Friday, December 24, 2010
Ethics of Wiki Leaks
http://mytoday.com/u/1532 : wiki leaks & ethics
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WikiLeaks is a fascinating microcosm of a larger trend -- that the Internet allows freer flow of information, including things we want to be available and things we don't," says Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics Kevin Werbach.
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For many, the WikiLeaks case has opened up a fundamental debate over privacy of information versus public access on the open web. In a column on The Guardian's website on December 6, John Naughton wrote: "The most obvious lesson [of the WikiLeaks case] is that it represents the first really sustained confrontation between the established order and the culture of the internet. There have been skirmishes before, but this is the real thing."
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Bruce Schneier, an author of books on cyber-security and founder of BT Counterpane, a security firm, argues that WikiLeaks rose up because of an excessive amount of classification of information and a weak press that "acts like a stenographer" for the government. He adds that the U.S. government is now experiencing what the music and entertainment industries have endured during the past several years -- digital distribution networks that sprang up as alternatives to the systems that recording labels and producers tried to control.
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It is also "reasonable for companies to be thinking about whether WikiLeaks crossed the line in its most recent disclosures."
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WikiLeaks is a fascinating microcosm of a larger trend -- that the Internet allows freer flow of information, including things we want to be available and things we don't," says Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics Kevin Werbach.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For many, the WikiLeaks case has opened up a fundamental debate over privacy of information versus public access on the open web. In a column on The Guardian's website on December 6, John Naughton wrote: "The most obvious lesson [of the WikiLeaks case] is that it represents the first really sustained confrontation between the established order and the culture of the internet. There have been skirmishes before, but this is the real thing."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Schneier, an author of books on cyber-security and founder of BT Counterpane, a security firm, argues that WikiLeaks rose up because of an excessive amount of classification of information and a weak press that "acts like a stenographer" for the government. He adds that the U.S. government is now experiencing what the music and entertainment industries have endured during the past several years -- digital distribution networks that sprang up as alternatives to the systems that recording labels and producers tried to control.
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It is also "reasonable for companies to be thinking about whether WikiLeaks crossed the line in its most recent disclosures."
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