The International Conference 
on China's Information Ethics
28-29, October, 2010 Beijing, China| Background |
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Themes
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Prof. Rafael Capurro"The Dao of the Information Society in China and the Task of Intercultural Information Ethics"
In addition to keynote speeches chaired by internationally recognised scholars, this conference will feature five plenary sessions:
1. Philosophical Foundations of Information Ethics
Traditional Chinese values are being challenged by modern or Western values. The Internet is one arena for such ethical conflict. Chinese Perspectives will be discussed in this plenary to address the present debate on Confucianism and the Information Society, the Marxist tradition, Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and religions such as Buddhism and Taoism. Western philosophical foundations such as deontology, utilitarianism and Justice Theory will also be discussed.
2. Information Application and Public Policy
This plenary will look from the perspective of Chinese society, as well as other societies in the world, at a range of topics within Information Ethics including privacy, justice, harmony, censorship, e-government, secrecy, online communities, the human body, robotics, bionics, access to knowledge, questions of identity including localizing or "identifying" persons through IT, changes in the cultural identity/ies through global networks, questions of gender, and questions of Chinese minority groups. Chinese strategies for consensus building will be discussed and evaluated.
3. Impact of Internet Media and Online Games
Internet media are playing a more and more influential role in Chinese daily and political life, and this has given rise to fierce debate. The case of Google in China is one obvious example. Online video games have grown in popularity even faster than internet media. Much anxiety has been expressed around adolescent participation in online games, gambling and pornography. We are keen to hear international and comparative perspectives on these issues.
4. Information Ethics and Intellectual Property
An aspect of ICT that has affected our social life both positively and negatively is the ease of digital duplication, which has had a major impact on copyright issues. Computer programs, literary works, designs, research and development data, inventions and individual ideas can all be copied and transferred to other people who have not paid for them. Protecting intellectual property is an important part of information ethics, not only in China but globally.
5. Comparative Study of Information Ethics
As part of the international scope of the conference, we wish to invite comparison between approaches to information ethics in China, in other East Asian countries, and in the West. For example, the present information ethics agenda in China encourages "access to knowledge" through different media in local and national political and administrative systems. Are Chinese standards the same in this area as ‘global’ codes of ethics, as developed, for instance, by UNESCO and the WSIS?