PowerPoint PresentationComputing and AccountabilityWhy Accountability NeededTwo Conditions Needed for ResponsibilityCausal ConditionLiabilityStrictly LiableWhy Strict Liability?Mental Condition (intent) "the Fault Condition"Four Barriers to AccountabilityThe Problem of Many HandsThe Problem of Many Hands (Cont.)BugsIt's the Computers FaultOwnership Without LiabilityOwnership Without Liability (Cont.)Keep Accountability Distinct from Liability to CompensateAccountability/Liability ExampleAnother Accountability/Liability ExampleClarify and Vigorously Promote a Substantive Standard of CareImpose Strict Liability for Defective Consumer-oriented SoftwareNissenbaum ConclusionImpose Strict Liability for Defective Consumer-oriented Software Might HappenEU Software Company AccountabilityNext Slide from Chapter 6Another Viewpoint on Anonymity Davenport, David, “Viewpoint”, CACM, April 2002/Vol45., No. 4, pp33-35.Another Viewpoint on Anonymity Davenport, David, “Viewpoint”, CACM, April 2002/Vol45, No. 4, pp. 33-35.Two Conditions Needed for Responsibility (Aristotle)An example of concern4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 1Helen NissenbaumCommunications of the ACMJanuary 1994/Vol.37, No.1Computing and Accountability4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 2Computing and AccountabilityFull agreement that computers are playing an ever increasing role in our lives.A community that insists on accountability, in which agents are expected to answer for their work, signals esteem for high-quality work, and encourages diligent, responsible work.When the community does not insist on accountability no one answers for harms and risks. They are regretted but seen simply as unfortunate accidents --- Accountability in the computing field is becoming increasingly elusive.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 3Why Accountability NeededThose who are held accountable for failures, safety, risk, and harm are most driven to prevent them (and are in the best position to prevent them).We want the protection that accountability gives not only to reduce our risk of major disasters (life threatening, large monetary loss, etc.) but to reduce the occurrences of malfunctions that cause individual losses of time, convenience, and contentment which negatively impact quality of life.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 4Two Conditions Needed forResponsibility(1) Causal Condition: The person's actions (oromissions) must have caused the harm.Write and release a virus that is designed to destroy files.(2) Mental Condition: The person must have intended, or willed the harm.Write and release a virus that is designed to destroy files.5/16/09 CSC309 Miller 5Causal ConditionDon't need to be "the" cause but can be merelya significant causal factor among many.Includes actions done while acting under the orders of someone else.When someone is accountable for a harm then they are "liable" to punishment (pay a fine, get censored, see income reduced, get fired)or is "liable" to compensate the victim.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 6LiabilityIt is not always the individual who did the harm that gets to pay. Parents pay for damages done by their children and insurance companies pay for accidents caused by their policy holders.5/16/09 CSC309 Miller 7Strictly LiableTo be strictly liable means you pay for harm even if the fault condition is not met. For example,owners of dangerous animals are strictly liable for the action of their animals (even when there is no proof of negligence.) Strict liability is applicable in product liability cases against manufacturers, who are legally responsible for injuries caused by defects in their products, again, even if they were not negligent.5/16/09 CSC309 Miller 8Why Strict Liability?Strict liability serves the public interest by providing sellers of consumer products and owners of potentially dangerous property to take extraordinary care. Strict liability also assures compensation for victims and establishes who is at fault.10/22/01 CSC309 Miller 9Mental Condition (intent)"the Fault Condition"This condition is often weakened to include unintended harm if the harm was the result of negligence, carelessness, or recklessness.In general, if a person fails to take precautions of which he is capable, and that any reasonableperson with normal capacities would have taken in those circumstances, then he is not excused from blame merely because he did not intend the outcome.The Internet Worm was not designed to do harm but Morris is still responsible for the harm created.4/7/01 CSC309 Miller 10Four Barriers to Accountability1. The Problem of Many Hands2. Bugs 3. It's the Computers Fault4. Ownership Without Liability5/16/09 CSC309 Miller 11The Problem of Many HandsModern software is usually not produced by a single programmer working in isolation. Usually production is the result of a team effort of diverse individuals that might include designers, engineers, writers, programmers, psychologist, graphic artist, managers, and sales people.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 12The Problem of Many Hands (Cont.)Don't confuse the obscuring of accountability due to collective action, with the absence of blameworthiness.If we consistently respond to complex cases by not pursuing blame and responsibility, we are effectively accepting agentless mishaps and a general erosion of accountability.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 13BugsWe accept bugs as a fact of life. Even when we factor out sheer incompetence, bugs in significant numbers are endemic to program- ming. They are the natural hazards of any substantial system.But blind acceptance of bugs as inevitablehazards of programming leads to the conclusion that it is unreasonable to hold anyone accountable for flaws in a system.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 14It's the Computers FaultEasy to blame the computer because it is often the action of the computer that is the more direct causal antecedent. (We don't, however, pick on the bullet but focus on the person who fired the gun).The computer is a different inanimate object in that we attribute to them mental properties, such as intentions, thought, preference, desires, all of which are factors that help make people responsible.4/8/01 CSC309 Miller 15Ownership Without LiabilityWe spent a lot of time talking about copyright (or patent) protection for software as a means to provide the benefits of ownership to its producer. For software, the owners (usually the producers) are in the best position to directly affect the quality of the product released to the public but the trend is to demand maximal property protection while