Topic 1: Freedom of Speech

In 2008, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)obtained a temporary restraining order barring three MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) students from publicly displaying whatthey claimed to be a way to get “free subway rides for life.”Specifically, the 10-day injunction prohibited the students fromrevealing vulnerabilities of the MBTA’s fare card. The students werescheduled to present their findings in Las Vegas at the DEFCON computerhacking conference. Were the students’ actions legal? Were their actionsethical? Discuss your answer from the students’ perspective then fromthe perspective of the MBTA.

Just do response each posted # 1 to 3 down below only.

Posted 1

Fromthe perspective of the students, I can confidently say that theiractions were ethical legal and justifiable. One thing the students hadidentified was a lacuna with regards to argument that the students’activities were lawful despite the fact that not ideal for thetransportation authority. In a manner it was unscrupulous on the groundsthat it is harming to the organization and would hurt their business.From the point of view of the understudies, I would be irate that thetransportation authority accessed bar the understudies from introducingtheir discoveries. It is out of line that they have the ability to dothat. From the viewpoint of the MBTA, I would accept the activities ofthe understudies to be untrustworthy in light of the fact that it isethically wrong to hurt an organization and offer it with others to keepharming the business. (Rainer & Prince 2018)

Legalethics is the base models of suitable lead inside the lawfulprofession. It is the social standards and ethics which administerjudges and legal counselors. It includes obligations that theindividuals owe each other, their customers, and the courts. Regard ofcustomer confidences, sincerity toward the council, honesty inexplanations to other people, and expert freedom are a portion of thecharacterizing highlights of legitimate morals. Lawful morals canlikewise allude to the investigation or recognition of those obligationsor the composed guidelines overseeing those obligations.

Posted 2

Fromthe students’ perspective, they found a loophole in a system that wascarelessly brought to the public by the MBTA. The students being at MITutilized this “hack” to reprogram the cards to increase the funds on thecard instantly, never to have to pay for transportation again. Thefindings from these students’ were formatted as a scholastic paper, andused to shed light on the flaws that a corporation had. In my opinionthis fits into the utilitarian ethical framework. “The Utilitarianapproach states that an ethical action is the one that provides the mostgood or does the least harm” (Rainer & Prince p 66). The exposureof the flawed system could have easily provided needed transportation tomany of those in the city who may not be able to afford it. They alsotaught the MBTA and their partners that additional resources needed tobe utilized to ensure proper use of their services. The students did notperform illegal activity when it came down to utilizing a benefit ofthe card by modifying the system. The card was a self-service system andnot attached to any internal database or system with the MBTA. Thisallowed the students to change the coding to the card quickly and wouldhave been prevented had the MBTA utilized a better system for theirtransportation services.

Fromthe MBTA point of view, I can see them thinking this misuse of theproduct would be illegal. They are stealing rides on the transportationsystem and, therefore, potentially increasing the fares for innocentmembers of the public. They additionally would be providing the businessas a target for other security attacks, if this system is flawed whatother systems might people attempt to enter. The business probablyreviewed this from the ethical approach of deontology. This approach”states that the morality of an action is based on whether that actionitself is right or wrong” (Rainer & Prince p 66). It was wrong ofthem to take advantage of the system and cheat the MBTA out of neededmoney. As with many other public transportation systems across thecountry, they are suffering financially due to new competitors. At theend of the day the MBTA should have utilized more resources to develop amore closed-circuit system that would prevent the misuse of itsservices.

Posted 3

TheMIT students’ actions are legal because they wanted to use theirfreedom of speech. The students wanted to shine light at the flaws thatthe MBTA transportation card had. I do believe that the students’actions are ethical because the information was being presented as anacademic paper. There was important information that was discussed inthe academic paper where demonstrated the company MBTA had securityflaws. Also, the students did not share important details that wouldhave other people take advantage of these flaws. The students weremaintaining rights approach. As stated in our textbook (Rainer &Prince, 2018), The rights approach maintains that an ethical action isthe one that best protects and respects the moral rights of the affectedparties. I think it is important for students to address concerningissues that can be fixed or prevented.Iwould say that MBTA also took the correct choice to pursue legalaction. They did not agree to have security flaws shared to the public.They were trying to avoid having system attacks on their transportationcard. The transportation company pursued legal action for the purpose ofprotecting their business against computer fraud. The student’s actionswould result in damages for the compan