COSC3325                                          Report-4                               Due:  Monday, 4/26/2010

Requirements:

1.             Write a paper (in 4-5 pages, double-spaced) that deals with

a.      computer ethics

b.      social implications/impacts of computer applications

c.       computer crimes

d.      computer-related laws/treaties

e.       new applications of computers

f.       future world of computers  

2.             You can choose two topics from the given list that follows although you can

         choose topics not in the given sample list as long as they deal with topics mentioned

         above.

3.             Note of your choices of two topics due:  4/19/2010

4.             Your report should have appropriate headings, if suitable,  including (a) Introduction that discusses 

         The importance/significance of the topic and any research methods you want to explore and any 

         anticipations, (b) Conclusion that discusses overall findings, how things can be improved, 

         what could/should have been done more, directions of further study and what you really have 

         learned from this project, (c) Extent of independent study, and (d) List of references.  

5.             If you are in the online course, you submit a powerpoint file with your narrations recorded to substitute

         for the in-class presentation just like report-1 and report-2, along with the Report (possibly as a WORD 

         document)

6.             If you are in the conventional non-online course, you will present your report on the day it is due.

SAMPLE TOPICS

Identification and biometrics.

A company announced plans to sell an identification chip that is

implanted under a person's skin.  About the size of a grain of rice, 

it could contain personal information and emit a radio signal that

identifies the person.  Discuss beneficial uses, potential problems 

and abuses, and appropriate guidelines for use of such a chip and 

other identification technologies, including various biometrics.

Health information on the Web.

Research and report on Web-based health information sites, including

such issues as benefits, reliability of the information, privacy

protections, techniques being developed to rate or accredit sites, 

impact on medical care.  Patients of some healthcare providers can

access their own records online.  Describe an example.  How does it

affect medical care?

Computerized medical record systems.

Many large HMOs have implemented computerized patient record systems.

Report on one or more such systems, focusing on benefits, privacy risks 

and protections, how well it is accepted by doctors and staff, and other 

relevant issues.  

Privacy on the Web.  

What's happening now?  Recent abuses and improvements.  Describe and

evaluate Web site policies and technical and policy privacy protections 

provided by the market, and current proposals for government regulations. 

Personal data privacy regulations in other countries.

Report on personal data privacy regulations, Web site privacy

policies, and law enforcement access to personal data in one or more

countries, e.g. the European Union.

Computers in law enforcement.

Issues include benefits to crime fighting, invasion of privacy,

problems caused for innocent people because of errors in databases.

Describe cases where the computer system has been very helpful in

catching a criminal, and describe cases where it has caused serious

problems.  An activity for this project could include a ride-along in a

police car.  (A few students did this in the past and found it very

instructive.)  Another possible activity is to interview someone who

runs or supervises the use of local law enforcement computer systems.

What databases do they access?  How do they prevent unauthorized

access?  Have errors in NCIC been reduced?

Technological responses to terrorism.

Describe and evaluate some of the computer-based technologies implemented 

or expanded after Sept. 11, 2001.  Consider effectiveness, impact on

daily life, air travel, etc., and arguments related to privacy and

civil liberties.

Children on the Internet.

There are several problem areas: availability of material not appropriate

for children, contact with people who seek to abuse children, and privacy

risks from game sites that ask children for extensive personal and

family information (for marketing purposes).  How serious are these

problems?  What is being done about them?  Evaluate various solutions.

Do benefits for children on the Net outweigh risks?  Can we arrange to

have the benefits without the risks?

Electronic commerce.  

Implications for the economy, for privacy, etc.  Which industries will

benefit?  Which will be hurt?  How will daily activities be affected?

Are there significant social benefits or detriments from electronic commerce?

There are many more specific topics.  For example, Smart Cards:

uses, benefits, privacy implications and protections in a particular

application or industry.  Another  example: Several companies are

working on technology for micropayments on the Net.  What will the

impact be (on the structure of businesses, physical store locations,

communities, etc.) if we can easily make small purchases on the Net?

What are the privacy and security issues?

Automated systems.

Study progress, safety, and social issues related to an automated system

such as automated highways and self-driving vehicles.  

Safety-critical applications.

Find a local application to study.  Or study the Air Traffic Control 

system, which uses antiquated computers that break down often.  Another 

idea: the Ariane 5 rocket which exploded because of a software problem.

Investigate the safety measures used in software for other rockets.

Nancy Leveson's book _Safeware_ is a good reference.  

Spam.

What is currently happening?  Describe new technical solutions and the

current state of regulation.  Consider the relevance of freedom of speech.  

Discuss the roles of technical and legislative solutions.  

Censorship of the Internet.

Some aspect not covered in the text, or study some issue in more detail.

Some possibilities: filtering Internet terminals in libraries, control 

of the Net in other countries.  (For historical background on libraries: 

Louise S. Robbins, Censorship and the American Library: The American 

Library Association's Response to Threats to Intellectual Freedom, 1939-1969,

Greenwood Press, 1996.)  

Information warfare.

Will the next wars be fought without bombs?  Will computer networks and 

computer-controlled infrastructure be the targets of military hackers?

What is happening now?  What kind of defenses are possible?

Copyright on the Net.  

What's being done to protect intellectual property (music, movies, etc.) 

and encourage sales on the Net?  Describe current controversies about

digital rights management.

Free software.

What's happening with "free" software?  What is the impact of Linux and

Apache, for example?  What are the implications for consumers?  For big

companies like Microsoft?

Hacking.

Report on the community of hackers who hack to improve security.

Are their actions responsible and beneficial, or immature and harmful,

or both?

Computer crime.

Perhaps focusing on credit card fraud and identity theft.

Government surveillance of the Internet.

The terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 led to laws reducing restrictions 

on government surveillance of the Internet.  Before that, the Clinton 

administration proposed massive monitoring of major computer networks 

by the government to protect their security.  Is this a good idea?  

What are the pro and con arguments?  

Are Web issues really new? 

Choose two other technologies or innovations, such as radio, telegraph,

railroads, or electricity, and find out what ethical, social, and legal

issues and controversies arose about them.  Compare the problems and

issues to current problems and issues about the Web.  What solutions

developed?  How well do those solutions fit the Web?

Computers and the environment.

How are computers used by nature researchers and organizations.  Describe

applications that help protect the environment.  Describe aspects of

computers that cause environmental problems.  What do environmentalists 

think of computers?  

Political activism on the Net.

How has the Internet helped or hurt political groups outside the mainstream?

How is it used by major political parties and candidates?  What is the

impact?  How do/should current regulations about political campaigns

affect individuals and small organizations that set up Web pages to

support/oppose candidates and issues?

Voting on the Internet.

In a few states, some people vote in the 2000 presidential primary

elections on the Internet.  Will most political elections be held on the 

Internet in the future?  Discuss the problems of maintaining secrecy of

each person's vote while preventing election fraud.  What other issues are

relevant?  How are the states planning to handle these issues?

Use of computers in schools.

How are they used?  Are they really helping to teach or to babysit?

Visit an elementary school or middle school and observe how computers

are used.  Interview a teacher and a few students.  For background,

find some of the many research articles on the effectiveness of computers

in education.

Distance learning.

What are the common uses?  What will be the impact on universities?  On

adult education?  Is cheating a problem?

Monitoring of employees' Web use and e-mail.  

What policies are employers using?  Perhaps study a few large businesses 

in your area.  A useful part of a project on e-mail privacy could be 

collecting and evaluating (or writing) sample policies for different kinds 

of employers (e.g., for your university, covering students, faculty, and 

staff, and for a software company in a highly competitive business).

Cyberspace communities.

What makes a "community"?  How do cyberspace communities handle

decision making, dealing with troublesome members, etc.?  Find one

community to study in depth, preferably one that you are a member of or

have a special interest in.  Possibilites: an online game community;

the Open Directory Project, etc.  (Please respect the community's privacy

guidelines and ask permission if quoting members.)

Gender or ethnic issues.

The _Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering_ might

have some useful articles for background and ideas for specific

projects.  There have been several studies of differences in the way

men and women use computers.  There are many Web sites aimed at women

or at specific ethnic minority audiences.  You could study the differences 

and similarities between such sites and the Web in general.  

Computing and network access in other countries.

For example, how are computers used in rural, poor areas of Africa?  

How do politics restrict access in Vietnam?  Choose one country to

study in depth or compare a few.

What will the world be like 50 years from now?  

How will electronic communications and commerce affect the power of 

centralized governments?  Everyday life?  What will happen as computers 

are connected to the human body?  Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov at chess 

in 1997.  Will human intelligence be of less value in the future?  Several

experts have written books addressing these issues.  You could read two

or three and evaluate their predictions.