Category Archives: Morality

The cover for Obscene Profits, written by Frederick Lane and published in 2000.

“Sex Robots and Private Data”: A Podcast Interview with Funny as Tech

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Grand Central Tech to record a studio interview for the Funny as Tech podcast on the provocative topic of “Sex Robots and Our Private Data.” The podcast is now live and available for download on iTunes. As you can hear on the podcast, there are a lot…

[L to R] Baratunde Thurston, Anneka Jong, Scott Hartley, David Ryan Polgar, and Joe Leonardo -- Funny as Tech, November 7, 2017

Funny As Tech: A Thought-Provoking and Entertaining Evening

If you live in the New York area, I highly recommend making a trip to the People’s Improv Theater on East 24th Street in Manhattan to attend a performance of “Funny as Tech.” The show is the brainchild of tech ethicist David Ryan Polgar (@TechEthicist) and comedian Joe Leonardo (@ImJoeLeonardo). Each month, they tape a…

Five Things Senator Ted Cruz and His Staff Can Teach Your Kids

Is it just me or has the news cycle accelerated to the point of near-incomprehensability? Events which once would have been a topic of conversation for a week (if not longer) are now rapidly buried under an uending onslaught of newly-shocking developments. While that is challenge for anyone who writes a blog (or frankly, for…

[Updated] Cyberethics from Pre-Certification to Retirement [Lecture]

2017-07-13 Cyberethics from Pre-Certification to Retirement from Frederick Lane A presentation delivered to the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Certification and Licensing on 13 June 2017 in New Orleans, LA. If you are interested in discussing a presentation or professional development program for your organization on this topic, please contact me for information…

Cultivating a Culture of Cybersafety [Lecture]

2017-05-02 Cultivating a Culture of Cybersafety from Frederick Lane A presentation delivered at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES on May 2, 2017. If you are interested in discussing a presentation or professional development program for your organization on this topic, please contact me for information regarding my rates and availability.

Art & Ethics: Censorship [Lecture]

2017-04-27 Art & Ethics: Censorship from Frederick Lane A presentation delivered to the Art & Ethics class at Fordham University on April 27, 2017. If you are interested in discussing a presentation or professional development program for your organization on this topic, please contact me for information regarding my rates and availability.

Can the Military Maintain Core Values in a Smartphone World?

For Some Servicemen In the US Military, Misogyny Outranks Discipline and Honor Honor This is the bedrock of our character. It is the quality that empowers Marines to exemplify the ultimate in ethical and moral behavior: to never lie, cheat, or steal; to abide by an uncompromising code of integrity; to respect human dignity; and…

“The Nineties” — My Interview with CNN for Its Upcoming Documentary

Just about twenty years ago, in the wake of the passage of the Communications Decency Act, I began researching what would become my first mainstream book: Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age. It was published by Routledge (now part of Taylor & Francis) in 2000 and remains one of the only…

TX Teacher May Lose Job over STEAMy Past in Porn

A 38-year-old Texas middle school teacher is on administrative leave after being outed as an adult film performer in the early 2000s. Until November 29, Resa Woodward taught science at the Young Woman’s STEAM Academy at Balch Springs Middle School, which is part of the Dallas Independent School District. She reportedly has been a teacher…

Interview with Good Morning America [Media]

On Thursday, May 26, Good Morning America aired the latest segment in a series that it has been doing on teens and technology. Entitled “What Your Kids Don’t Want You to Know: Teens Exploited Via Technology,” the piece “examines how some teens are coerced or blackmailed into sending explicit pictures or video to a predator.”…