Computer Ethics, Summer 2017
Corboy 302, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Class 9
Class 9 Readings
Read Baase chapter 3 on freedom of speech
Finish reading the remaining sections of Chapter 4, especially 4.6 on
software patents
The main course notes are in the Notes Organized by Topic
section on the main web page. Reading assignments, comments on the class
discussion and occasional special notices are in these week-by-week notes.
A less optimistic look at jobs and automation: technologyreview.com/s/515926/how-technology-is-destroying-jobs.
A second cautious look: economist.com/news/special-report/21700758-will-smarter-machines-cause-mass-unemployment-automation-and-anxiety.
Tim O'Brien's expansionist view (repeated from last Tuesday): medium.com/the-wtf-economy/do-more-what-amazon-teaches-us-about-ai-and-the-jobless-future-8051b19a66af.
It is probably fair to say we are facing the Third Industrial Revolution.
But we did get through the first two (1760-1840 and 1840-1900) reasonably
well. Those times are perhaps best known for the loss of craftsmen
jobs and the rise of factory work.
A group of European
Ministers of Parliament backs end-to-end encryption. Ok, the
prohibition on member states from banning end-to-end encryption is far from
final, but support for encryption seems quite strong. A separate bill has
been introduced to ban member states from requiring "backdoors" (never mind
that these are not technically feasible).
Great Britain has repeatedly called for banning (or backdooring) end-to-end
encryption, but they voted to Leave the EU. (Ok, France has also issued some
statements suggesting end-to-end encryption is a problem.) Most of the rest
of Europe is still strongly in favor of privacy, though EU Parliament
politics are pretty opaque.
Is Source Code Speech?
Start on Patents