Case 2.6: CompuServe Deutschland James Ryg, Cory Blair, Kellie - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Case 2.6: CompuServe Deutschland

James Ryg, Cory Blair, Kellie Blacklock, Reana Mitchell 2/7/2015

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Introduction and Ethical Dilemma

• Introduction:
• In Germany, certain web content is restricted

more than in the United States

• CompuServe Deutschland was a German

Internet service provider

• They were indicted for allowing certain types of

pornography and neo-Nazi propaganda into Germany via the internet

• Felix Somm was the Manager of CompuServe

Deutschland

• Ethical Question:
• “What should Somm have done regarding

access to questionable content”

• This case involves right to access information,

free speech, as well as a number of issues regarding local laws affecting a global internet.

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Role of Information Technology

• Hardware
• Servers owned by the internet service provider route traffic, and a separate server

configuration is mentioned in the case that routes dialup traffic between various CompuServe servers

• The server in question was the dialup route to the CompuServe Us server, where certain

content banned in Germany is accessible.

• Networks
• CompuServe is shown to have the ability to filter traffic, including blocking sites. This

implies that they can use network management software to prevent access to certain sites, and theoretically have the capability to filter by end-user.

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Four Critical Stakeholders

• CompuServe Customers in Germany
• Right to access content on the internet, but the

responsibility to use it responsibly in accordance with German regulations, and not to access restricted content

• Other CompuServe Customers
• Right to access all legal content in their country

without being held to German law. Have a responsibility to use it according to their specific laws.

• Felix Somm
• Has the right to act according to his will as a

manager of CompuServe, and to benefit from employment, but must be beholden to German law and act in a manner to benefit customers.

• German Government
• Has the right to regulate its people, but only to

the extend that it does not unnecessarily infringe on freedoms and free speech.

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Alternative Courses of Action

• A. Do nothing
• A. Pros: This retains access to all the content on the CompuServe US newsgroup, and

protects access and free speech.

• B. Cons: This results in a costly legal indictment, and allows illegal content that should

be filtered before it is made visible to German web users through.

• B. Block access to all potentially flagging content on all CompuServe Servers
• A. Pros: This averts costly legal proceedings, and would be economical to implement.
• B. Cons: This course of action significantly restricts speech, affects worldwide customers

who are not bound by German law, and also inadvertently blocks access to valuable information regarding breast cancer and AIDS research.

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Alternative Courses of Action

• A. Block access specifically for German users
• A. Pros: This would remove liability concerns, adhere to German law, and would allow

CompuServe International customers to access content that they are allowed to access, that may be illegal in Germany., protecting their rights of access.

• B. Cons: This still prevents users in Germany from accessing any of the sites, even those of a

potentially sexual, but educational nature.

• B. Set up a filtering service that blocks content based on the end-users location
• A. Pros: This would allow dynamic filtering, removes liability on Somms behalf, and allows

more access to information that is helpful due to not being a blanket ban.

• B. Cons: This is potentially expensive to implement, still restricts content, and may still

restrict content for CompuServe Deutschland customers who live in neighboring countries such as Holland.

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Deontological Ethics

• To choose a deontological course of action, one would value duty and obligation above

negative/personal consequences.

• The first three courses of action could be considered deontological, if argued correctly. Nonetheless, I

believe the most deontological of the three is the last option, to create a filtering system that blocks the illegal content. Deontologically, Somm is obligated to adhere to the German laws regarding filtering content, even if it means he must go out of his way/suffer personal loss to do so.

• In this case, the personal loss he would suffer would most likely be money, as the creation of such a

service would require time and new labor. He may also have to compromise his personal values regarding free speech, as he is restricting content to users.

• From greatest to lowest, the importance of the stakeholder’s rights would be the CompuServe

customers in Deutschland, the German government, the CompuServe company, and lastly, Somm himself.

• What’s important about this order is that Somm and the company he works for, CompuServe, are

last. Somm should consider the rights of both his German customers and the German government/legislature before his own in order to be deontological. He has a duty to follow the German law.

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Teleological Ethics

• The purpose of teleological thought is to value the good of the many over the good of the few, despite

what actions you take to achieve said good.The means are said to justify the ends.

• Using teleological ethics, one could again choose any of the last three alternate courses of action. The

issue we face when trying to think about the situation with teleological ethics is that we must assign a value to the rights of those involved, which could vary from person to person and proves somewhat difficult.

• In keeping with this tentative assumption, choosing the fourth option again demonstrates the strongest

teleological ethics. In this case, the “good of the many” is CompuServe customers -- and, by default, the German government -- while the “good of the few” is Somm, and perhapsCompuServe itself.

• Offensive content is restricted via the filtering system that Somm and CompuServe had to invest to

create, but helpful information about HIV/AIDS and breast cancer is still available. The wellness of the many outweigh the wellness of the few.

• If we were to qualify the other three alternate courses of action, we would see that Somm’s actual course
• f action, to do nothing and allow free access to all content in Germany, did not cost him anything

initially, but eventually led to his indictment, which I would consider costly.

• Blocking access to the websites across all servers, or to just the Germans, would be beneficial in some
• ways. The action would block the offensive content and the liability of said content. But they also have
• costs. Information about HIV/AIDS and breast cancer would be lost with the illegal pornography, and

issues of free speech could be brought up.

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Our Recommendation

• The proper response in our view to this dilemma is to set up a filtering

service

• This provides a positive resolution in both deontological and teleological ethics.
• The gains would involve less of a cost to society in that it is the action that limits

freedom least, and preserves access to more information than any other alternative, save the action that imposes criminal liability on CompuServe, doing nothing.

• The only real negative to our recommendation is fiscal cost.

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Conclusion

• This is a complicated ethical dilemma, it involved not only freedom of

speech, and access to information on the internet.

• The internet is completely different than other modes of speech, as it is international,

and persistent. Any other option besides local filtering imposes a restriction or censorship on billions of other individuals.

• Does Germany have the right to impose its views on CompuServe Deutschland customers in

the Netherlands or other neighboring countries.

• Somm ended up doing nothing, and received a two year suspended sentence and was

fined 100,000 Deutschmarks.

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