It's OK I Won't Get Caught

Key Terms and Concepts: morally, ethically, detection, ethics responsibility

Unfortunately, too many people think that one of the greatest sins today is getting caught.

Kids who cheat on tests often think that they are so smart that they won't get caught, One friend of mine told me, "The best thing that ever happened to me in high school was getting caught cheating." Several years ago there was a huge cheating scandal at West Point Military Academy, Dozens of smart, future officers were expelled because they broke the ethical code of conduct. The Academys rules also said that a student cadet was morally and ethically bound to report on other students who were cheating.

Drivers also face a similar choice. Imagine that you are driving out in the country with Fields of corn everywhere. No houses, no farms and no traffic other than your car. You then come across a red light, but there is no traffic coming anywhere. Do you, knowing that the odds of you getting caught are very low, run the red light? Or, do you obey the traffic laws and wait for the green light? Drivers encounter these questions every day. Do I make the U-turn? Do I really have to come to a complete stop? How fast can I speed without getting nailed by the police?

And these are the same kinds of questions that you and everyone who uses the Internet face. Will you get caught? You need to understand that businesses and government and the Internet community are getting much, much better at finding people who do *illegal things on the Internet. The technology is called 'Detection' and can mean many things. Some security products detect when a hacker is trying to break into a computer. Other products detect spam mail. You, too, are going to be constantly faced with choices - ethical and legal - about how you behave on your home and school computers and on the Internet. You never really know who is listening or watching what you do.

So, how you behave is really up to you. Ethics is about responsibility.
If you are caught doing something illegal, and even if you are not convicted of the crime, you and your family will suffer embarrassment. You will also have to pay a lawyer a lot of money and perhaps have to deal with the media hounding you. Future employers or schools who have heard about it may not hire you or accept you as a student.
Even if you aren't charged with or convicted of a crime, you could be sued by the victim and be forced to hire a lawyer. You or your parents could possibly be ordered to pay a lot of money. I (Jennifer Granick) am an attorney and I can promise you, none of my clients thought they would get caught.

Questions to Think About?
 
1. Several of your friends have hacked into computers and never been caught. How do you feel about that? Is that a good or bad thing?

2. It there were only a 5% chance of you getting caught doing something illegal or unethical, would you do it? What if there was a 25% chance of getting caught? A 50% chance? 75% chance? What is the magic number for you?

Computer Hacking and Ethics
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hackers.html

Teenager charged with computer hacking
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/03/08/hacker.arrest.02/

MacEvangelist 'List Dad' still in jail on computer hacking charges
http://www.randommaccess.com/newspro/articles/1030473603.shtml