Elements of Net Business Ethics – An Introduction

Abstract

Internet and Internet-based activities now have a great influence on the daily lives of individuals, organizations, and civilizations at large, as the purpose and subject of the workshop iBiZ2008 show (http://www.gsim.aoyama.ac.jp/ORC/iBiZ2008). Most of the functions and services on the Internet are provided by commercial companies. Their workplace and market is now global. There are always new topics and new affairs which need to be addressed and solved. We seem to be challenging ourselves in a huge experimental laboratory named Earth. There are several points to consider. 1. Who owns and controls the information available on the net? 2. How can we evaluate the dark and bright side of technology, and live with it? 3. How much must everyone know about the characteristics of technology to have enough literacy and security? 4. How can we share and control the risks of using new technologies which are sometimes not well managed? 5. And, how can we use the bright side for our mission and how can we care for each other? In the presentation, several video clips were shown, such as the clips on Google, India, Vietnam, and so on. The author also introduces the current software crisis, caused by the shortage of skilled engineers. We also refer to the episode of Babe and the bible story around three persons and their talents.