What basic assumption does the study of ethics make about individuals?

The study of ethics has two basic assumptions. The firsts assumptions is that ‘man is a rational being’- meaning that human beings should act with a purpose and should be controlled by universally defensible motives when acting (Moore, 2005). In others words, human being should act for ‘good will’ and in this case what matters is not the consequences of the action but rather it is actions and moral responsibility. Other important point about rational being is that a rational person has dignity, intrinsic worth and he or she is responsible in creating universal law (Moore, 2005).  In acting rationally, human being should have facts of reality. In other words, there is self-interest in rationality and reality will help accomplish the desired outcomes. For a man to follow the facts of reality, he should reason consistently, accept judgment, use logic and own mind. The second assumption is that ‘man is free’. This means that human being has the freedom as well as the power to act, think and choose actions among various alternatives (Moore, 2005).  This is also related with moral responsibility, autonomy and dignity.  According to philosophy, free will involves fulfilling personal desire by selecting the best actions to do.  The free will theory states that human being is able to create real choices and make final decisions (Moore, 2005). In other words, man is ultimately responsible of actions. Philosophers such as Moore define free will as the ability to choose what to do and things not to do.   In addition, the free will comes from nature and this means that it cannot constrained.

 What are the basic principles of ethics?

There are four basic principles of ethics namely;

The principle of respect for autonomy- People should respect the decisions of others as well as their autonomy (Weinstein, 2011). In other words, people should follow the principle of human dignity. On the same note, people should take care not to obstruct others’ decisions and show is responsible for others’ life.

 The principle of beneficence- People should ensure good results in all actions. Thus, every person has an obligation to do what is good and to avoid harm. To accomplish this, people should show respect to other persons (Weinstein, 2011).

 The Principle of nonmaleficence- This principle states that it is people’s obligation not to do harm. One should not say that the harm was not intended but rather people should try best to minimize the harm or reduce the risk (Weinstein, 2011). In other words, all actions should produce more good and if the   harm is unavoidable then it should be little.

 The principle of Justice- this principle focus on “fairness in distribution”. People should ensure equality and impartiality; provide every person with what he or she deserves (Weinstein, 2011). In other words, people should avoid imposing unfair burden to others.

 

 Explain Google’s position that YouTube does not violate the intellectual property rights of copyright owners.

Google defense against Youtube copyright infringements is Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (Netanel, 2008). This Act permits the use of copyrighted materials if these conditions are met. First, if the copyrighted material does not interfere with the value of the work, it is limited to small portions and if the nature of work are met.  In this case, YouTube does not meet this criteria and Google is unable to identify infringed videos (Netanel, 2008).  Google has implemented digital filters which hinder mashups from accessing TV show on the site.  DMCA states that sites are not held liable of copyrights violations if its users are not scrutinized. However, YouTube can be held liable of copyright infringement because it expeditiously removes claims infringes of copyright holder (Netanel, 2008). The inducements claim and liability makes it become liable for copyright infringement by its users.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

 

Moore, A. D. (2005). Information ethics: Privacy, property, and power. Seattle: University of Washington

Press.

 

Weinstein, B. D. (2011). Ethical intelligence: Five principles for untangling your toughest problems at

work and beyond. Novato, Calif: New World Library.

 

Netanel, N. (2008). Copyright's paradox. Oxford: Oxford University Press.