Ethical considerations of using information obtained from online file sharing sites. The case of the piratebay
| Pages | 256-267 |
| Published date | 10 August 2015 |
| Date | 10 August 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0044 |
| Author | Aimee van Wynsberghe,Jeroen van der Ham |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance |
Ethical considerations of using
information obtained from online
le sharing sites
The case of the piratebay
Aimee van Wynsberghe
Center for Telematics and Information Technology, University of Twente,
Enschede, The Netherlands, and
Jeroen van der Ham
System and Network Engineering Research Group,
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel approach for the ethical analysis of data
collected from an online le-sharing site known as The PirateBay. Since the creation of Napster back in
the late 1990s for the sharing and distribution of MP3 les across the Internet, the entertainment
industry has struggled to deal with the regulation of information sharing at large. Added to the ethical
questions of censorship and distributive justice are questions related to the use of data collected from
such le-sharing sites for research purposes.
Design/methodology/approach – The approach is based on previous work analysing the use of
data from online social networking sites and involves value analysis of the collection of data throughout
the data’s various life cycles.
Findings – This paper highlights the difculties faced when attempting to apply a deontological or
utilitarian approach to cases like the one used here. With this in mind, the authors point to a virtue ethics
approach as a way to address ethical issues related to data sharing in the face of ever-changing data
gathering and sharing practices.
Practical implications – This work is intended to provide a concrete approach for ethical data
sharing practices in the domain of Internet security research.
Originality/value – The approach presented in this paper is a novel approach combining the insights
from: the embedded values concept, value-sensitive design and the approach of the embedded ethicist.
Keywords Computer ethics, Design practice, IT ethics, Value-based design
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Since the creation of Napster back in the late 1990s for the sharing and distribution of
MP3 les across the Internet, the entertainment industry has struggled to deal with the
regulation of information sharing at large. From an ethics perspective, the practice of le
sharing over the Internet presents an interesting value conict between the protection of
intellectual property (Von Lohmann, 2004), and fairness, or distributive justice (DeVoss
and Porter, 2006). On the one hand, the entertainment industry wishes to uphold their
exclusive copyrights of the content, to maintain their business model and their
distribution methods. On the other hand, users are demanding easy access to music,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
JICES
13,3/4
256
Received 7 October 2014
Revised 5 March 2015
Accepted 10 March 2015
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.13 No. 3/4, 2015
pp.256-267
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0044
To continue reading
Request your trial