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Computer Ethics Netiquette and Internet Safety

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Computer Ethics
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 9 to 12
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	9.19

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		authorization, risk-free, understanding, plagiarism, front-page, scams, intellectual, violation, questionable, thou, abusive, nonprofit, output, hacking, embrace, well-being
	content words:		Computer Ethics Institute, Nancy Willard, Responsible Netizen Institute, Advanced Technology

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Computer Ethics By Brenda B. Covert

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¹     Ethics is a short two-syllable word of six letters that affects every segment of our lives. Ethics is a moral code involving a clear understanding of right and wrong. Another word for ethics is values. When people talk about ethics, they may be focused on one specific area, such as business, medical, political, environmental, religious, or personal ethics. Today we are going to focus on another important area of ethics: computer ethics.
 
²     If you have good computer ethics, you won't try to harass or hurt people with your computer, and you won't commit crimes such as information theft or virus creation. The problem that often arises when some of us are on a computer is that we don't see the harm in snooping in another person's private information or trying to figure out their passwords. Its easy to copy and paste information into a school report and pretend that we wrote it. (Even if the information were public property - which most of it isn't - that is dishonest.) The crimes committed with hacking or gaming scams may not seem harmful because the victims lack faces. Flaming (aiming abusive, insulting messages at another person online) is easy, too, and may seem risk-free since we can do it anonymously. Indulging in obscenities and other offensive behavior online might feel empowering. Its easier than a face-to-face confrontation because no one knows who we really are. No one is going to come knocking on the door and demand a physical confrontation. However, every one of those activities is a violation of computer ethics. Many of them are a violation of the law, too.
 
³     The Computer Ethics Institute, a nonprofit research and education organization in Washington, D.C., published a code of ethics in 1998 for computer users. They have given the public permission to duplicate and distribute this list as long as it remains intact. (Including the list without a mention of the source would be a violation of ethics - that would be plagiarism!)
 
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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR COMPUTER ETHICS

5     1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.   6     2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.   7     3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.   8     4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal. Paragraphs 9 to 21: For the complete story with questions: click here for printable Weekly Reading Books           Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once! Feedback on Computer Ethics Leave your feedback on Computer Ethics   (use this link if you found an error in the story) Netiquette and Internet Safety              Netiquette and Internet Safety More Lessons              High School Reading Comprehensions and High School Reading Lessons Copyright © 2025 edHelper