ETHICAL PROBLEMS AND RULES OF INTERNET: NETIQUETTE Inst.

Yaln KIRDAR Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Manas University, Communication Faculty Public Relations and Advertising Department

ABSTRACT One of the characteristics that distinguish human being from other creations is the ability to differ well from bad. Human being does everything that he/she characterizes as a good in a way of being a moral individual. The philosophy of morality displays common ideas about the aim of human actions and the end of life. Ethics is a discipline of philosophy of morality that explores what is good and true, what is bad and false; what should be the aim of human life; what factors should include morale and virtuous life. Because of impossibility of digesting rapid technological changes with the same speed, the decrease of ethical principles that bring human values to the first plan and failure of legal structuring creates some negative outcomes. Violation of confidentiality of private life, violation of intellectual property rights, information crimes, employment within the frame of life quality and dependency are the examples of these negative outcomes. Ethical problems on internet is increasing day by day. Rules of net ethics must be developed in a way to solve these problems. Privacy is one of the ethical problems of internet. It is concerned with three spheres: government, marketing people and employees. Spam mails and antispam laws that are developed against them are also concerned with net ethics. Except for them domain problems, copyright problems, problem of internet dependency, problems of cyber crimes (information hypes, logic bombs, hacking and cracking actions, viruses) are continuing. Net ethics i.e. netiquette, forms the basics of rules that should be followed by net community. Nowadays all net citizens (netizens) are expected to follow these rules. Key words: Internet, Ethics, Net Morality, Net Community, Netiquette. ZET nsanlar dier canllardan ayran zelliklerden biri, iyiyi ktden ayrma yeteneidir. nsanolu iyi eklinde nitelendirdii hemen her eyi ahlkl bir birey olma yolunda uygular. Ahlk felsefesi, insan hareketlerinin amac ve hayatn akbeti hakknda genel grler ortaya koyar. Neyin iyi ve doru, neyin kt ve yanl olduunu; insan yaamnn amacnn ne olmas gerektiini; ahlakl ve erdemli bir yaamn hangi eleri iermesi gerektiini aratran ahlak felsefesi disiplini etiktir. Hzl toplumsal dnmlerin ayn hzla sindirilmesi mmkn olamad iin bir anlamda insani deerlerin n plana karlmas demek olan etik ilkelerin gelimemesi ve hukuki yaplanmann gerekletirilememesi baz olumsuz etkiler yaratabilmektedir. zel hayatn gizliliinin ihlali, entelektel mlkiyet haklarnn ihlal edilmesi, biliim sular, yaam kalitesi kapsamnda istihdam ve bamllk bu olumsuz etkilere verilebilecek rneklerdir. nternetteki etik sorunlar her geen gn artmaktadr. Net etii kurallar da, artan bu sorunlar zebilecek ekilde gelitirilmelidir. nternetin etik sorunlarndan biri mahremiyet sorunudur. Hkmet,

pazarlamaclar ve iverenler olmak zere alan ilgilendirmektedir. Spam mailler ve buna kar gelitirilen antispam yasalar da net etiiyle ilgilidir. Bunun dnda; alan isimleri sorunu, telif haklar sorunu, internet bamll sorunu, siber sulara ait sorunlar (bilgi aldatmacas, mantk bombalar, hacking ve cracking eylemleri, virsler...) artarak devam etmektedir. Net etii dier bir deyile netiquette, net toplumunda uyulmas gereken kurallarn temelini oluturmaktadr. Gnmzde tm net vatandalarnn (netizenlerin) bu kurallara uymas beklenmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Internet, Etik, Net Ahlak, Net Toplumu, Netiquette. INTRODUCTION Nowadays everybody is benefiting or wants to benefit from the opportunities brought by internet. Such concepts as e-commerce, e-education, e-human resources, e-citizen, e-career and e-banking are becoming a part of daily life. Internet is bringing ethical problems to our life along with many benefits. Cyber crimes on internet have begun in addition to known classic crimes. Technology is creating an open environment for the violation of rights in wide platform because of diversity of subjects that can be the aim of crime. Violation of confidentiality of private life and intellectual property rights cyber crimes that increasingly expand; information technologies are the focal point of discussions about internet. While computers that are the base building structure of information and communication technologies are making possible the information to be more easily copied and transferred, internet is making these information attainable for everybody. Nowadays databases that are created by computer and internet are reaching the levels of violating private confidentiality rights. Anxieties concerning the violation of confidentiality are not new and form one of the main problems of a new society. Easy access to information on internet, ability of employees to control any electronic communication with their workers, gathering data about users for marketing activities, that spy programs that government uses are increasing anxieties concerning confidentiality. 1. ETHICS CONCEPT One of the characteristics that distinguish people from other creations is the ability to differ well from bad. Human being abandons bad and adopts good. He/she does everything that is valued as a good in a way of being a moral individual. Morality is a reality that is born from the existence of society and social life. Moral, is a philosophical discipline. The philosophy or morality displays common ideas about the aim of human actions and the end of life. Systematic morality researches depending on philosophy are called morality philosophy (ethics). Morality is a result of practical intelligence (conscience) from the point of both principles and necessity. Morality was formed, as a necessity of living collectively, if there were no need to live collectively, with no doubt there would be any need for neither morality nor other social organizations. Ethics or morality philosophy; is a branch of philosophy that studies morality (Nuttal, 1997: 15). It is a discipline of philosophy of morality that explores what is good and true, what is bad and false; what should be the aim of human life; what factors should include morale and virtuous life. While morality is

historical and factual, ethics is a philosophical discipline that is called a morality that is directed to this fact. Thus differing from morality ethics is not formed peculiar to specific geography and community; on the contrary it is universal. Ethics, which consider morality problems if necessary create and define values once, again while guiding people. With this peculiarity ethics displays claims and tries to fix these claims. This ethics type called as normative ethics tells what is good or bad, sets rules, offers life style or establishes definite life style. In a wide sense ethics is concerned with how should be our experience. It is focused on answers to such questions as what is true or false, honest or unhonest, important or not important, requires or not requires the responsibility. It is concerned with both mentality and behavior. It interrogates virtuousness and not virtuousness and gives principles and rules with the aim to control and evaluate behaviors. Many hundred years ago Confucius displayed universal ethics idea by saying do not do the thing with others that you do not want other to do with you. Ethics include different meanings in todays cultural world. Because the influence of our behaviors on other people and even masses are reaching wide dimensions with the unlimited opportunities provided by technology day by day. Nowadays when the information technologies such as internet form the fundament of a world, crime is carried to global level because individuals are not equipped with necessary moral values (Bozkurt, 2000: 17). Consequently, we should realize that damages done by individuals who are not equipped with necessary moral values are limited to only a small group or one community. 2. TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND ETHICS There are many definitions of technology. Some of them are as following: Technology in order to gain a commercial value realized commercial practices, ways and methods used by people while producing stage or set of techniques that human being owns and uses to change his/her environment. According to another definition; technology is a factor that distinguishes human being from other creations and provides human beings consistency to nature or organized information for the realization of practical aims when todays developments are taken into the consideration. Technology gets different meaning according to its point of view. According to economist technology is a mean that increases nations well being and life standard. For an engineer it is a range of methods that are used to produce a product (Kongar, 2000: 300). From the viewpoint of ecclesiastics and moralists science and technology always were a calamitous problem. Technology is a fake religion that finds new means of ignition and demolition every day, makes human being a slave of machine and not the machine the slave of human being, that works for the account of pains, slavery and death (Bayet, 2000: 11-14). Technology that forms the dynamics of social development causes the change in economic, social, political and cultural sphere (Erkan, 1993: 60). Technological invention initially is used in production activities after reaching more prevailing level than old technologies. While showing its first influence on economy this new technology causes the formation of new labor division and specialization, new

professions and new classes that will execute these new professions. Thus, it causes the change in social sphere after economic sphere. This new class, which appeared in social sphere, wants to activate its own aims by getting organized. Thus power and strength competition forces economic sphere to a change. The change happens finally in cultural sphere. The reason of cultural spheres latest response to the influence is the unwillingness of people to change past beliefs, values and norms. Thus the new technologies that began to be practiced firstly in economic processes, showing its influence in social, political and cultural spheres, finally realizes social change being an integral. These core changes are described as a revolution. Alexander Solhenistsyn, states that technological civilization does not expand spirit of human being, it restricts spiritual life and makes him/her a slave (Solhenitsyn, 2000: 17-19). According to Rousseau, a human being can digress technology whirl and spiral of desires and can be happy if he/she reaches natural human being integration at some level. Nowadays when we look at developments it is seen that there is no distance between science fiction and science. People are talking about morale anxieties caused by scientific researches, revolution in biogenetics and biochemistry such as making their own biological copies, babies that will be born in glass bells not depending on mothers womb, robots made out of human and machine combination, artificial minds, building a base on Mars... etc. They are looking for the answer to such political and ethical questions as who will die and who will live, who will be copied and who will control these developments. 3. CONCEPTS REGARDING NEW SOCIETY AND NET SOCIETY According to Alvin Toffler the period from the beginning of human being until industry age is an agriculture period or the first wave change. Industry age or the second wave according to Toffler began in the18th century. Today where there is an intense production and use of information, industry age is passed over and the third wave period began (Toffler, 1997: 22). While Toffler uses the expression of the third wave that defines todays revolution, Peter F. Drucker defines growing new society as society beyond capitalism. Drucker while looking at information as the most valuable source of new society, states that it is early to name this new society as information society. Daniel Bell calls the new society as post industry society, Yoneji Masuda calls intelligence society, Aydn Kksal calls information society, Veysel Bozkurt calls information society. Such concepts as information economy, digital society, new economy, industrial society, and digital age are also frequently used. By means of communication network systems we can determine the world a small village. We can do shopping in any place of the world, see the dynamic and colorful products on the screen, we can do payment by credit cards or bank accounts. We can add to this making ticket reservation, sending birthday card to a friend and ordering a book. We can include to this managing works at home in many work branches.

Databases of libraries, electronic archives of universities, discussion lists and news groups

can

also be reached. Such databases as governments tax, record of previous convictions, traffic etc. on the net is providing more speedy and active turn of governments benefit. New opportunities concerning the societys participation in democratic process, announcement and discussion of different points and recommendations and transparency of social management are created because of the expansion of computer networks that provide speedy and easy communication and information exchange between various units which create the society (Akgl, 2002). 4. NET MORALITY: NETIQUETTE Net ethics, i.e. netiquette that is defined by Computer Ethics Institute in 1985 and known as 10 commands, forms the base of rules that should be followed in net society. These 10 commands form also the base of the following rules. Nowadays all net citizens (netizens) are expected to follow these rules (Trkolu, 2002): Keep the manner which you suit yourself in front of the society, do not display behaviors that you do not adopt in your real life expecting that you can protect your identity in virtual medium of internet.

Remember that approaching positively and using gentle expression while expressing your ideas
is a necessity of a good sense. Do not allow discussions and go private and individual. Do not give a chance spread out the messages that Emotionally violate and disturb people. Try to prevent disturbance of people by getting the messages that they do not desire as you can, do not be a reason for this. When you want to forward e-mail you have received to others, make sure that the one who sent you the message wants it to be forwarded or not. Do not send meaningless messages while communicating. When you want to send regular electronic bulletin in order inform and make aware of developments, provide indication of receivers desire to remain at announcement or distribution list or not at the first announcement, do not disturb again the ones who does not want to remain. Do not send long text or document in web site as an attachment to e-mail address, give only the theme and internet address of this text or document. Warn the ones who make message traffic condensed, make contribution to the formation of legal preventions against the ones who insist and support the realization of sanctions. Do not hide your identity without valid reason. Attentively explain your ideas and opinions anonymously in situations when the identity is not important. Always answer by protecting the subject of the message to which you reply.

 Try to explain your opinions with direct and simple words that will not cause false meanings that are against your opinions. Do not persist topics, which were discussed before especially in discussion lists if they dont cause additional contribution, to do not insist on making accepted your own opinions by ignoring the result. Avoid writing with unnecessary capital letters, using frequently special symbols and comic and derisive expressions. Try not to violate membership rights; do not own others databases, opinions and software as if they were yours. Respect others individual rights and private life; do not make comments that will scribble people. Do not allow the use of opportunities provided by internet medium in bad aims such as illegally harming people, preventing others desires, getting and benefiting from secret and private information, any corruption, forgery, swindling or theft and do not tolerate the ones who do it. Do not advertise your product or services or the products, which you represent. Try to follow the preventions against attempts that will violate and destroy the security, when you feel a doubt concerning it, directly inform the internet service provider or help to take measures by letting know one who is responsible for this in your organization. 5. ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF INTERNET 5.1. Confidentiality Nowadays the ability of gathering, exchanging and using of information is developing in frightening level. It is claimed that there are left any untouched sphere of human life with the aim of information gathering activities with this ability of technology. Individuals have lost the control of staying in one place (Torres, 2001). The confidentiality of individuals is being violated by three organizations: government, marketing people and employees. 5.1.1. Government In democratic countries people are disturbed by the regulation of their communication by the government. USA owns a bad reputation in this concern. In the beginning of 2000 USA has got aggressive reactions in internet public opinion with special electronic observation system called as Carnivore developed by FBI. Carnivore system is a spy program, which is downloaded to the service provider of suspected person and provides opportunity to observe his/her all e-mail messages with addresses and at the same time all activities on internet. (Oz, 2002: 229). FBI states that they seized more than 25.600 dangerous criminals between 1987 and 2000 thanks to this spy program on internet.

Here comes to mind the novel 1984 by George Orwell publicized in 1948. In this novel authoritarian government regularly observes and keeps the people under control with developed technology. It goes further by deciding what people have to think. In his novel 1984 Orwell explains that the development of technology will not give positive results for humanity as it is expected. 5.1.2. Marketing people Electronic medium in organizations consumers why their if they know prefer that organization with this information every consumer preferences appropriate pages and effective benefit that provides advertisements with will use methods that will guarantee their consumers shopping. All organizations do it easily with basic software programs called Cookie. Cookies are small data files sent by visited web sites to computers of internet users. He/she is recognized and mostly met by his/her name every time when the user opens that web site. All e-commerce firms send these Cookies to their consumers in order to get information about them. 5.1.3. Employer Problems have appeared concerning confidentiality and the violation of confidentiality along with the workers use of internet in organizations. The firm Xerox fired 40 workers in 1999 because they spent most of their time in internet. Another problem is that the employees defend that they have the rights to read their workers emails. Workers claim that this is a violation of confidentiality. USA courts recommend workers to take into the consideration the possibility of their e-mail messages being read by their employees. Am %60 of American firms has such policy. 5.2. Spam Mails and Antispam Laws Spam is electronic mails that are expressed as undesired mails, which contain advertisement, announcement and other information and come from unknown source. Many firms in moral indifference directly reach consumers by sending advertisements of their firms to the e-mail addresses that they own, by not taking into the consideration the disturbance they will give. Advertisements sent by e-mail in comparison to classic style advertisements are very cheap and speedy. They are very useful from the point of advertiser and advertised, however from the point of its receiver it means loss of time and excessive filling of mailbox. Because e-mail addresses have determined capacity, undesired e-mails fill e-mail capacity of the receiver and prevent receiving other e-mail (Deirmenci, 2002). American Congress adopted Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) in 1996 in order to prevent sexual exploitation of children. According to this law, keeping or publicizing on internet pornographic publications and materials where children are visualized was prohibited (eken, 2002).

There is no law concerning information protection in Turkey, however instruction was signed concerning the flow of private information beyond the boundary and protection of secrecy.

5.3. Domain Problem With the expansion of e-commerce domains of several well-known brands were bought and registered by the third party who wanted to get material well being and were sold in high prices to the firms concerning these domains. In a Panavision International Lp and Toeppen trial Dennis Toeppen www.panavision.com registered domain to his name and Panavision firm applied to the court against Toeppen because of the violation of brands right. The court decided that after registering domain of well-known brands selling it to the real right owner on high prices was not accepted. 5.4. Copyright Problem Many professionals and intellectuals who think that there were no validity of copyright in information age, at the same time share the opinion that with the structure of technology making everything easy it encourages people to crime. Easy copying of software contributes to the destroyment of laws by people (Laudon, 2002: 482). As far as it is possible to listen to the songs of a favorite singer by downloading them freely from the web site, nobody thinks about buying the song of the same singer. Even if people own ethical principles, they cannot stand against this attractiveness. Pirate CDs form %40 of CDs in the world. CD writers are the reason of the increase of pirate CDs number in the market. 5.5. Cyber Crimes We can gather cyber crimes in two headlines as actions realized by the means of internet and actions peculiar to internet. 5.5.1. Actions Realized By The Means Of Internet The most common type of cyber crimes is the ones directed on property. Especially the ones realized against systems and making these systems out of order are being a reason of great economic losses of firms. Manipulating while entering data to computers, it does swindling crime. This situation is a type of swindling which is mostly used, easily realized and realized by the computer that is difficult to prove. Here generally preferred technique is an information cheat. Information cheat is expressed by the change of information while saving the data to the computer or to its memory i.e. entering false information or leaving out some information on purpose. This action can be realized by anybody who has a possibility to work with computer (Yazcolu, 1997: 152).

Another technique is a Salam Technique. By this method fractions of numbers after comma in accounts are transferred to the account determined by the doer and gathered there. Logic Bombs is another type of Truva At (Troy Horse) method. This method is software programmed in order to surprise or paralyze computer system.

5.5.2. Actions Peculiar to Internet Actions under this content are about works peculiar to internet and internet publication. For instance, destroying a web site, entering other system without permission, disturbing and damaging people by using e-mail system in bad aims are defined as actions peculiar to internet. One of the actions peculiar to internet is entering without permission. It is a type of crime realized in situations when there is a need for special code to enter computer or terminal. Viruses, which are aimed to destroy and ruin a system and are one of actions peculiar to internet, form a famous type of crime in the public. Generally programs that are hidden behind another file and cause unexpected and undesired problems in the computer when opened are called a virus. 5.5.3. Hacking and Cracking Actions Nowadays one of the most discussed topics in internet world are the discussions about hackers. It was stated that the hacker who entered the computer system of NASA and damaged 1 million dollars was not found. The ones who damage other system or data in the system in electronic way are called crackers. However, hackers are entering other systems not in order to damage or benefit themselves, but to find weak sides of system and to be satisfied. The difference between Hackers and Crackers is that actions of hackers who enter other system without permission but do not damage are not seen as a crime, consequently there will not be any sanction. However the action of a cracker who enters the system without permission and damages it will be a crime. 5.6. Internet Dependency Researches about psychological influence of internet show that the internet expands public participation in different dimensions and removes geographic boundaries and social barriers in front of social relationships on one hand, and causes isolation and solitude of individual from the society on the other hand depending on use density and function. Internet dependency is defined as a problem of spending too much time in front of computer connected to internet (Smer, 2001: 30). It is a situation of inability to leave the computer in spite of finding information that was searched for or the removal of the reason entering internet. By surfing in internet, sites are being reached that were not intended to enter. Remaining in front of computer more than normal time both physically tires the body and causes the loss of too much time.

CONCLUSION Nowadays rapid growth of technology both makes easy our life and causes ethical problems. While getting used to new technologies it is necessary to form ethical values of these technologies. Parallel to technological developments internet and virtual medium is also developing rapidly. The world is becoming a small village thanks to communication network systems. Thanks to internet, it is possible to get the information in any place of the world. Products can be bought by ordering in internet, invoices can be made, banking operations can be followed. Doing operations on internet is concerned with the trust of consumers in organizations and internet addresses. In providing trust in internet it is necessary that internet users (netizens) own internet morality. Morality principles in internet called as nettiquette are determined and developed by various organizations. While using internet we have a chance to communicate with other people out of our own identity. This is an illusionary freedom. On internet one can appear in sexual identity regarded as eccentric by society. It pushes the one who listens to that confession to build a resemblance. Members of cyber space own the same characteristics on partnership level and in spite of their appearances as if they were independent from each other, in reality they are an imaginative community. As far as they equate themselves intellectually and emotionally with collective structure where they will never meet with the most of other members face to face, it is possible to continue their existence as a self in this form. Parallel to the transition to consumer ideology, people in excessive bureaucratic and rationale modern industry societies, in a life where there is no spontaneity, originality and renovation, are unwillingly behaving in performing their social roles determined by social system and trying to withdraw to their own sub-culture small islands with the hope to leave the real society which they can not change. Virtual communities on the network are the parts of new solutions fan, which is against this big social drive on which social reification and renovation requirements focus. In this context, electronic virtual communities are getting the forms of complicated and clever strategies developed in order to exist. Lost values and ideals in real world are expected to regain in virtual reality location. By the help of this new mean and not by regional coincidences the formation of new community forms related to each other with the interest and sympathy partnership is put forward. LITERATURE AKGL, Mustafa. Bilgi Toplumuna Doru nternet, 10.06.2002, http://www.ankara.edu.tr/start/Internet/ bil-toplum.html BAYET, Albert (2000). Bilim Ahlak, Trkiye Bankas Yaynlar. BOZKURT, Veysel (2000). Enformasyon Toplumu ve Trkiye (3rd editions), Sistem Yaynclk. EKEN, Hseyin. Amerika Birleik Devletlerinde Siber Sular, 14.04.2002, http://www.jura.unisb.de/turkish/Hceken.html. DERMENC, Pnar (2002). Net Toplumunda Etik ve Mahremiyetin hlal edilmesi Kayglarna Ynelik Bir Aratrma, Unpublished master dissertation, Marmara University, stanbul. ERKAN, Hsn (1993). Bilgi Toplumu ve Ekonomik Gelime, Trkiye Bankas Associates, Ankara.

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