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Ethics of Computing MONT 113G, Spring 2012

Session 36Philosophical Basis for Property

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Philosophical Basis of Property

1. Property is created by laws.

• What can be owned.

• How things can be acquired and transferred.

• What owners can do with their property

2. Theories of Property:

• UtilitarianLaws to foster creativity and innovation.

• Natural Right to Property

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Natural Right to PropertyArgument for natural right: Individuals have a natural right

to what they produce with their labor (John Locke).

Example: Garden

Software developers produce software through their labor, so they own it.

Flaws:1. Adding labor to something you don't own does not make it

yours.

2. Software is not tangible. When copied, owner does not lose the product of his or her labor.

3. Software developers want to control software for economic gain.

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Economic Models of Software distribution

Proprietary software (PS):

Developers want to have intellectual property rights so that they can sell the software.

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS):

Make money from supporting the software. (How?)

Which is best?

Which system produces the best and most useful software?

Which system leads to most widely accessible software?

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Natural Rights Argument Against Software Ownership

• Software is essentially a series of mental steps.

• Ownership of mental steps could lead to interference with freedom of thought.

• This is more likely as more sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) and expert systems are developed.

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Is Copying Wrong?Is it morally wrong to copy proprietary software or copyrighted

music/movies?

1. It is illegal, but is it morally wrong?

2. Why do people copy proprietary software/music/movies (when they wouldn't break the law in other situations?)

(We will discuss this in class).

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Morality of Copying PS/Music/Movies

Argument in defense of copying PS/music/movies:

1. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with copying.

2. Copying does no harm.

Counter-argument:

1. Laws create a legal right to ownership.

2. If someone is deprived of their legal right, they are being harmed.

3. Immorality derives from illegality.

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What about Civil Disobedience?

If one believes a law is bad, is it OK to break it?

• There is a prime facie (all things being equal) obligation to obey laws of a relatively just state.

When is it ethical to disobey the law?

• One can only override this if obeying the law will cause greater harm than disobeying.

Does software/music/movie copying reach this standard?

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Other Systems of Distribution1. Music:

Some bands want exposure. Encourage sharing of their songs.

2. Creative Commons: Lawrence Lessig spearheaded this non-profit organization.

• Encourages and facilitates sharing of digital information.

• Makes licensing language available to anyone for free.

3. Volunteered Content: E.g. youtube

These are all new ways to distribute intellectual property. No more "middle man". Instead you have an automated "middle

thing".