Encyclopedia Information Ethics and Security pdf pdf

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  Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com Encyclopedia of Information Ethics and Security Marian Quigley Monash University, Australia

  I N FORM AT I ON SCI EN CE REFEREN CE Hershey • New York Acquisitions Editor: Kristin Klinger Development Editor: Kristin Roth Senior Managing Editor: Jennifer Neidig Managing Editor: Sara Reed Assistant Managing Editor: Diane Huskinson Copy Editor: Maria Boyer Typesetter: Sara Reed Cover Design: Lisa Tosheff Printed at: Yurchak Printing Inc. Published in the United States of America by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global)

  701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200 Hershey PA 17033 Tel: 717-533-8845 Fax: 717-533-8661 E-mail: cust@igi-pub.com Web site: http://www.igi-pub.com/reference and in the United Kingdom by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global)

  3 Henrietta Street Covent Garden London WC2E 8LU Tel: 44 20 7240 0856 Fax: 44 20 7379 0609 Web site: http://www.eurospanonline.com

  Copyright © 2008 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher.

  Product or company names used in this set are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of the names of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of information ethics and security / Marian Quigley, Editor. p. cm.

Topics address a wide range of life areas affected by computer technology, including: education, the workplace, health, privacy, intellectual property,

identity, computer crime, cyber terrorism, equity and access, banking, shopping, publishing, legal and political issues, censorship, artificial intelligence,

the environment, communication.

Summary: “This book is an original, comprehensive reference source on ethical and security issues relating to the latest technologies. It covers a wide

range of themes, including topics such as computer crime, information warfare, privacy, surveillance, intellectual property and education. It is a useful

tool for students, academics, and professionals”--Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-1-59140-987-8 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-59140-988-5 (ebook)

  HM851.E555 2007 174’.900403--dc22 2007007277 British Cataloguing in Publication Data A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. All work contributed to this encyclopedia set is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in this encyclopedia set are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.

  Editorial Advisory Board

  Kathy Blashki

  Deakin University, Australia

  Matthew Butler

  Monash University, Australia

  Heather Fulford

  The Robert Gordon University, UK

  James E. Goldman

  Purdue University, USA

  Katina Michael

  University of Wollongong, Australia

  Bernd Carsten Stahl

  De Montfort University, UK

  Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com List of Contributors Abdallah, Salam

  / Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies, Jordan .............................................355 Abdolmohammadi, Mohammad

  / Bentley College, USA .......................................................................440 Al-Fedaghi, Sabah S. / Kuwait University, Kuwait ..........................................................................513, 631

  

Ali, Muhammed / Tuskegee University, USA ...........................................................................................507

Arbore, Alessandro / Bocconi University, Italy ......................................................................................655

Averweg, Udo Richard

  / eThekwini Municipality and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa ......297 Barger, Robert N. / University of Notre Dame, USA ..............................................................................445

  Becker, Reggie / Emerson Electric, USA .................................................................................................451

  

Beggs, Christopher / Monash University, Australia ...............................................................................108

Blashki, Kathy / Deakin University, Australia ........................................................................................194

Bourlakis, Michael

  / Brunel University, UK .............................................................................................15 Boyle, Roger

  / University of Leeds, UK ....................................................................................................208 Buchanan, Elizabeth

  / University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA .......................................................397

Busuttil, T. B. / Deakin University, Australia ..........................................................................................609

Butler, Matthew / Monash University, Australia ......................................................................................96

Cazier, Joseph A.

  / Appalachian State University, USA ..........................................................................221 Chapple, Michael J.

  / University of Notre Dame, USA ...........................................................................291 Chatterjee, Sutirtha

  / Washington State University, USA ......................................................................201

Chen, Irene / University of Houston – Downtown, USA .........................................................................130

Chen, Jengchung V. / National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan ............................................................102

Chhanabhai, Prajesh

  / University of Otago, New Zealand ....................................................................170 Chin, Amita Goyal

  / Virginia Commonwealth University, USA ..............................................................273 Chu, Chao-Hsien

  / The Pennsylvania State University, USA ....................................................................89

Cole, Robert J. / Pennsylvania State University, USA ..............................................................................89

Cote, Jo Anne / Reginald J. P. Dawson Library, QC, Canada ................................................................136

Countermine, Terry

  / East Tennessee State University, USA .................................................................507 Crowell, Charles R. / University of Notre Dame, USA ...................................................................291, 445

  Currier, Dianne / Columbia University, USA ..........................................................................................384

  

Dark, Melissa / Purdue University, USA .................................................................................................507

Doherty, Neil / Loughborough University, UK ........................................................................................377

Douma, Michael

  / Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement, USA .............................................362 Drake, John R. / Auburn University, USA ...............................................................................................486

  Du, Jianxia / Mississippi State University, USA ........................................................................................49

  

Dunkels, Elza / Umeå University, Sweden ..............................................................................................403

Dyson, Laurel Evelyn / University of Technology Sydney, Australia ......................................................433

Ellis, Kirsten

  / Monash University, Australia ..........................................................................................235 Engelbrecht, Judith

  / Massey University, New Zealand .........................................................................534

  

Enochsson, AnnBritt / Karlstad University, Sweden .............................................................................403

Epstein, Richard / West Chester University, USA ...................................................................................507

  Etter, Stephanie / Mount Aloysius College, USA ....................................................................................214

  Fedorowicz, Jane / Bentley College, USA ...............................................................................................440

  

Fulford, Heather / The Robert Gordon University, UK ..........................................................................377

Gamito, Eduard J. / University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, USA ...........................................362

Gasmelseid, Tagelsir Mohamed

  / King Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ...........................187 Gray, Kathleen

  / University of Melbourne, Australia .............................................................................164 Grillo, Antonio

  / Università di Roma, Italy ...............................................................................................55

Guan, Sheng-Uei / Brunel University, UK ......................................................................................556, 571

Gupta, Manish / State University of New York at Buffalo, USA .............................................................520

Gupta, Phalguni

  / Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India ............................................................478

Gurău, Călin / GSCM – Montpellier Business School, France ...............................................................542

Halpert, Benjamin J.

  / Nova Southeastern University, USA ..................................................................492

Handy, Jocelyn / Massey University, New Zealand .................................................................................534

Harter, Nathan / Purdue University, USA ...............................................................................................507

Hiltbrand, Robert K.

  / University of Houston, USA ...............................................................................411 Hirsch, Corey

  / Henley Management College, UK .................................................................................370 Hocking, Lynley

  / Department of Education, Tasmania, Australia .........................................................470

Holt, Alec / University of Otago, New Zealand ........................................................................................170

Huang, ShaoYu F. / National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan ...............................................................102

Hunter, Inga

  / Massey University, New Zealand .....................................................................................534 Im, Seunghyun

  / University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, USA ...............................................................114 Irons, Alistair

  / Northumbria University, UK ..........................................................................................208

Isenmann, Ralf / University of Bremen, Germany ..................................................................................622

Jasola, Sanjay / Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi ...................................................594

Johnston, Allen C.

  / University of Louisiana Monroe, USA ...................................................................451 Jourdan, Zack

  / Auburn University, USA ..................................................................................................68 Kamthan, Pankaj

  / Concordia University, Canada ................................................................................266

Kao, Kai-Ti / Monash University, Australia ............................................................................................326

Kats, Yefim / Southwestern Oklahoma State University, USA ...................................................................83

Kawash, Jalal

  / American University of Sharjah, UAE ...........................................................................527 Kiau, Bong Wee

  / Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia ........................................................................157 Kidd, Terry T. / University of Texas Health Science Center, USA ..................................................130, 411

  

Korb, Kevin B. / Monash University, Australia ......................................................................................279

Kotlarsky, Julia / University of Warwick, UK .........................................................................................370

LaBrie, Ryan C.

  / Seattle Pacific University, USA ..................................................................................221 Lawler, James

  / Pace University, USA ....................................................................................................549 Lazarus, Belinda Davis

  / University of Michigan – Dearborn, USA ......................................................241

LeDonne, Keith / Robert Morris University, USA ...................................................................................214

Lee, Zu-Hsu / Montclair State University, USA ......................................................................................229

Lentini, Alessandro

  / Università di Roma, Italy .......................................................................................55 Leonard, Lori N. K.

  / University of Tulsa, USA .....................................................................................260 Li, Koon-Ying Raymond

  / e-Promote Pty. Ltd., Australia .........................................................................1

Loke, Seng / La Trobe University, Australia ....................................................................................463, 563

Mahmood, Omer / Charles Darwin University, Australia ......................................................................143

Manly, Tracy S.

  / University of Tulsa, USA .............................................................................................260 Marshall, Thomas E.

  / Auburn University, USA .......................................................................................68 McNaught, Carmel

  / The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong .............................................342

  

Me, Gianluigi / Università di Roma, “Tor Vergata,” Italy ................................................................55, 418

Mehrotra, Hunny / Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India ..........................................................478

  Michael, Katina / University of Wollongong, Australia ..........................................................................312 Michael, M. G.

  / University of Wollongong, Australia ............................................................................312

Mishra, Sushma / Virginia Commonwealth University, USA ..................................................................273

Molinero, Ashli M. / Robert Morris University, USA ..............................................................................214

Molluzzo, John C.

  / Pace University, USA ..............................................................................................549 Morales, Linda

  / Texas A&M Commerce, USA .......................................................................................507 Nestor, Susan J.

  / Robert Morris University, USA ..................................................................................214

Ngo, Leanne / Deakin University, Australia ............................................................................................319

Nichol, Sophie / Deakin University, Australia .........................................................................................196

Nissan, Ephraim

  / Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK ......................................30, 36, 42, 638 Oshri, Ilan

  / Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus, The Netherlands ...........................................370 Palaniappan, Ramaswamy

  / University of Essex, UK ...........................................................................335

Papagiannidis, Savvas / University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK ............................................................15

Paperin, Gregory / Monash University, Australia ..................................................................................602

Park, Eun G.

  / McGill University, Canada .............................................................................................136 Pate, George H.

  / Mississippi State University, USA .................................................................................49 Patnaik, Lalit M.

  / Indian Institute of Science, India ..............................................................................335

Peterson, Richard / Montclair State University, USA .............................................................................229

Phillips, Patricia G. / Duquesne University, USA ...................................................................................214

Popova-Gosart, Ulia

  / Lauravetlan Information and Education Network of Indigenous Peoples of Russian Federation (LIENIP) and University of California in Los Angeles, USA

  ..................645 Power, Mark

  / Monash University, Australia ..............................................................................................1

Quigley, Marian / Monash University, Australia ....................................................................................235

Rainer Jr., R. Kelly / Auburn University, USA ..........................................................................................68

Ramim, Michelle M.

  / Nova Southeastern University, USA ...................................................................246 Ras, Zbigniew W. / University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA .....................................................114

  Rattani, Ajita / Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India .................................................................478

  

Rose, Matt / Purdue University, USA ......................................................................................................507

Roy, Jeffrey / Dalhousie University, Canada .........................................................................................585

Ruvinsky, Alicia I.

  / University of South Carolina, USA ...........................................................................76 Schmidt, Mark B. / St. Cloud State University, USA ......................................................................451, 579 Sharma, Ramesh C.

  / Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi .........................................594

Sharman, Raj / State University of New York at Buffalo, USA ...............................................................520

Shen, Yifeng / Monash University, Australia ...............................................................................................7

Sherrod, Deneen

  / Mississippi State University, USA ...............................................................................49 Shetty, Pravin

  / Monash University, Australia ................................................................................463, 563 Shiratuddin, Norshuhada

  / Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia ........................................................157

Sixsmith, Alan / University of Technology Sydney, Australia ..................................................................426

Skalicky Hanson, Jan / St. Cloud State University, USA .........................................................................579

Sofra, James

  / Monash University, Australia ..............................................................................................1 Srivastava, A.

  / Monash University, Australia .........................................................................................179 Stafford, Thomas F.

  / University of Memphis, USA ................................................................................616

Stahl, Bernd Carsten / De Montfort University, UK ..............................................................................348

Sugden, Paul / Monash University, Australia ..........................................................................................391

Third, Amanda

  / Monash University, Australia ......................................................................................326 Thomson, S. B. / Monash University, Australia ......................................................................................179 Tribunella, Heidi R.

  / University of Rochester, USA ...............................................................................254

  

Tribunella, Thomas J. / Rochester Institute of Technology, USA ...........................................................254

Tyrväskylä, Pasi / University of Jyväskylä, Finland ...............................................................................285 Walker, Christopher H.

  / The Pennsylvania State University, USA .......................................................150 Wang, John

  / Montclair State University, USA .......................................................................................229

Warren, M. J. / Deakin University, Australia ..................................................................................304, 609

Whiddett, Dick / Massey University, New Zealand .................................................................................534

Wickramasinghe, Nilmini

  / Illinois Institute of Technology, USA ..........................................................498 Xiang, Yang

  / Central Queensland University, Australia ........................................................................121 Xue, Fei

  / Monash University, Australia ..................................................................................................457

Yao, James / Montclair State University, USA .........................................................................................229

Yu, Wei-Chieh / Mississippi State University, USA ...................................................................................49

Yuan, Qing

  / East Tennessee State University, USA ................................................................................507 Zhao, Wenbing

  / Cleveland State University, USA .............................................................................23, 62 Zhou, Wanlei

  / Deakin University, Australia ...........................................................................................121

  Contents

  3D Avatars and Collaborative Virtual Environments / Koon-Ying Raymond Li, James Sofra,

and Mark Power ............................................................................................................................................

  1 Access Control for Healthcare / Yifeng Shen ................................................................................................7

Advertising in the Networked Environment / Savvas Papagiannidis and Michael Bourlakis ...................15

Anonymous Peer-to-Peer Systems / Wenbing Zhao ....................................................................................23

Argumentation and Computing / Ephraim Nissan ......................................................................................30

Argumentation with Wigmore Charts and Computing / Ephraim Nissan ..................................................36

Artificial Intelligence Tools for Handling Legal Evidence / Ephraim Nissan ............................................42

Barriers Facing African American Women in Technology / Jianxia Du, George H. Pate, Deneen Sherrod, and Wei-Chieh Yu ............................................................................................................

  49 B-POS Secure Mobile Payment System / Antonio Grillo, Alessandro Lentini, and Gianluigi Me ............55

Building Secure and Dependable Information Systems / Wenbing Zhao ...................................................62

Classifying Articles in Information Ethics and Security / Zack Jourdan, R. Kelly Rainer Jr., and Thomas E. Marshall .............................................................................................................................

  68 Computational Ethics / Alicia I. Ruvinsky ..................................................................................................76 Computer Ethics and Intelligent Technologies / Yefim Kats .......................................................................83

  

Computer Worms, Detection, and Defense / Robert J. Cole and Chao-Hsien Chu ...................................89

Conflicting Value of Digital Music Piracy / Matthew Butler ......................................................................96

Content Filtering Methods for Internet Pornography / Jengchung V. Chen and ShaoYu F. Huang ..........102

Cyber-Terrorism in Australia / Christopher Beggs ...................................................................................108

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Data Security and Chase / Zbigniew W. Ras and Seunghyun Im ..............................................................114

Defending against Distributed Denial of Service / Yang Xiang and Wanlei Zhou ....................................121

Digital Divide Implications and Trends / Irene Chen and Terry T. Kidd ..................................................130

Digital Rights Management Metadata and Standards / Jo Anne Cote and Eun G. Park ..........................136

Dilemmas of Online Identity Theft / Omer Mahmood .............................................................................143

Document Security in the Ancient World / Christopher H. Walker .......................................................... 150

DRM Practices in the E-Publication Industry / Bong Wee Kiau and Norshuhada Shiratuddin ...............157

Educational Technology Practitioner-Research Ethics / Kathleen Gray ..................................................164

E-Health and Ensuring Quality / Prajesh Chhanabhai and Alec Holt .....................................................170

Electronic Signatures and Ethics / A. Srivastava and S. B. Thomson .......................................................179

Engineering Multi-Agent Systems / Tagelsir Mohamed Gasmelseid .......................................................187

Ethical Approach to Gathering Survey Data Online / Sophie Nichol and Kathy Blashki .........................194

Ethical Behaviour in Technology-Mediated Communication / Sutirtha Chatterjee .................................201

Ethical Concerns in Computer Science Projects / Alistair Irons and Roger Boyle ..................................208

Ethical Debate Surrounding RFID The / Stephanie Etter, Patricia G. Phillips, Ashli M. Molinero, Susan J. Nestor, and Keith LeDonne .........................................................................................................

  214

Ethical Dilemmas in Data Mining and Warehousing / Joseph A. Cazier and Ryan C. LaBrie ................221

Ethical Erosion at Enron / John Wang, James Yao, Richard Peterson, and Zu-Hsu Lee ..........................229

Ethical Usability Testing with Children / Kirsten Ellis and Marian Quigley ...........................................235

Ethics and Access to Technology for Persons with Disabilities / Belinda Davis Lazarus ........................241

Ethics and Perceptions in Online Learning Environments / Michelle M. Ramim ....................................246

Ethics and Security under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act / Thomas J. Tribunella and Heidi R. Tribunella ......254

Ethics Education for the Online Environment / Lori N. K. Leonard and Tracy S. Manly ........................260

Ethics in Software Engineering / Pankaj Kamthan ..................................................................................266

Ethics in the Security of Organizational Information Systems / Sushma Mishra and Amita Goyal Chin ..............................................................................................................................

  273

  

Ethics of AI / Kevin B. Korb .....................................................................................................................279

Fair Use / Pasi Tyrväskylä ........................................................................................................................285

Federal Information Security Law / Michael J. Chapple and Charles R. Crowell ...................................291

Formulating a Code of Cyberethics for a Municipality / Udo Richard Averweg ......................................297

Hackers and Cyber Terrorists / M. J. Warren ............................................................................................304

Homo Electricus and the Continued Speciation of Humans / Katina Michael and M. G. Michael .........312

  

IT Security Culture Transition Process / Leanne Ngo ...............................................................................319

  

ICT Leapfrogging Policy and Development in the Third World / Amanda Third and Kai-Ti Kao ..........326

Identity Verification using Resting State Brain Signals / Ramaswamy Palaniappan and Lalit M. Patnaik .................................................................................................................................

  335

Individual and Institutional Responses to Staff Plagiarism / Carmel McNaught .....................................342

Information Ethics as Ideology / Bernd Carsten Stahl .............................................................................348

Information Ethics from an Islamic Perspective / Salam Abdallah ..........................................................355

Information Security and the “Privacy Broker” / Michael Douma and Eduard J. Gamito ......................362

Information Security Policies for Networkable Devices / Julia Kotlarsky, Ilan Oshri, and Corey Hirsch ......................................................................................................................................

  370

Information Security Policy Research Agenda / Heather Fulford and Neil Doherty ...............................377

Internet and Suicide / Dianne Currier ......................................................................................................384

Internet Piracy and Copyright Debates / Paul Sugden ..............................................................................391

Internet Research Ethics Questions and Considerations / Elizabeth Buchanan .......................................397

Interviews with Young People using Online Chat / Elza Dunkels and AnnBritt Enochsson ....................403

Intrusion Detection and Information Security Audits / Terry T. Kidd and Robert K. Hiltbrand ..............411

Investigation Strategy for the Small Pedophiles World / Gianluigi Me ....................................................418

Managed Services and Changing Workplace Ethics / Alan Sixsmith .......................................................426

Managing the Environmental Impact of Information Technology / Laurel Evelyn Dyson .......................433

  Measuring Ethical Reasoning of IT Professionals and Students / Mohammad Abdolmohammadi and Jane Fedorowicz ................................................................................................................................

  440

Meta View of Information Ethics / Charles R. Crowell and Robert N. Barger ........................................445

Mitigation of Identity Theft in the Information Age / Reggie Becker, Mark B. Schmidt, and Allen C. Johnston ...............................................................................................................................

  451

Mobile Agents and Security / Fei Xue ......................................................................................................457

Modelling Context-Aware Security for Electronic Health Records / Pravin Shetty and Seng Loke .........463

Moral Rights in the Australian Public Sector / Lynley Hocking ...............................................................470

Multimodal Biometric System / Ajita Rattani, Hunny Mehrotra, and Phalguni Gupta ...........................478

Objective Ethics for Managing Information Technology / John R. Drake ...............................................486

Parental Rights to Monitor Internet Usage / Benjamin J. Halpert ............................................................492

Patient Centric Healthcare Information Systems in the U.S. / Nilmini Wickramasinghe .........................498

Pedagogical Framework for Ethical Development / Melissa Dark, Richard Epstein, Linda Morales, Terry Countermine, Qing Yuan, Muhammed Ali, Matt Rose, and Nathan Harter .....................................

  507

Personal Information Ethics / Sabah S. Al-Fedaghi .................................................................................513

Pharming Attack Designs / Manish Gupta and Raj Sharman ...................................................................520

Port Scans / Jalal Kawash .........................................................................................................................527

Privacy and Access to Electronic Health Records / Dick Whiddett, Inga Hunter, Judith Engelbrecht, and Jocelyn Handy ....................................................................................................................................

  534 Privacy and Online Data Collection /

Călin Gurău ..................................................................................542

  

Privacy in Data Mining Textbooks / James Lawler and John C. Molluzzo ..............................................549

Protection of Mobile Agent Data / Sheng-Uei Guan ................................................................................556

Rule-Based Policies for Secured Defense Meetings / Pravin Shetty and Seng Loke ...............................563

Secure Agent Roaming under M-Commerce / Sheng-Uei Guan ..............................................................571

Secure Automated Clearing House Transactions / Jan Skalicky Hanson and Mark B. Schmidt ..............579

Security Dilemmas for Canada’s New Government / Jeffrey Roy ............................................................585

Security Model for Educational Satellite Networks / Sanjay Jasola and Ramesh C. Sharma .................594

  

Security of Communication and Quantum Technology / Gregory Paperin .............................................602

Security Protection for Critical Infrastructure / M. J. Warren and T. B. Busuttil ......................................609

Spyware / Thomas F. Stafford ...................................................................................................................616

Sustainable Information Society / Ralf Isenmann .....................................................................................622

Taxonomy of Computer and Information Ethics / Sabah S. Al-Fedaghi ..................................................631

Tools for Representing and Processing Narratives / Ephraim Nissan ......................................................638

Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property / Ulia Popova-Gosart .................................................645

Universal Internet Access under an Ethical Lens / Alessandro Arbore ....................................................655

  xiii Preface

We create technology and choose to adopt it. However, once we have adopted a technological device, it can

change us and how we relate to other people and our environment.

  (Quinn, 2006, p. 3)

  

…the computer profoundly shapes our ways of thinking and feeling…computers are not just changing our lives

but our selves.

  (Turkle, 2000, p. 129) Alongside the examination of technological advancements and the development of new computer software and hardware, an increasing number of scholars across a range of disciplines are researching and writing about the ethical dilemmas and security issues which the world is facing in what is now termed the Information Age. It is imperative that ordinary citizens as well as academics and computer professionals are involved in these debates, as technology has a transformative effect on all of our daily lives and on our very humanness. The

  Encyclopedia of Information Ethics and Security

  aims to provide a valuable resource for the student as well as teachers, researchers, and professionals in the field. The changes brought about by rapid developments in information and communication technologies in the late twentieth century have been described as a revolution similar in impact to the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. The development of the personal computer in the 1980s and the creation of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the early 1990s, followed by the development of low-cost computers and high-speed networks, have resulted in dramatic changes in the way humans communicate with one another and gain information. Today, more than 600 million people have e-mail accounts (Quinn, 2006, p. 2). Communication via cell phone and the Internet is now regarded as commonplace, if not indeed, essential by Westerners, yet there remain many groups both in developing countries and within developed countries who do not have access to these technologies or who lack the skills to use them. Technology has thus helped to create social divisions or to reinforce existing ones based on socio-economic and educational differences. These divisions are often described as the gap between the ‘information rich’ and the ‘information poor.’

  Technology can bring harm as well as benefit. It can undermine basic human rights and values, and challenge established social or cultural norms and legal practices. While the home PC with an Internet connection may provide us with ready access to a wealth of information, it also makes us potential victims of cyber crime or subject to invasions of our privacy. Some members of society may enthusiastically embrace the new opportunities offered by new technologies, while others such as the elderly or disabled may become increasingly marginalized by the implementation of these technologies in the public domains of commerce, banking, and education.