A GIFT OF FIRE:
SOCIAL, LEGAL, AND ETHICAL ISSUES FOR COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET (2nd. ed.)
by Sara Baase

TERM PAPER SAMPLE TOPICS

Updated Sept. 6, 2007

Your topic does not have to come from this list. These are suggestions.
The brief comments and questions for each topic are just a few ideas
to spark your imagination and get you started.

Devices to assist people with disabilities.
Report on computer-based technologies that assist people with
disabilities. Consider blind people, deaf people, people who use
wheelchairs, people with limited use of their hands and arms, etc.
Describe some of the new tools and their impact. Discuss issues such
as cost, any problems with these devices, etc. (Focus on newer
developments, e.g., devices not mentioned in the textbook.)

Identification and biometrics.
A company announced plans to sell an identification chip that is
implanted under a person's skin. About the size of a grain of rice,
it could contain personal information and emit a radio signal that
identifies the person. Discuss beneficial uses, potential problems
and abuses, and appropriate guidelines for use of such a chip and
other identification technologies, including various biometrics.

Telemedicine.
Describe applications, from remote consultation to remote surgery.
Benefits, possible problem areas (privacy, errors, loss of personalized care).

Health information on the Web.
Research and report on Web-based health information sites, including
such issues as benefits, reliability of the information, privacy
protections, techniques being developed to rate or accredit sites,
impact on medical care. Patients of some healthcare providers can
access their own records online. Describe an example. How does it
affect medical care?

Computerized medical record systems.
Many health agencies have implemented computerized patient record systems.
Report on one or more such systems, focusing on benefits, privacy risks
and protections, how well it is accepted by doctors and staff, and other
relevant issues.

Privacy on the Web.
What's happening now? Recent abuses and improvements. Describe and
evaluate Web site policies and technical and policy privacy protections
provided by the market, and current proposals for government regulations.

Privacy for organizations and businesses.
All our discussion of privacy concerns privacy for people. There have
been incidents in which sensitive information that organizations and
businesses must provide to government agencies has been made public,
intentionally, accidentally, or by leaks. Release of information about
fund-raising, sales plans, pricing, members, or customers might aid
competitors. Release of information about manufacture of, storage of,
and security for certain chemicals could aid terrorists. Report on
some cases and discuss reasonable extensions of principles about
privacy for organizations and businesses.

Personal data privacy regulations in other countries.
Report on personal data privacy regulations, Web site privacy
policies, and law enforcement access to personal data in one or more
countries, e.g. the European Union.

Computers in law enforcement.
Issues include benefits to crime fighting, invasion of privacy,
problems caused for innocent people because of errors.
Describe cases where a computer system has been very helpful in
catching a criminal or vindicating an innocent person, and describe
cases where a computer system has caused serious problems. An activity
for this project could include a ride-along in a police car. (A few
students did this in the past and found it very instructive.) Another
possible activity is to interview someone who runs or supervises the
use of local law enforcement computer systems. What databases do they
access? How do they prevent unauthorized access? Have errors in NCIC
been reduced?

Computers in the legal/justice system.
Describe systems in use, from legal databases to artificial
intelligence programs that help judges determine sentences. Consider
the possibility of AI systems making judgments in some legal cases.
Describe and evaluate pros and cons.

Government surveillance of communications.
How are arguments about Echelon and Carnivore affected by the terrorist
attacks in 2001?

Technological responses to terrorism.
Describe and evaluate some of the computer-based technologies implemented
or expanded after Sept. 11, 2001. (Include unmanned aerial vehicles equipped
with cameras and sensors.) Consider effectiveness, cost, impact
on daily life, air travel, risks, etc., and arguments related to privacy and
civil liberties.

Children on the Internet.
There are several problem areas: availability of material not appropriate
for children, contact with people who seek to abuse children, and privacy
risks from game sites that ask children for extensive personal and
family information (for marketing purposes). How serious are these
problems? What is being done about them? Evaluate various solutions.
Do benefits for children on the Net outweigh risks? Can we arrange to
have the benefits without the risks?

The Global Economy.
What are the roles and impacts of computers and communications
technology in the increase of trans-border economic activity (e.g.,
eBay as a global garage sale; customer service workers in other
countries handling U.S. consumer calls; databases to track the origin
of a cow with Mad Cow Disease; etc.)? What are the benefits? What are
the problems? Is this aspect of increased globalization a good thing
for people in the U.S., for people in other countries, for humanity in
general?

Electronic commerce.
Implications for the economy, for privacy, etc. Which industries will
benefit? Which will be hurt? How will daily activities be affected?
Are there significant social benefits or detriments from electronic commerce?

Electronic commerce.
There are many more specific topics. For example, Smart Cards:
uses, benefits, privacy implications and protections in a particular
application or industry. Another example: Several companies are
working on technology for micropayments on the Net. What will the
impact be (on the structure of businesses, physical store locations,
communities, etc.) if we can easily make small purchases on the Net?
What are the privacy and security issues?

Automated systems.
Study progress, safety, and social issues related to an automated system
such as automated highways and self-driving vehicles.

Safety-critical applications.
Find a local application to study. Or study the Air Traffic Control
system, which uses antiquated computers that break down often. Another
idea: the Ariane 5 rocket which exploded because of a software problem.
Investigate the safety measures used in software for other rockets.
Nancy Leveson's book _Safeware_ is a good reference.

Use of computers in restaurants.
Investigation and discussion of the issues such as customer service,
impact on employment, food safety, ambiance. Visit a restaurant with
self-service ordering terminals. Some fast food restaurants use
robotic devices for food preparation; report of one. Interview a waiter
or restaurant manager.
(This could be part of a paper that looks at the impact of computer
automation in two or three industries or consumer services.)

Spam.
Describe and evaluate technical solutions, current legislation and
regulation (e.g., the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003), and significant
proposed legislation. Some people propose that the federal government
create a "Do not spam" list, like the "DO not call" list for
telemarketers. Discuss privacy problems that could occur with
implementation of such a list. Discuss the roles of technical and
legislative solutions for spam. Consider the relevance of freedom of
speech.

Censorship of the Internet.
Some aspect not covered in the text, or study some issue in more detail.
Some possibilities: filtering Internet terminals in libraries, control
of the Net in other countries. (For historical background on libraries:
Louise S. Robbins, Censorship and the American Library: The American
Library Association's Response to Threats to Intellectual Freedom, 1939-1969,
Greenwood Press, 1996.)

Information warfare.
Will the next wars be fought without bombs? Will computer networks and
computer-controlled infrastructure be the targets of military hackers?
What is happening now? What kind of defenses are possible?

Recent copyright battles for music and movies.
Since A Gift of Fire was published, the music and movie industries
have continued to develop new methods to fight copyright infringement
of digital media. These include threatening lawsuits against
universities and small retailers, uploading damaged files to
file-sharing sites, and offering rewards for information about
movie-pirating operations. They also include building copy-protection
into CDs and DVDs and some attempts to sell authorized works on
the Web. Report on several recent strategies used by the industries
(legal, technological, and business). Evaluate the effectiveness and
ethics of the methods. Describe current controversies about digital
rights management.

Free software.
What's happening with "free" software? What is the impact of Linux and
Apache, for example? What are the implications for consumers? For big
companies like Microsoft?

Hacking.
Report on the community of hackers who hack to improve security.
Are their actions responsible and beneficial, or immature and harmful,
or both?

Identity theft.
What is the current state of the problem? Describe relevant laws. How
have consumers and businesses changed behavior in response to Identity
Theft? What technical solutions have developed?

Hacktivism.
Report on specific incidents or organizations engaged in hacktivism.
Compare to civil disobedience and to other kinds of hacking.

Government surveillance of the Internet.
The terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 led to laws reducing restrictions
on government surveillance of the Internet. Before that, the Clinton
administration proposed massive monitoring of major computer networks
by the government to protect their security. Are these good ideas?
What are the pro and con arguments?

Are Web issues really new?
Choose two other technologies or innovations, such as radio, telegraph,
railroads, or electricity, and find out what ethical, social, and legal
issues and controversies arose about them. Compare the problems and
issues to current problems and issues about the Web. What solutions
developed? How well do those solutions fit the Web?

Computers and the environment.
How are computers used by nature researchers and organizations. Describe
applications that help protect the environment. Describe aspects of
computers that cause environmental problems. What do environmentalists
think of computers?

Political activism on the Net.
How has the Internet helped or hurt political groups outside the mainstream?
How is it used by major political parties and candidates? What is the
impact? How do/should current regulations about political campaigns
affect individuals and small organizations that set up Web pages to
support/oppose candidates and issues? (Look at the Resources page, Chap. 9,
for a useful article.)

Communications technology and political protests.
How were communications technologies used by protestors in the fall of the
Soviet Union, the democracy protests in China's Tiananmen Square, and in
the protests following the Ukraine elections of 2004? Choose one or two
major anti-government protest from before 1980 and compare. What do these
experiences suggest for the future of political freedom and democracy?

Blogs.
What are they? How and when did they arise? For background, describe Usenet
news groups (and perhaps 18th and 19th century newspapers). How are blogs
similar to and how do they differ from news groups? Evaluate benefits and
weaknesses. Do blogs illustrate empowerment and increased availability of
information, or do they illustrate the avalanche of gossip and inaccurate or
useless information on the Net?

Electronic Voting and Internet Voting.
In a few states in the U.S., some people voted in the 2000 presidential
primary elections on the Internet. By 2004, several states and
countries (e.g., India) began using electronic voting machines. How
successful were the first experiments? Will most political elections
be held on the Internet in the future? Discuss the problems of
maintaining secret ballots, preventing election fraud, and providing
for recounts (for both electronic voting machines and Internet
voting). What other issues are relevant? How are the states (and
other nations) handling these issues?

Violence in video/computer games.
What is the impact on children? There haven't been many serious studies
yet. You could use studies on the impact of violence on television for
background. Interview people who write and publish computer games to find
out their policies and views about violent games.

Use of computers in schools.
How are they used? Are they really helping to teach or to babysit?
Visit an elementary school or middle school and observe how computers
are used. Interview a teacher and a few students. For background,
find some of the many research articles on the effectiveness of computers
in education.

Distance learning.
What are the common uses? What will be the impact on universities? On
adult education? Is cheating a problem?

Monitoring of employees' Web use and e-mail.
What policies are employers using? Perhaps study a few large businesses
in your area. A useful part of a project on e-mail privacy could be
collecting and evaluating (or writing) sample policies for different kinds
of employers (e.g., for your university, covering students, faculty, and
staff, and for a software company in a highly competitive business).

Cyberspace communities.
What makes a "community"? How do cyberspace communities handle
decision making, dealing with troublesome members, etc.? Find one
community to study in depth, preferably one that you are a member of or
have a special interest in. Possibilities: an online game community;
the Open Directory Project, etc. (Please respect the community's privacy
guidelines and ask permission if quoting members.)

Gender or ethnic issues.
The _Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering_ might
have some useful articles for background and ideas for specific
projects. There have been several studies of differences in the way
men and women use computers. There are many Web sites aimed at women
or at specific ethnic minority audiences. You could study the differences
and similarities between such sites and the Web in general.

Computing and network access in other countries.
For example, how are computers used in rural, poor areas of Africa?
How do politics restrict access in Vietnam? Choose one country to
study in depth or compare a few.

Science fiction and prediction.
Find several science fiction stories published at least 30 years ago
that are set in the present time or near future and describe computer
and communications technologies. Report on how closely their view of
the technology corresponds to what is actually available. What social
benefits and problems did they anticipate?

What will the world be like 50 years from now?
How will electronic communications and commerce affect the power of
centralized governments? Everyday life? What will happen as computers
are connected to the human body? Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov at chess
in 1997. Will human intelligence be of less value in the future? Several
experts have written books addressing these issues. You could read two
or three and evaluate their predictions.