[Sighfis-l] Information Ethics

[Ken Herold]

I invite this group to begin discussion of questions in the ethics of 
information as part of our participation in the definition and 
recommendation of appropriate standards and controls at the 
international level, specifically in advance of next year's World 
Summit on the Information Society (10 to 12 December 2003) in Geneva. 
Under United Nations auspices and lead by the International 
Telecommunication Union this first phase will seek adoption of a 
Declaration of Principles and Action Plan. One theme identified already 
is “Ethics of the Information Society.” Floridi has previously 
endorsed an extension of ethical concern from the biosphere to the 
infosphere and noted the importance of this historical opportunity for 
collaboration, citing the 21st World Congress of Philosophy: Philosophy 
Facing World Problems (10 to 17 August 2003) in Istanbul. IFLA, the 
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, has 
been active in past UNESCO sessions on InfoEthics and will certainly 
continue its contributions. Another venue, in the United States, will 
be the 2002 Annual Meeting of ASIST, the American Society for 
Information Science and Technology, on “Knowledge, Connections and 
Community” (18 to 21 November 2002) in Philadelphia. I encourage 
everyone to bookmark these sites:
www.unesco.org/webworld/
www.wcp2003.org
www.itu.int/wsis


Ken Herold, Library Systems Manager
Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road
Clinton, NY  13323  315-859-4487