A definition of terms used regarding the Internet is necessary for the full understanding of how “unethical” data broadcasts itself around the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide computer network of home, organizational, corporate, and government computers. It is necessary to understand that the Internet is not just composed of web pages, but of files, e-mails, newsgroups, internal computer networks, personal computers, etc.; the media that most often provide the deemed controversial content are explained here. Electronic mail (E-mail) “enables computer users to communicate with and transmit digital material to other … groups of users” (“Internet”). Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a chat system in which message

Another study conducted by the Student Monitor may also give insight as to the reason that the rate of software piracy is so high – pirated software is very easy to acquire! This study finds that 47% of polled college students borrowed some of the software they use for school from family and/or friends and 20% downloaded full versions of these program directly from the Internet (“Software”).

Another problem found with the internet is rooted in name-brands and domain-name sales, and the question: is it ethical (or legal, for that matter) for an individual to buy a corporate name, use a familiar term, or even go so far as buying the name of a government branch and adding a “.com” to the end of it? Ethically, the answer should be no; however, this is exactly what quite a few individuals are doing, as in the case of the website “whitehouse.com” which is a hard-core, sexually explicit site. Not only is the name of the site controversial (as well as the site content), the fact that a person can stumble upon it accidentally without knowing that the actual address is “whitehouse.gov” brings up other questions. If that were not enough, browsers are automatically configured to, when given a word without a .com, or other postfix, check for .com, .net, .org, .edu, and .gov domains in that order – consequently, a person looking for the White House’s web page would find a most likely undesirable site (Jordan).

The music format “MP3” (which stands for MPEG Audio, Layer 3) has been under fire for several years. This format of audio is high quality, yet small enough to allow mass distribution. MP3.com, whose “main product lets users listen to tunes located in a music locker on the company’s severs” (Vogelstein, 30), is one of the companies that has been under fire by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This product made listeners of the tunes put a CD into their computer to prove that they owned the music before they could listen to it online; however, the RIAA stated that “the locker had been assembled illegally” (Vogelstein, 36) and the service was shut down on court decision. Recently, however, the RIAA has realized the importance of the MP3 format and the uses it has. The RIAA is working now with Michael Robertson, the CEO of MP3.com, to “enable consumers to listen to their music anywhere, to listen to CDs they purchase online, immediately, and to enjoy music they don’t even own by paying a monthly subscription” (Vogelstein, 36).

There are many cases in which models, movie actors/actresses, sports stars, and the likes find nude and sexually explicit pictures of themselves posted, without their prior knowledge, on the Internet. A specific case deals with a French model, Estelle Hallyday, who won a copyright-infringement lawsuit over a primarily adult web-hosting company, AlternB. This company, which gave access hosting to 4,000 web pages, was fined $70,000 and shut down all sites hosted by it. In response, many angry customers and individuals posted Hallyday’s photos all over the Internet, making the “French law … moot” (“Taming”).

Some topics in this essay:
Estelle Hallyday, Boston University, Jordan Consequently, Student Monitor, BSA SIIA, Ethics Internet, Internet Internet, Unfortunately Napster’s, Papers Online”, White House’s, pirated software, internet companies, term papers, internet pornography, software piracy, sexually explicit, software industry, web pages, ethics internet, term papers essays, search engines, rate software piracy,