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An Ethical Framework: Mechanisms For User-Enabled Choice and
Normative Claims
Marshall Conley, Christina Patterson,
Carolyn Watters & Michael Shepherd
InfoEthics 2000Paris November 13-15
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UNESCO has human rights competence in a number of areas, including:
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stresses the right to information, including freedom of opinion and expressionThis right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers
Article 12 refers to arbitrary interference with privacy …
UNESCO and the Information Highway: The Balance Between Control and Access
The Web is increasingly important for the exchange of knowledge, information & experience
UNESCO's INFO-ethics Programme stresses the importance of universal access to information in the public domain
UNESCO’S INFO-ethics Programme
Encourages international co-operation in promotion of:
the principles of equality, justice and mutual respect in the emerging Information Society
the identification of major ethical issues in the production, access, dissemination, preservation and use of information in the electronic environment
the provision of assistance to Member States in the formulation of strategies and policies on these issues
Ethical Frameworks and User-Enabled choice
There are no unified authorities, only multiple stakeholders with complex and contradictory agendas
This decentralized participation results in the individual user adding new content and tools to the system as a whole
The unified operating authority is replaced by a contradictory, and even chaotic form of control
Structural and systemic elements, such as web-filtering systems, represent ‘acknowledged conditions’ to uphold freedom of expression through ‘choice mechanisms’
The Good, the Bad and the Illegal
Like other communication technologies, the Internet carries a potentially harmful or illegal content and can be misused as a vehicle for criminal activities
However, there exist a number of different legal regimes at the national and international level to deal with this:
National security – instructions for bomb making, illegal drug production, etc
Protection of minors – violence, pornography, abusive forms of marketing
Protection of human dignity – incitement to racial hatred or racial discrimination
Ethical Considerations } normative orientation and public dialogue
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have the option to provide users with the choice to control the content delivered to users over the InternetRather than retrieving items from the Web,
filtering systems are used to selectively restrict access to materials on the Web
Control?
The deployment of content control should be a reflection of individual, community and social policies and preferencesWe can use systems which ‘filter out’ Web sites
or Web pages that contain material that is objectionable to a community of users
Two principles must be considered:Communication Principle: The right of
communications as a fundamental human rightFree Expression Principle
Codes of Conduct?
The important questions:Whose strategy?Whose choice?
During this time of process innovation, codes of conduct, the realities, significance, and consequences of barriers to access, whether publicly or privately created, must be explored
Mechanisms for Realization of these Policies
We feel that a combination of mechanisms is required:Normative Codes of Conduct developed by UNESCO Industry self-regulationFacilitation of end-user choice through technology
Technology by itself is not the solution
A Caveat
By early July 2000 a new Internet model began to evolve – ‘peer-to-peer’
Peer-to-peer communications takes away the ISP as the middleman. This means that you and I can communicate directly as long as we both have IP addresses and know each other’s address
The importance is that government will not be able to impose filtering at the ISP level
The Problem: the Web
1 billion documents (April 2000)Average query is 2 words (e.g., sara name)
Continual explosive growth
Balance global indexing and access and unintentional access to inappropriate material
What were we doing pre-Web?
Channel access
Deny access
Check for age
Internet opens new Channels
E-mail ftp telnet List servers Bulletin boards Discussion groups Chat rooms Instant messaging Web pages
Filtering
labelbase
Webdoc
URLlists
keywordsratings URLs
What have we got to work with?
Page Filtering Application Types
Client-side: Special purpose browser applications e.g., SurfMonkey
Server-side: Child friendly portals e.g.,Yahoo, Lycos
ProxiesBlack and white listsKeyword profilesLabels
Browser Application: www.surfmonkey.com
Server-Side: Public Portals
Sneaky!!
Proxy level (hidden)
What works well?
What’s the problem?
Site Labels Trust
Who does the labels?Are the labels authentic?Has the source document changed?
Scale - A billion docs?
Black and White listsDitto
Text analysis of page contentsPoor results
Other Filtering Application Types
Authorized Access to Adult materiale.g., Australian plan credit card proof of age
Anonymity protectionZeroKnowledge
Non-Http FiltersEmail, etc.
Activity Monitorsprivacy
On-going Issues to be addressed
Freedom of Expression
Protection of Minors
Summary
A combination of mechanisms is required:Normative Codes of Conduct developed by
UNESCOIndustry self-regulationFacilitation of end-user choice through
technologyEnd-user must know what is being filtered, when it is
being filtered, and why it is being filtered
Technology by itself is not the solution
More Info on Filtering
Industry Canada reportContent Filtering Technologies and Internet Service Providers:
Enabling User Choicehttp://strategis.ic.gc.ca/internet
European Commission – Info. Society Websitehttp://www.ispo.cec.be/iap
Web information filtering lab: http://www.cs.dal.ca/wifl {shepherd | watters}@cs.dal.ca [email protected]