Digital Single Market Open Net Neutrality †Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Digital Single Market Open Net Neutrality? Answer: Intrroducation IT ethics is the branch of the ethical studies which focuses on ethical behavior in the realm of computer technology. It refers to the ethical considerations regarding the social impact of computer technology. It is a new branch of ethical studies and pertains to the development and justification of ethical theories in the cyberspace. The computer ethics refers to the personal and social impact of computer technology for the development of ethical policies. The ethical theories assure that the IT professionals do not misuse their technological knowledge and skills. It is the practice of differentiating wrong and right in information technology (Birsch, 2013). Currently, the issue of net neutrality has garnered the attention of several government and international agencies. A large number of multinational companies are trying to make alliance with the telecommunication network so that their traffic and websites become more accessible than their counterparts. The net neutrality is the principle which states that the government and the service providers should treat all the data on the internet as same and do not discriminate or charge differently for different applications. In 2015, the net neutrality rule was adopted all across the European Union. The EU net neutrality bill assures that all the websites can be accessed equally by the end-users and the distribution of the internet services remains impartial. However, there are several arguments against net neutrality which states that the large companies are already having significant advantage over smaller companies as they provide better services and have a higher bandwidth. It is also st ated that when the large companies increase their accessibility, it will increase the accessibility of the common man to the internet services. Net neutrality also increases unnecessary competition between the business organizations (European Commission, 2015). According to the utilitarian perspective, net neutrality can be categorized as an immoral action. Utilitarian philosophers states that the morality of an action can be judged according to its consequences on the public and different stakeholders. The basis of this philosophy is on the utility theory which judges an action according to its utility for the society (Donnelly, 2003). Accordingly, if an action has overall good outcomes on the society and the public, it can be categorized as a morally justified action. According to this theoretical perspective, net neutrality limits the access of the public to the internet websites. Currently, internet has emerged as an essential medium of communication and business (Dreier, 2009). The people having access to the internet are at advantage in comparison to other people. It could be stated that the increasing the access to some prominent websites will increase the accessibility of the common man to the internet. However, when examining the action with the deontological philosophy, it could be stated that the action is morally correct. This ethical theory states that a person must abide by law and rules irrespective of the situation. This ethical perspective gives least significance to the consequences of the action and states that a person must abide by the law. According to this theory, there are different cultures and each person follow different ethical principles. When a person follows a specific ethical perspective, he must abide by all of its rules. According to this theory, the people should have the freedom to access whichever website they want and should be able to access all the content without any restrictions (Farrell, 2010). The, laws of the net neutrality assures that the people can access all the websites equally. Moreover, it also provides equal opportunity to all the business organizations which is essential for the maintaining healthy competition to all the business organiz ations. Therefore, the action of the government to impose rules regarding net neutrality is morally justified when looking through the deontological perspective. The virtue ethics is another ethical perspective which states that a person judges an action according to his local environment and the upbringing. It emphasizes the role of the individual character and the virtues rather than the utility perspective and doing ones duty. The virtue ethics do not provide any guidance for the ethical behavior as it states that there is no other guidance rather than the ethical behavior (Garber, 2008). It does not emphasize the rules, consequences and particular acts; however, focuses on the virtue of a person who is acting. It emphasizes on the motives of acting person. When a person acts on virtue, he acts on a particular motivation (Waluvhow, 2003). It could be critiqued that the decision of net neutrality is based on the motivation to provide equal opportunities to all business organizations irrespective of their size. All the businesses will have similar access to their customers and other business and can grow their business in equal opportunity e nvironment. Likewise, the customers can also access the different internet content and websites (Haidt, 2012). They have the right to access whichever website and internet content they want. Therefore, the decision of the European Union to implement net neutrality rules in morally justified. The social contract theory states that the moral or the political obligation of a person is dependent upon the contract or agreement of the person with the society in which they live. The theory states that in a society, people live together by forming some agreements that establish moral and political rules (Jacobs, 2008). According to this theory, people behave in a specific way as they form social contracts with other members of the society and not because some other person is requesting it. The social contracts can be explicit or implicit, such as the constitution of a country is explicit example of social contract whereas manners and the social norms are the examples of the implicit social contract (Rawls, 2009). According to this theory, an individual has a right to access every website. The freedom of choice is the basic human right of the people. The people should have the choice and the freedom to access every website they want to approach (Melden 2013). Moreover, the giving preference to certain websites will hinder the progress of the small and the medium enterprises. It will impact negatively on the progress of the economy. Moreover, it will also reduce the chances of innovation and research and development. By hindering the progress of the small and medium enterprises, the government will also negatively impact on the employment of several people working in these organizations (Oxley, 2011). It can be concluded that the decision of the European Union to implement net neutrality in the region is ethical and morally correct. Giving preference to certain large business organizations will create obstacles for the growth of small and medium enterprises. It will also snatch away the basic human right of the people to access all the content published on the websites equally. When this ethical issue is examined from different ethical frameworks or theories, it was identified that the net neutrality decision is an ethical decision which promotes equality to all the stakeholders. The utilitarian perspective states that the morality of an action could be judged by its impact on society. According to this theory, the net neutrality is an immoral action as it hinders the accessibility of people to different internet sites. Other than that, other moral theories state exmines that the action is ethically correct References Birsch, D. (2013). Introduction to Ethical Theories: A Procedural Approach. Waveland Press. Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Cornell University Press. Dreier, J. (2009). Contemporary Debates in Moral Theory. John Wiley Sons. Farrell, M. E. (2010). Ethics: A University Guide. Progressive Frontiers Pubs. Garber, P.R. (2008). The Ethical Dilemma. Human Resource Development. Haidt, J. (2012). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. Penguin UK. Jacobs, J. (2008). Dimensions of Moral Theory: An Introduction to Metaethics and Moral Psychology. John Wiley Sons. Melden A. (2013). Ethical Theories. Read Books Ltd. Oxley, J. (2011). The Moral Dimensions of Empathy: Limits and Applications in Ethical Theory and Practice. Springer. Rawls, J. (2009). A Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press. Waluvhow, W.J. (2003). The Dimensions of Ethics: An Introduction to Ethical Theory. Broadview Press. European Commission. (2015). Digital Single Market-open Net Neutrality. Retrieved 11 May 2017 from https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/open-internet-net-neutrality