Confronting the Internet's Dark Side

Raphael Cohen-Almagor is Professor and Chair in Politics at the University of Hull. He has published extensively in the fields of political science, law, ethics and philosophy, including The Right to Die with Dignity (2001), Speech, Media and Ethics, 2nd edition (2005) and The Scope of Tolerance (2007). His second book of poetry, published in 2007, is entitled Voyages.

• Introduction; 1. Historical framework; 2. Technological framework; 3. Theoretical framework; 4. Agent's responsibility; 5. Readers' responsibility; 6. Responsibility of Internet service providers and web-hosting services, part I: rationale and principles; 7. Responsibility of internet service providers and web-hosting services, part II: applications; 8. State responsibility; 9. International responsibility; Conclusion.

'The dramatic growth of internet technologies are creating a new era in democratic life, a crisis for the established media, and possibilities for participatory politics that challenge liberal institutions. This book documents today's turning point with urgency and profound clarity. Ithiel de Sola Poole's Technologies of Freedom (1983) has become a classic work defining the information society, with media technology its axis. Confronting the Internet's Dark Side is of that quality, a potential classic that defines for us moral responsibility in the new media age.' Clifford Christians, Research Professor of Communications, University of Illinois