Ethics online

process of making fundamental decisions about the future of their systems of online communication. The public discussions taking place are revealed in the visions of the future that are being put forth. In the U.S., we have Vice President Al Gore using the metaphor of " electronic superhighways of the future " and seeing a national and global information infrastructure as the means by which the U.S. will emerge triumphant in global economic competition. We have John Barlow, Mitch Kapor, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation using a highly gendered metaphor of the new fron-tier—cyberspace—in which thugs, overzealous sheriffs, and the pioneers of the 21st century are fighting it out. We have visions of a new form of democracy emerging online as political alliances are formed and social movements gather force without mediation from mass media. 1 We have visions of this evolving technology bringing into our homes the ultimate in entertainment choice together with the efficiency of being able to carry on all of our daily interactions with keystrokes and screens, such as shopping , working, job searching, and banking, among so many others. The visions sometime include the possibility of escape into Disney-like virtual worlds. These are all highly value-laden and interest-laden visions competing for our attention. While they are all possible, none of them is inevitable. Rather, they work as self-fulling prophecies: The vision we embrace will shape what we make of online communication. Online communication has been evolving and growing at an unprecedented pace, and there is every indication the demand for it will continue. Its evolution, however, has not been without problems and the most disturbing of these involves human behavior. Disturbing and disruptive behavior ranges from unauthorized access, theft of electronic property [8], launching of destructive worms and viruses [1], racism, defamation [2], and harassment to an incident involving a form of online rape [3]. Our responses to this behavior will shape the future of online communication and will determine to what extent and in what ways the promise of electronic networking technology is realized in the future. Our primary responses to behavioral problems online have so far been legal and technological. As problems have been identified and defined, laws have been extended or created, and law enforcement has entered this new domain [1]. We have new technologies for virus detection and for encryption and decryption of information. Our knowledge of how to secure our …