Machado Case Foreseeable but Unforeseen Consequences

Source of Machado Case Three cases  Therac-25 Case  Hughes Aircraft Case  Machado Case

Cases Compiled by Students National Science Foundation Project  DUE  DUE Eventually there will be ten cases reflecting areas of concern of ABET Cases are being compiled into textbook, Good Computing: A Virtue Approach to Computer Ethics Charles Huff, Bill Frey, & Jose Cruz

Richard Machado Student at the University of California at Irvine Convicted of federal hate crime February 13, 1998 Sent to 59 UCI Oriental students on Sept 20, 1996 Threatened to kill them if they didn’t leave the university Used the finger command of UCI’s UNIX system to identify his victims (i.e., recipients) OAC (Office of Academic Computing) traced to Machado using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

Machado Case (Continued) OAC caught Machado in the act of sending a second message Sent him home  Had not read the message but responded to student complaints Referred case to police who referred it to FBI FBI prosecuted Machado to develop a legal argument against electronic hate mail

A Matter of Definition? Flaming protected by freedom of expression?  Machado claimed his was merely flaming, a fairly widespread practice among students  He also claimed he was exercising his right of freedom of expression Death threat by mail prohibited by law?  FBI claimed that was hate mail which has been prohibited by law  Legislation emerged in 1960’s to protect black students who were attending racially segregated universities and received death threats designed to get them to withdraw from university

Machado’s (Censored) From: (Hates Asians) To: List Omitted You  As you can see in the name, I hate Asians, including you. If it weren’t for asias at UCI, it would be a much more popular campus. You are responsible for ALL the crimes that occur on campus. YOU are why I want you and your comrades to get out ofUCI. If you don’t I will hunt you down and kill your Do you hear me? I personally will make it my life career to find and kill everyone one of you personally. Ok?????? That’s how determined I am.  Get out, (Asian Hater)

Your Task: Set up the case analysis Review the timeline Divide tasks:  Assign a specialist to each stage of the Software Development Cycle. (Suggestion: assign two, one leader and a devil’s advocate)  Divide the readings among stage specialists Readings:  case narrative,  case history,  teaching introduction  ethical analysis (click on safety, privacy, power, equity & access, quality of life)  Socio-Technical Analysis: hardware, software, physical surroundings, people/groups/roles, procedures, laws, and data/data structures.  supporting documents (RFCs on finger command, UCI student profile, interview with Allen Schiano from UCI OAC

Decision Points Scenario #1: You are a systems administrator at the Office of Academic Computing at the University of California at Irvine and have been asked to modify the Unix system to prevent the reoccurrence of the Machado incident Scenario #2: You are a systems administrator at the Office of Academic Computing at the University of California at Irvine and have been asked to develop an orientation program for students who will use university computing laboratories and facilities. Special emphasis is put on preventing a reoccurrence of the Machado incident.

Analogy between design and ethics

There is an analogy between design problems and ethical problems Design ProblemEthical Problem Construct a prototype that optimizes (or satisfices) designated specifications Construct a solution that realizes ethical values (justice, responsibility, reasonableness, respect, and safety) Conflicts between specifications are resolved through integration of specifications Resolve conflicts between values (moral vs. moral or moral vs. non-moral) by integration Prototype must be implemented over background constraints Ethical solution must be implemented over resource and interest constraints (cost/time/technical as well as organizational/political/legal)

Problem-solving in computing can be modeled on software design The software development cycle can be presented in terms of four stages: 1. Problem Specification 2. Solution Generation 3. Solution Testing 4. Solution Implementation

Step One: Problem Specification

1. Identify key components of the STS Part/Level of Analysis HardwareSoftwarePhysical Surroundings People/ Groups/ Roles ProceduresLawsData & Data Structures

2. Specify the problem: 2a. Is the problem a disagreement on facts? What are the facts? What are cost and time constraints on uncovering and communicating these facts? 2b. Is the problem a disagreement on a critical concept? What is the concept? Can agreement be reached by consulting legal or regulatory information on the concept? (For example, if the concept in question is safety, can disputants consult engineering codes, legal precedents, or ethical literature that helps provide consensus? Can disputants agree on positive and negative paradigm cases so the concept disagreement can be resolved through line-drawing methods? 2c. Use the table to identify and locate value conflicts within the STS. Can the problem be specified as a mismatch between a technology and the existing STS, a mismatch within the STS exacerbated by the introduction of the technology, or by overlooked results?

2. Specify the Problem STS/ValueSafety (freedom from harm) Justice (Equity & Access) PrivacyPropertyFree Speech Hardware/ Software Physical Surroundings People, Groups, and Roles Procedures Laws Data and Data Structures

Solution Generation Brainstorm Ten Solutions Avoid Dilemma Framing Reduce and Refine List

3. Develop a general solution strategy and then brainstorm specific solutions 3a. Is problem one of integrating values, resolving disagreements, or responding to situational constraints? 3b. If the conflict comes from a value mismatch, then can it be solved by modifying one or more of the components of the STS? Which one?

3. Develop a general solution strategy and then brainstorm specific solutions Problem / Solution Strategy DisagreementValue ConflictSituational Constraints FactualConceptualIntegrate?Tradeoff?Resource? Technical? Interest?

Solution Testing Test for Ethics and Global Feasibility

4. Test Solutions Develop a solution evaluation matrix Test the ethical implications of each solution See if the solution violates the code Carry out a global feasibility assessment of the solution.  What are the situational constraints?  Will these constraints block implementation?

Solution Evaluation Matrix Alternative / Test ReversibilityHarm Beneficence Public Identification CodeValue: Justice Responsibility Honesty, etc. Feasibility Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3

Solution Implementation Implement your solution over feasibility constraints

5. Implement solution over feasibility constraints Restate your global feasibility analysis Are there resource constraints? Are there technical or manufacturing constraints? Are there interest constraints?

5. Feasibility Matrix Alternative/ Constraint ResourceInterestTechnical TimeCostIndividualOrganizationalLegalAvailable Technology Manufacturability Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3