BKGFTFIR.RVW   970222
 
"A Gift of Fire", Sara Baase, 1997, 0-13-458779-0
%A   Sara Baase giftoffire@sdsu.edu
%C   One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ   07458
%D   1997
%G   0-13-458779-0
%I   Prentice Hall
%O   +1-201-236-7139 fax: +1-201-236-7131 beth_hespe@prenhall.com
%P   382
%T   "A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing"
 
I found this book very surprising.  As a look at computer ethics, it covers
privacy, encryption, reliability, intellectual property, crime, work, and
social issues.  Each chapter comes with review exercises, general exercises,
and assignments that are reasonably well chosen and formulated.  There are
extensive endnotes and references for further study.
 
There are, however, two major flaws.
 
One concerns the technical level of the material.  Most of the cases presented
are not inaccurate, but they are often oversimplified.  A lack either of
technical understanding or of research seems evident in places.  Internet-
pornography-blocking software is mentioned, but not the more disturbing
addition of political restrictions to that software.  The initial use of
"hacker" as a positive term is mentioned--and then completely ignored, as
crackers, phreaks, and virus writers are all lumped together as hackers.  True,
a discussion of computer ethics and social issues does not always require a
detailed understanding of the technology, but a debate proceeding on the basis
of a flawed understanding is more likely to come to a flawed conclusion.
 
The other problem is that ethics are left completely out of the picture until
the final chapter of the book.  This is extremely odd, and suggests that the
first ninety percent of the book will be used in a "pooling of ignorance"
exercise before any common ground has been discussed.
 
With its breadth of topics (rather like a less thorough version of "Computer
Related Risks" [cf. BKCMRLRS.RVW]), it would make a reasonable adjunct text for
an ethics/social issues course.  But it is no replacement for Johnson's
"Computer Ethics" [cf. BKCMPETH.RVW].
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997   BKGFTFIR.RVW   970222
 
======================
roberts@decus.ca           rslade@vcn.bc.ca           rslade@vanisl.decus.ca
  "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
   nothing."  - Edmund Burke       http://www2.gdi.net/~padgett/trial.htm