Select a topic and point of view from the following list. Several topics have a starting point for research. Come prepared to convince your colleagues, and to support your arguments with FACTS, and well-reasoned opinions. Students not on the panel for that day should be ready to question vigorously the panelists positions.
Please remember that a SUBSTANTIAL PORTION of your grade in this class is determined by participation (or not) in classroom discussions.
· The 1st Amendment protects even speech which we may find repugnant Harish B.; Graham C.
· This is a particularly abhorrent form of speech which deserves no protection Dustin S.
**11/10**Whether a 2005 act which uses the
language of the 1934 Telecommunications Act in assigning criminal penalties to
anyone who “utilizes any device or software … to originate …communications that
are transmitted in whole, or in part, by the internet…without disclosing his
identity and with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any
person…”, achieves its intended purpose
of bringing VOIP under these prohibitions, or is it too broadly drawn?
PERSPECTIVES (2 EACH)
·
There is no
reason to treat VOIP differently from traditional telephony, and this statute
is well drawn Matthew Mc.; Jaymes S.
·
This statute
is poorly drawn and will have consequences well beyond the intent of Congress Tyler Lovelly
**11/12** Whether people who
would never consider shoplifting a music CD from a store, are correct when they
argue that there is difference between that, and downloading the same material
for free off a P2P network?
·
STEALING IS STEALING Mike G.; James S.
**11/12** Whether an
anti-abortion group whose website listed the names, addresses, and license
plate numbers of doctors who performed abortions, suggested stalking the
doctors, and updated the site by graying
out the names of those who had been wounded, and striking through those
who had been murdered, yet claimed they were only collecting dossiers in the
hope that sometime in the future the doctors could be held accountable for
“crimes against humanity,” would be
protected by the 1st Amendment in a civil lawsuit involving their
website?
· I'M WITH JONAH: Boone C.; Chad F.
· JONAH'S WRONG: Alejandro M.; Reuben H.
**11/19** Whether a social
networking site such as MySpace should be held civilly liable for negligent failure to take reasonable safety measures
to keep young children off of its site, and for providing a communication path between a
sexual predator and a 13 year old girl who represented that she was 18 when she
joined MySpace.com?
PERSPECTIVES (UP TO 2 EACH)
**11/19** Millions of
American homes are equipped with wireless networks. If the network is not made secure, any nearby
computer with a wireless card can use the network. The range of home wireless networks often
extends into neighboring homes, particularly in apartment complexes. If your neighbor’s wireless network extends
into your home, is it wrong (legally or morally) to use the network to get free
internet access?
**11/24**
Whether a 21-year
old Egyptian-born man, who produces an
English-language, pro-al-Qaeda blog from
his parents’ home in North Carolina, in which
he relays multimedia productions of violent Islamic groups, lists
hundreds of secret site where readers can obtain the latest blood-drenched
insurgent videos from Iraq, and translates scholarly treatises into English,
including one recently which argued for
violent jihad, should be allowed to keep his site online, or should it be shut
down and the man prosecuted?
**12/3** A plane makes an emergency crash landing on a
deserted tropical island. Two dozen
survivors must fend for themselves until help arrives. All of them are from large cities, and none
has camping experience. They find it
impossible to gather enough food, and everyone begins losing weight. One person spends a lot of time by himself,
and figures out how to catch fish. He
brings the fish back to camp. Others ask
him to teach them how to catch fish. He
refuses, but offers to share the fish with the other passengers, as long as
they take care of the other camp chores, such as hauling fresh water, gathering
firewood, and cooking.
PERSPECTIVES (2 EACH):
**12/3** Mac OS X ships with no ports open
to the internet. Windows XP ships with
five ports open. Microsoft’s decision
means that it is easier for users to set up home networks, but it also makes XP
mahines more vulnerable to attacks from internet
worms. Which policy is better?
**12/8**
Whether starving sailors in a lifeboat have an ethical
and/or legal right to kill and eat one crewmember so that the others might
survive? HINT: Can murder be justified by necessity, other than self-defense?
What is the purpose of criminal law (retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation)
and how would that be advanced? (Regina vs.
Dudley, Stephens, et al)PERSPECTIVES (2 EACH)