• The Network and the Demos: Big Data & the Epistemic Justifications of Democracy
    In Kevin Macnish & Jai Galliott (eds.), Big Data and Democracy, Edinburgh University Press. 2020.
    A stable democracy requires a shared identity and political culture. Its citizens need to identify as one common demos lest it fracture and balkanise into separate political communities. This in turn necessitates some common communication network for political messages to be transmitted, understood and evaluated by citizens. Hence, what demarcates one demos from another are the means of communication connecting the citizens of those demoi, allowing them to debate and persuade each other on the p…Read more
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    Ethical responsibility and computational design: bespoke surgical tools as an instructive case study
    with David Howard and Justine Lacey
    Ethics and Information Technology 24 (1). 2022.
    Computational design uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise designs towards user-determined goals. When combined with 3D printing, it is possible to develop and construct physical products in a wide range of geometries and materials and encapsulating a range of functionality, with minimal input from human designers. One potential application is the development of bespoke surgical tools, whereby computational design optimises a tool’s morphology for a specific patient’s anatomy and the req…Read more
  •  22
    Booters: can anything justify distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks for hire?
    with José Jair Santanna, Ricardo de Oliveira Schmidt, Lisandro Zambenedetti Granville, and Aiko Pras
    Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society 15 (1): 90-104. 2017.
    Purpose This paper aims to examine whether there are morally defensible reasons for using or operating websites that offer distributed denial-of-service attacks on a specified target to users for a price. Booters have been linked to some of the most powerful DDoS attacks in recent years. Design/methodology/approach The authors identify the various parties associated with booter websites and the means through which booters operate. Then, the authors present and evaluate the two arguments that the…Read more
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    Doxing: a conceptual analysis
    Ethics and Information Technology 18 (3): 199-210. 2016.
    Doxing is the intentional public release onto the Internet of personal information about an individual by a third party, often with the intent to humiliate, threaten, intimidate, or punish the identified individual. In this paper I present a conceptual analysis of the practice of doxing and how it differs from other forms of privacy violation. I distinguish between three types of doxing: deanonymizing doxing, where personal information establishing the identity of a formerly anonymous individual…Read more
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    Should Internet Researchers Use Ill-Gotten Information?
    Science and Engineering Ethics 24 (4): 1221-1240. 2018.
    This paper describes how the ethical problems raised by scientific data obtained through harmful and immoral conduct may also emerge in cases where data is collected from the Internet. It describes the major arguments for and against using ill-gotten information in research, and shows how they may be applied to research that either collects information about the Internet itself or which uses data from questionable or unknown sources on the Internet. Three examples demonstrate how researchers add…Read more
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    I suggest that the social justice issues raised by Internet regulation can be exposed and examined by using a methodology adapted from that described by John Rawls in 'A Theory of Justice'. Rawls' theory uses the hypothetical scenario of people deliberating about the justice of social institutions from the 'original position' as a method of removing bias in decision-making about justice. The original position imposes a 'veil of ignorance' that hides the particular circumstances of individuals fr…Read more
  •  63
    The Social Disutility of Software Ownership
    Science and Engineering Ethics 17 (3): 485-502. 2011.
    Software ownership allows the owner to restrict the distribution of software and to prevent others from reading the software’s source code and building upon it. However, free software is released to users under software licenses that give them the right to read the source code, modify it, reuse it, and distribute the software to others. Proponents of free software such as Richard M. Stallman and Eben Moglen argue that the social disutility of software ownership is a sufficient justification for …Read more
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    A bundle of software rights and duties
    Ethics and Information Technology 13 (3): 185-197. 2011.
    Like the ownership of physical property, the issues computer software ownership raises can be understood as concerns over how various rights and duties over software are shared between owners and users. The powers of software owners are defined in software licenses, the legal agreements defining what users can and cannot do with a particular program. To help clarify how these licenses permit and restrict users’ actions, here I present a conceptual framework of software rights and duties that is …Read more