Harrisburg University: Digital Ethics and Law in Tech

This term paper, titled "Law vs. Ethics in Digital Advancements," examines the critical relationship between legal frameworks and ethical considerations in the rapidly evolving technological landscape. The paper begins by highlighting the importance of digital ethics, emphasizing the potential harms of unchecked technological advancements and the need for proactive ethical and legal oversight. It explores the dual nature of technology, acknowledging its limitless benefits while also addressing potential downsides such as psychological issues, environmental harm, and ethical challenges related to intellectual property, privacy, and workplace discrimination. The paper further delves into specific ethical, moral, and legal issues, including concerns about job displacement, gender discrimination, privacy violations, copyright infringement, and software patents. It advocates for a balanced approach where market forces, technology think tanks, and ethical considerations work in tandem to ensure responsible technological development and usage. The paper concludes by underscoring the need for constant evaluation and adaptation of both laws and ethical guidelines to keep pace with technological innovations, ensuring that technology benefits society while mitigating its potential harms. The paper also discusses case studies and real-world examples to illustrate the concepts discussed.

Running head: TERM PAPER
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The law in its primary sense is considered to be a certain rule or regulation which would
be imposed by an authority. Ethics and law are not considered to be similar or identical as the
law provides an individual with a guideline that states the minimum standards for behavior
whereas, ethics tries to set the maximum standards. Due to ethics, the employee in an
organization has the opportunity of contributing their abilities and endowments directly to an
organization. Certain major ethical issues persist in the field of technology where the moral
nature of issues is co-relating to the ethical dilemmas along with several health issues or job
displacement. Thus, it needs to be understood that any ethical problem or any other related
difficulty in a situation is considered to require an individual or an organization to work together,
which would try to choose any other alternative which must be assessed as an ethical or unethical
alternative. Subsequently, after assessing and observing the organization or the individual needs
to come up with alternatives, which would be ethical to get the work done in an ethical, manner,
satisfactory to both sides (Allen, 2019). The world is considered to be changing and growing at a
rapid rate which is majorly driven by science as well as technology, therefore, countless
manifestations of science are considered to pervade the world and it affects the social as well as
the economic or cultural outlooks profoundly for the societies or the individuals who are alike.
Thus, the accretion of the scientific knowledge along with its technological applications is
increasing and proliferating at a rate that enables the larger part through various powerful
computers that provide lightning-fast communications. The role of ethics is considered to be
managing and controlling the latest innovations and keeping track of it to ensure that such is
being done in a proper and fair manner. (Cortez, 2018).

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This paper aims to discuss the Law along with Ethics in the digital advancements. It
will also discuss how ethics is considered to be adopted as a fundamental need which would
be represented in all kinds of aspect of the legal regulations that would surround the
technology and such would also use further help in making developments regarding the
technological advancements. The paper will discuss why technology has become essential
and why such is considered to be an integral part which would need certain kind of
communication with the parties that are involved. It would further discuss the two sides
which are considered to be the importance of ethics along with the ethical theories as these
would help in maintaining a balance to be available for the upcoming technology initiatives
along with diving into the World of Ethics. In conclusion, it would summarize the points
that have been dealt with in the paper.
Discussion
Two sides of Available and Upcoming Technology Initiatives
Limitless Good possibilities
Technology provides access to the internet that would be combined with digital literacy as
such would open up a wide variety of scope for the individuals to support themselves
economically. The increased automation regarding the manufacturing of several jobs means that
they are considered to have greater efficiency and therefore, the individuals are involved less in
repetitive jobs as such increases the flexibility regarding the work times. In addition to such, the
wealth of the information which is considered to be available over the internet is astonishing and
having access to such means that there is access to the world’s knowledge. Science is also
considered to be benefitting from technology as the scientists and the researchers have a massive

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speed which helps the computers perform calculations and along with such investigate difficult
questions that would take the humans lifetime to know the answer (Cortez, 2018). Various
medical breakthroughs, as well as the astronomical discoveries, are also considered to have been
made by the computers. Thus, it can be understood that computer regulation along with
automation is considered to signify that the devices, as well as the machines, can help in
functioning effectively and efficiently with the help of less power as they work in a rate which is
efficient and automatically switch themselves off when it is not being used. These are considered
to provide benefits and contribute to the environment and helps in reducing the costs of an
individual (Barnes, 2017).
Possible Issues in Use of Unlimited Technology
Despite various benefits, there are possible downsides to technology. If an individual is
overly connected to the technology then such could lead to psychological issues which can cause
distraction or narcissism which would lead to an expectation of various instant gratification, it
can also lead to depression (Tavani, 2016). The chronic use of technology is considered to have a
certain kind of negative impact on the development as well as social skills as it can also be
considered to affect the mental health of a child (Hegde, Bhandary, & Balraj, 2019). In addition
to such, technology can also harm the environment as well as cause pollution through its use and
produce. For instance, it can be understood that the industries come up with various innovations
such as the air conditioners and the refrigerators and these harms the environment. It can also be
understood through the example of software developments that uses AI and are considered to
cause monopolies in the market with their campaign. The waste manufacturing technology is
considered to create large amounts of waste. Therefore, there are certain negative implications
regarding the use of technology (Cortez, 2018).

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Ethical Issues now and down the road
While the ethics regarding technology is considered to be analyzed in a manner that is
across various disciplines it can be understood that the technology is not considered to police
itself. Therefore, the new technologies need to be paid attention to as such voices our concerns in
a constructive manner and demand a certain kind of accountability when the individuals are
considered to be harmed due to its use. The digital capacity for innovation as well as
development is considered to have been ever-expanding through the digital arena. Nevertheless,
despite such the creation along with the use of such vast-network is considered to have put
forward its own set of ethical challenges. It is challenging g in the area of intellectual property
where the production of various original works through various legal rights are not recognized
due to the availability of technology (Liu, & Wang, 2020). It also contributes to musical piracy
which is considered to be a specific form of ripping. The digital predator is also considered to
actively seek individuals to abuse those individuals who have a weaker status within the digital
environments. The ethical challenges or the issues faced by the individuals are considered to
exist in the workplace where there is workplace discrimination and along with such, there is an
existence of a strained work-life balance. In addition to such, there are unequal opportunities for
the scientific as well as technological development. Inequality also prevails which are in terms of
scientific as well as technological knowledge as the developed countries are considered to invest
in large-scale research and other research facilities along with costly instrumentation. Therefore,
these are the few ethical issues down the road (Delgado, 2017).
Moral Issues now and down the road
Morally modifying the technologies is considered to provide an under-incentivized means
where the scientists, as well as the engineers, would be able to assist in disentangling the

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society’s most contentious moral issues. Although the individuals, as well as the organizations,
are considered to use the technology to enhance and improve their daily operations the
advancement in technologies is not considered to elicit any kind of moral or ethical issues.
Nuclear technology along with biotechnology and information technology are considered to
provide certain major technological innovations which are raising various ethical as well as
moral issues these are considered to also consist of various ethical dilemmas regarding health
issues as well as job displacement and gender. The use of technology is considered to have the
capability regarding the deterioration in human health which is considered to be a moral concern.
It can be understood as an example that nuclear technology is considered to have the potential of
killing several people and destroying the environment as this particular issue raises some crucial
health concerns. In addition to such on the other if there has been any kind of job displacement
then such would be considered to be a moral and ethical concern as the machines have been
enabling the companies to cut down on their labor force and use the technological tools along
with the knowledge from the robots or the computers to run the business and take care of the
operations and the functioning of a company. Therefore, these are considered to raise ethical as
well as moral issues. On the other hand, gender discrimination is also considered to be moral as
well as an ethical concern as such causes an impact on human values. It is one of the essential
aspects to raise certain ethical and moral concerns. It has been understood that women have been
discriminated in many ways because of the advancement of technologies as men are considered
to be more productive than that of the women. Therefore, this would be affecting the issue of
gender equality. Thus, these aspects are considered to pose certain moral as well as moral issues
in the technology as they are to be controlled in a manner where all the parties are considered to
be involved (Lipschultz, 2017).

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Legal Issues now and down the road
In the field of technology, there are certain legal issues faced that relate to the laws and
the regulations that fall within the use and regulation of data or evidence, or certain creative
works and other inventions. The primary focus area is regarding privacy laws along with the law
of evidence, the patent law, and copyright law. The privacy issues are considered to have two
categories that focus on the security vulnerabilities which are considered to threaten the privacy
and on the other hand the unlawful surveillance. These two categories are considered to be
assessed through the weak authentication or the insufficient encryption along with insecure
firmware. Secondly, unlawful surveillance mainly concentrates on detecting thieves who might
be crowdsensing when a particular victim is not at home. The crowdsensing is considered to
refer to any sharing or collection of the data which has been collected or gathered through
sensing of devices to measure the phenomena regarding the common interest. The issue related
to the collection and amalgamation of the evidence through the net is also considered to be one
of the primary legal issues faced as the digital information that has been processed through
technology can be used as a piece of evidence. The digital evidence can be used by the court and
be ruled as inadmissible and unreliable. These shreds of evidence are considered to be gathered
through the various social networking sites and therefore, it needs to be prevented (Fuller, 2017).
There are certain copyright issues regarding technology as well where there is unlawful use
regarding the user-generated content that has been created through technology or the unlawful
publication of certain copyright content on social networks. It can be observed from the case of
Oracle Am., Inc. v. Google Inc., 872 F. Supp. 2d 974 (N.D. Cal. 2012) the unlawful collection of
the copyrighted content is also considered to pose as a threat to the content that has been
provided in the social networks. In addition to such the software patents are also considered to be

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a contentious topic as the patent law in the US is not considered to mention software patents.
Therefore, through time the US started to adopt patent law. It can be understood through the case
of Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593 (2010).
Striking a Balance between the two aspects
The primary objective of the law is considered to maintain a certain kind of social order
along with peace as well as justice in the society and the aim or the primary objective of the
ethics are considered to provide moral code regarding that which would help in distinguishing
what is right from what is wrong and how much would act and behave. The law is considered to
provide with a minimum set of regulations and standards that would be to obtain a certain kind
of behavior which would be beneficial to the society and the ethics would also be considered to
be respected as the internet or the technology is considered to include a variety of objects which
helps the individual to communicate in a better way. Therefore, it creates a certain kind of
political, economic or ethical ownership for the protection of the trust improvement as such
would be ensured through legislation or regulations (Nersessian, 2018).
Market and technology
Various decisions that are taken with the help or usage of technology as the digital
technologies are considered to be transforming rapidly, and the society is considered to be
simultaneously allowing and permitting for all the unprecedented advantages that are being taken
for by the human conditions, therefore, to help and assist with the growth of the technologies the
market technologies need to be initiated with such and be involved in these processes which
would help in creating a better place through various approaches and would help in ethically
gaining profits (Arqué-Castells, & Spulber, 2018).
Process and System which would help the stakeholder work towards striking a balance

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The companies or the corporations are considered to be under immense pressure from
various significant stakeholders to be transparent as well as use the principles along with the
values for sustainable development. Therefore, such is considered to help in creating an external
report which would help in dealing with the position of the company or the corporation to
strengthen their position as well as reputation which would help in gaining greater accessibility
and accountability in the digital arena. Thus, there needs to be a voluntary undertaking by the
stakeholders to improve the endeavors of the corporation and reach a market that would help in
gaining certain technological assistance (Petrogiannis, Tymstra, Jallinoja, & Ettorre, 2017).
Technology Company making profits which should not be hindered
Technological companies should not be considered to be hindered as they are assisting
and helping the world through various innovations and developments. These technologies are
considered to help in creating faith and power which helps in uniting the individuals all around
the globe and make the individuals freer and more liberated as it has been used or co-opted into
the tools for surveillance and other factors contributing to the behavioral manipulation along
with radicalization and addiction. There are massive benefits which are undeniable regarding
digital life as it helps in accessing cultures and developing knowledge (Greenhalgh, et al., 2017).
Diving into the World of Ethics
The definition and character of Digital Ethics
What is Digital Ethics
Ethics is considered to refer to the groups and individuals treat or resolve the issues with
one another whereas, digital ethics is considered to encompass the users as well as the
participants who are present in the online environment and interact with each other through the

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technologies on the platforms which are considered to be used to engage (Gavin, & Rodham,
2017).
Digital Ethics Clear or Gray
Digital Ethics is not considered to be a clear one as there is no set way or there are no
strict codes of conduct that would help in communicating or engaging the users online. However,
certain conventions can be considered where the ethics are considered to be appropriate methods
which would be used for the actions in the given environment and, therefore, if there has been an
effective online communication then guidance can be provided and such can also be regulated
through the general patterns of the experiences that have been accumulated over some time
(Young, McLeod, & Brady, 2018).
Key factors that Work with and around the Digital Ethics
Requirement of law for Digital Ethics
When the organizations are considered to represent the digital transformation such is
considered to represent a certain kind of critical response through the organizations to meet
customer expectations to deliver scalable and other individualized examples that would help in
responding to the market forces through the increasing levels regarding business agility. These
digital services are considered to be disruptive technologies which involves cloud computing as
well as robotics and Al and other big combined data which would be there for optimized
operating models and such would be considered to be operated in a manner that would enable the
organizations to drive forward the innovations and respond to such through various internal as
well as external events as it would be cheaper as well as quicker.
Possibility of technology

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Due to various advancements in the technological arena, several things that are possible
and to keep this going many initiatives are being taken by each country to create new
technological advancements and such are considered to be done ethically. Through technological
advancements, individuals have been able to accomplish space flight, nuclear power, robots and
other artificial intelligence, organ transplants, global positioning system, automobile, the Human
Genome Project among others.
Acceptability and Expectancy of balance between law and ethics
In the most general sense, the ethical implication is considered to refer to a certain kind of
action towards a consequence and such would be touching the ethical decision-making
perspective. The information system is considered to have a certain kind of impact which would
be far beyond the world relating to business. The introduction to the various new technologies
are considered to have a certain kind of profound effect on the behaviors of human beings. These
would help in creating capabilities that had not been seen or created before which would be
subjected to certain ethical terms. Therefore, it can be understood that digital technologies are
considered to give the individuals the capability to aggregate various information from certain
sources which would help in creating profiles for the individuals ethically and legally
(Greenhalgh, et al., 2017).
Utilitarianism is considered to be an ethical theory which tries to determine what is right
and what is wrong. It tries to distinguish such by concentrating on the various outcomes as such
is also considered to be a form of consequentialism. Utilitarianism is considered to hold that the
most important or crucial ethical choice is to produce greater good for the majority of the
greatest number (Klein, 2017). Through research, it has been found out that the primary goal is
to find pleasure or happiness as such is considered to have an intrinsic value. The actions are also

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required to be correct which would help in encouraging and promoting happiness and the
happiness of all individuals are considered to be equal (Jonsson, & Voorneveld, 2018).
Therefore, it can be understood that the utilitarian theory would be applicable as the
technological advancement would be for the greater good which would contribute to the
development. The laws and the provisions are enforced and implemented to guide and regulate
the behavior of the mass and the utilitarian theory would also contribute to the progress by
guiding the morality of the individuals for the greater good.
Deontology is considered to be a normative ethical theory where the morality of some
action is considered to be based on whether such action itself is considered to be right or wrong
under various series of rules rather than such being based on the consequences of the action
(Ulgen, 2017). The theory of deontology is considered to direct an individual to be involved in
an act that would be moral and in accordance with certain principles and regulations irrespective
of the outcomes. Therefore, it would be for an act, which an individual would be morally
obligated to perform irrespective of the outcome. It can be understood that the consumers in
technology would be guided by morals and they would have the ethical duty of performing an act
morally (Lobo, 2019). Thus, the actions would determine the right and wrong. For example,
ethical hacking in technology is considered to be moral as it helps in mitigating the risk of attack
for protection. Although hacking in the broadest sense is distinguished as wrong but ethical
hacking would be considered as a moral duty due to its action as such is considered to be right in
a varying series of events.
Consequentialism is considered to be a class of normative ethical theories which states
that the consequences of an individual’s conduct are considered to be the outcome for any
judgment which would help in determining the right and wrong (Grunwald, 2020). This theory