12 typed pages (which does not include title and references/bibliography).  The final paper is expected to be 7-10 concise pages, exclusive of title page and bibliography.  Your name should be included on the title page.   Both a hard copy and an electronic final version are to be provided.

In accordance with Plagiarism Prevention within section 14 of the Academic Policies and Procedures/Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities (included below), you are advised that the paper you submit for this class may be submitted to plagiarism-prevention software.  You are encouraged to use SafeAssign available via Blackboard to self check your paper for plagiarism. See http://louisville.edu/delphi/blackboard/bb-files/safeassign/SafeAssgn_general_student.doc/view  for details.  You may wish to also visit http://www.plagiarism.org/.

Plagiarism Prevention 

Instructors may use a range of strategies (including plagiarism-prevention software at the university) to compare student works with private and public information resources in order to identify possible plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Comparisons of student works may require submitting a copy of the original work to the plagiarism-prevention service. The service may retain that copy in some circumstances.  Academic units or programs may establish a more rigorous standard of review or consent, which will be noted in the relevant guidelines.

3.      30% for Team Project - The team project will comprise 30% of the class grade. You will do one team project (a topical study, demonstration and/or mock lawsuit) with class presentation by team members.  All team members are expected to participate in the classroom presentation. Preparation of the content and/or multimedia presentation alone is not sufficient. Multimedia presentations are encouraged; use of rubber chickens should be circumspect.  

4.      10% for Examination (s) or other Assignments - There will be 1 to 4 short exams/assignments (some may be announced in advance but some may not be announced in advance); these constitute 10% of your grade.  (The instructors reserve the right to reduce this percentage and increase other components dependent upon the actual number of exams/assignments given to ensure the workload vis a vis the relative percentage credit remain equitable. Typically when this occurs the class participation is increased by 5% and this component is lowered to 5% or if the exam percentage is reduced to 2.5%, the other 2.5% are distributed to the other 3 components of the class.)

5.      Grade Scaling

a.              The paper will constitute 35% of the grade for the course.

b.              The team project will comprise 30% of the class grade.

c.              Class participation, in conjunction with the research topics and discussion presentations and online discussions, will contribute 25% of the grade.

d.             The remaining 10% will be assigned to other exams/assignments given periodically throughout the semester. 

The course will use the UofL Blackboard Class website as well as various web pages and/or an electronic forum.    Access to some of these web pages requires access to URLs outside the "louisville.edu" domain.  

Required Text: 

Topics:
The course will deal with the topics outlined in the attached Topic Outline/Class Schedule with additional details provided on the UofL Blackboard class website during the semester. The tentative schedule of these topics is included; however, it is subject to change as the course progresses. Additional readings may be assigned per class period and topic time frames may be adjusted to accommodate guest speakers. Changes in the schedule and readings will be announced in class and/or an e-mail note to the class via Blackboard or the class listserv.  It is your responsibility to have read the material prior to the class period(s) in which the topic(s) will be presented or discussed and to be prepared to discuss the topics during class discussions.

Technical Requirements:
Each student will need an E-mail account to receive and transmit material relating to the class. If you choose to use a non-UofL e-mail account, you assume the risk of non-delivery. Each student will need access to a GUI based World Wide Web browser (e.g., Foxfire, Netscape, Internet Explorer.)  Note that use of Blackboard may require use of particular browsers, release levels or browser settings.  A listserv (CECS311) for the class will be used for sending messages to the class and appropriate class related electronic Q&A or topic discussions. The listserv is a closed list available only to class members and those other individuals to whom the instructor(s) grant access. You may also be given access to an electronic forum such as that provided on Blackboard for the class.

As we are focusing on law and ethics, you are expected to obey all federal, state and local laws and regulations (e.g., copyright, patent) and comply with University policies regarding appropriate use of information technology resources (e.g., computer usage agreement.)  While students are encouraged to work together and learn from each other, especially during the team project, cheating in any form on exams, essays/papers, or copying of homework or other (non team) assignments will not be tolerated. If a student has any question as to whether an assignment or class activity is one in which it should only be one individual's work, please ask the instructor.  The instructors reserve the right to enter a failing grade for the course for any evidence of cheating by student(s).  Reference Section 5 Academic Dishonesty of the Academic Policies and Procedure/Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

Guest Speakers/Field trips:
You are encouraged to visit to the University of Louisville Law Library during the first weeks of the semester to get a feel for the legal resources available.  Law review articles can be a good source of ideas for your research paper.  It is possible that one or two sessions might be conducted off-campus at the workplace of guest speakers; however, we anticipate most (if not all) guest speakers will present in our regular class venue. Advance notice of such changes in venue will be announced in class and sent by e-mail to the class.

End Notes

1. David King , an attorney, holds a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from the University of Louisville Speed Scientific School/J B Speed School of Engineering. He is an adjunct professor in the Computer Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) department.  He serves as Assistant University Counsel and Director, Office of Industry Contracts for the University of Louisville.

2. Michael Losavio is an instructor at UofL in the Computer Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) department and the Department of Justice Administration as well as an attorney practicing in Kentucky, primarily before the federal courts. He writes and consults on law and technology-related matters.

3. This course was originally modeled on 6.805/STS085 Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier, a subject offered at MIT during the 1995 fall semester by Hal Abelson, Mike Fisher, et al, to whom we are indebted.