Posted: September 15th, 2015

Business Ethics.

III. Read the case on p.93 concerning Tim Berners-Lee. Our authors (the Stanwicks) present Berners-Lee as an altruistic hero. (a) Answer their question in the text by speculating for yourself: “Why do you think Tim Berners-Lee ‘gave away’ such valuable software?” Give your own speculative answer to this question (do not attempt to research the actual psychological or economic state of the man when he made his decision) that would show Berners-Lee was an altruistic hero, then give a different speculative answer to the same question which would show that perhaps he did not intend to lose millions or billions of dollars after all (though he did not receive any money in fact). (b) Give a thoughtful answer to the Stanwicks’ next question: “If you had developed the software that established the WWW, would you make this software available for free for anyone in the world? Why or why not?” (p.94). Finally, (c) the Stanwicks claim companies do not “charge for internet use” (p.94). Do you agree? Is the World Wide Web absolutely free as the Stanwicks imply? Are telephone calls free? Can a completely destitute, homeless person use the World Wide Web daily? How? Is anyone paying anything to accomplish this? Explain. What are Stanwicks not mentioning when they present the World Wide Web as a free gift to all living human beings from Tim Berner-Lee?
IV. Read the section “How Much Is That Song on the Radio?” (p.379). Based only on it, (a) What is Payola? (b) Should payola be allowed? Explain. (c) What is the real ethical problem with payola?

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