Ethics for the Information Age offers students a timely, balanced, and impartial treatment of computer ethics. By including an introduction to ethical theories and material on the history of computing, the text addresses all the topics of the “Social and Professional Issues” in the 2001 Model Curricula for Computing developed by the ACM and IEEE Computer Society. By introducing ethical theories early and using them throughout the book to evaluate moral problems related to information technology, the book helps students develop the ability to reach conclusions and defend them in front of an audience. Every issue is studied from the point of view of multiple ethical theories in order to provide a balanced analysis of relevant issues.

Earlier chapters focus on issues concerned with the individual computer user including email, spam, intellectual property, open source movement, and free speech and Web censorship. Later chapters focus on issues with greater impact on society as a whole such as privacy, computer and network security, and computer error. The final chapter discusses professionalism and the Software Engineering Code of Ethics. It invites students to contemplate the ethical dimensions of decisions computer professionals must frequently make.