Week 11, April 10 From the onion: www.theonion.com/content/amvo/apple_tops_wal_mart_in_music_sales Thom Budisch, Hedge-Fund Manager "Apple deserves a lot of credit for rescuing and preserving the paying-for-music tradition." Core problem with NTP wireless email patent: The only new element is the use of RF links in an email network. (Store-and-forward idea is acknowledged as prior art). BUT: Prior art clearly includes both the following: 1. Use of RF for IP links 2. Email based on ANY set of IP links There is room for innovation in terms of identifying the nearest wireless hub, but that's not in the patent. Real issue: patent system often ignores the fundamental CS principle of *abstraction* (ie building networks with any links) ================================================================ Paper 2: Look for more general principles! Nobody commented on the fact that the cellphone GPS coordinates were an undocumented feature. Does this matter? People TRUST ellen. Deontological approach: major duties: 1 fiduciary duty to employer 2 not abusing trust 3 duty to respect privacy of others While 3 might be more important than 1, it is hard to identify an ethical issue if the employees *know* about the feature. So perhaps Ellen has an obligation to inform both? The trust issue suggests that Ellen has an obligation to tell *someone*. Utilitarian approach: Here, the bigger picture is important. The relevant class is not slacker employees, but all of us: are we better served if we can be tracked at work, or not? Improved business productivity benefits **even for low-level employees**, so any argument that they are worse off with more workplace technology has to balance that. Also, we're all clearly better off being able to trust one another; therefore, living up to trust expectations is clearly a utilitarian win. This applies to all the scenarios. ================================================================ ================================================================ Helen Nissenbaum: trust online personal commercial ================================================================ ================================================================ ================================================================ ================================================================ ================================================================ e-commerce What's the deal with online sildenafil (silDENafil) (viagra) sales? That there is no f2f contact with a physician. Is that bad? *Probably*, but this is one of the things that the online world lets us experiment with. What is the potential upside for customers? * not sick; why should they go to a doctor? * privacy What about online pharmaceuticals generally? Potential issues: 1. Age of person placing the order 2. Whether prescription is valid 3. Are drugs legit How has the internet affected these? You can't ask for a conventional ID, so #1 is an issue. But #2 is the real issue. There are ways of handling that. As for #3, in PRINCIPLE the issue is exactly the same for brick-and-mortar drugstores. But it's much easier to get away with scams on the Internet. That bears repeating: It is much easier to get away with scams on the internet. Startup costs can be < $100! ============================================ online gambling overseas credit-card billing Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Can't buy online, EXCEPT from the government Well, you can order a firearm online and have it shipped to a licensed dealer Tobacco: discountcheapcigarettes.com A year ago, they listed floating-point numbers in european style: "5,2%", with a comma Now they're closed. All orders are processed and shipped from out of the US. Therefore We don't report tax or customer information to any government agency or other entity. cigoutlet.net All 50 states: YES Purchase reporting: NO discount-cigarettes.net You must be 18 years old esmokes.com: YOU MUST BE 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER TO PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS FROM eSmokes.com. [Cohen, Sarabia, Ashley essay in Halbert & Ingulli] How do kids manage to buy tobacco online? How do they buy *anything* online? Clearly they do. Alcohol sales online: invitation to minors, or efficient wine sales? Most shippers *do* respect "must be signed for by an adult" instructions http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2008/03/26/ News/Sjc-Rules.On.Id.Checks.For.Online.Alcohol.Sales-3284131.shtml 3/26/2008: wines.com has 5-day liquor license suspension in Massachusetts check wines.com webpage SCOTUS May 2005, 5-4: states that allow in-state wineries to sell directly to customers (online) must also allow out-of-state wineries to do so. ============================================ How do you trust online stores? Do you? Trust is really a social mechanism. Most of us now recognize the reality of amazon.com, etc. But once upon a time it was "risky". eBay model: trust is built up. E-bay CEO: [most amazing thing is that we've shown N million people] they can trust one another. [can't find again] eBay developers realized they would have to do something to encourage trust, in order to encourage business. Created feedback system. buyers provide FEEDBACK, +1/0/-1 sellers' scores are computed using these. One registered user cannot affect a score by more than +/- 1 Buyer trick: register multiple times Seller tricks: * use fake buyers to boost reputation * build an initial reputation, then cash in (this is also a realworld problem!) * post negatives about buyers who post negatively about you (buyers have eBay reputations too) People are reluctant to post negatives, even without potential retaliation However, it's also the case that there are only a small number of really bad outcomes. How do you trust: brick-and-mortar stores conventional mail order (catalogues + phone lines) store v mail order v phone order v website * will merch be shipped * will quality be as expected * shipping cost * spam * privacy issues * HACKERS GETTING YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER ==================================== ================================================== Trust: Nissenbaum Trusting your credit card number Trusting the seller How does e-bay deal with trust? E-bay CEO: [most amazing thing is that we've shown N million people] they can trust one another. who do you trust? what do you trust them *with*? plumber => pipes babysitter => kids fear of hackers v insider risks spyware, addins, sony 78% of murder victims know their attacker but most of us make effort to avoid attacks by STRANGERS online "shrinks the range of cues that an act as triggers of trust" Is this true? In practice? If you meet someone online, can you trust that they are who they say they are? Is your risk greater than with f2f meetings? What if you allow more time? Are there "enforceable social norms" (ie enforced by society) against online misrepresentation? To trust is to agree to expose yourself to risk. =======================================================================