CYBERETHICS AND SOCIAL STABILITY

The computer has had an extraordinary influence on the ways in which h uman beings do thin,as. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to reorient ethical thinking because traditional systems allow for the new or unus ual interactions that may occur in a technological age. That some peop le contravene what heretofore has been considered acceptable behavior and that others emulate them is no warrant for reconstructing ethical systems. What is required in a networked environment is to shift the e mphasis from ''netiquette'' to ethics and to be wary of the forces tha t inevitably will appear in order to control the anarchic nature of cy berspace.