Charles Ess: Digital Media Ethics

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A new website for Charles Ess' recent book (disclaimer: I wrote the Foreword):

Summary

This is the first textbook on the central ethical issues of digital media, ranging from computers and the Internet to mobile phones. It is also the first book of its kind to consider these issues from a global perspective, introducing ethical theories from multiple cultures. It further utilizes examples from around the world, such as the publication of “the Mohammed Cartoons”; diverse understandings of what “privacy” means in Facebook or MySpace; why pirating CDs and DVDs may be justified in developing countries; and culturally-variable perspectives on sexuality and what counts as “pornography.”

Readers and students thus acquire a global perspective on the central ethical issues of digital media, including privacy, copyright, pornography and violence, and the ethics of cross-cultural communication online. The book is designed for use across disciplines – media and communication studies, computer science and informatics, as well as philosophy. It is up-to-date, accessible and student- and classroom-friendly: each topic and theory is interwoven throughout the volume with detailed sets of questions that foster careful reflection, writing, and discussion into these issues and their possible resolutions. Each chapter further includes additional resources and suggestions for further research and writing.

Comments

  1. AnonymousSun Jan 04, 02:03:00 pm

    Clearly this is a book which is designed to provide an important structure for discussing ethical issues as they apply to online relationships. Great news.

    I'm wondering if Charles has much experience of these relationships? I've googled but I'm not sure if I can find where on the internet he takes part in community and conversation - which is of course where so many of the ethical problems occur and solutions are applied?

    If I'm mistaken and he has a blog or similar then please point me there. I'd love to keep track of his thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Luciano FloridiSun Jan 04, 02:57:00 pm

    I just emailed Charles, but you may contact him directly at:
    http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Luciano FloridiTue Jan 06, 11:07:00 am

    A reply from Ess:

    While I have homepages on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Orkut, I work primarily
    via email - and organizationally, currently as President of the Association
    of Internet Researchers, the Organizational Secretary of IACAP, etc.
    While not a blogger myself (yet), I am involved with the Ethics Working
    Group of the Association of Internet Researchers, which will be revising its
    guidelines for Internet research in the coming year (see
    www.aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf).
    Thanks very much - hope you find this information helpful!

    ReplyDelete

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