In your discussions of the two case studies below, refer to ethical theories and frameworks, details about the U.S. law that we have studied in class, and class readings. Make sure to use key vocabulary learned in this course. Write between 300 and 400 words for each of the two cases below.
Case Studies:
- Two professors suggested that software is a “public good” (like public schools and national defense), that we should allow anyone to copy it, and that the federal government should subsidize it. Suppose this proposal, made in the 1990s, had been adopted. How well do you think it would have worked? How would it have affected the quantity and quality of software produced? Give reasons.
- A bill introduced in the New York legislature would require that drivers involved in a car crash give their phone to police so that the police can check whether the driver was using the phone at the time of the crash. Give arguments for and against passage of the bill.