The ethical issues of access, privacy and commercialization on the Internet are the topics for a panel discussion at Cornell University on April 10.

The program, "Ethical Issues of the Internet," features experts from Cornell and elsewhere who will discuss issues facing society as the Internet and the global World Wide Web reach an increasing number of people. The event, free and open to the public, is scheduled for 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, in Room 101 Phillips Hall. It will include time for audience questioning following the presentations.

The discussion is part of the Bovay Program for the study of the history and ethics of professional engineering at Cornell. Harry and Susan Bovay endowed the program in Cornell's College of Engineering and in Texas A&M University to encourage young students to appreciate the history of the engineering profession and to build a strong sense of guiding values as they pursue its practice. Harry Bovay was a 1936 graduate of Cornell.

"This is very timely, as the Supreme Court right now is deciding on First Amendment issues regarding the Internet and the FCC is debating its regulatory policy toward the Internet," said Ronald Kline, associate professor of the history of technology and of electrical engineering and director of the Bovay Program at Cornell. "There is a great debate about access, how widespread it should be, and should it be through cable, to the whole community, or something different? There is a whole area of First Amendment issues about privacy and free speech."

The recent mass suicide of members of a cult in California that recruited members via the Internet is a good example of the ethical issues open for discussion, Kline said. "Some people were blaming the Internet for attracting cult members, so maybe we should restrict access. The people who favor strong regulation of the Internet are using Heaven's Gate as ammunition for their cause."

Another ethical dilemma is the commercialization of the Internet. Who should pay for it? "This is the same question we had with radio," Kline said. "Should advertisers and corporations pay for it? Those who favor regulation and commercialization could argue that commercialization under FCC type of rulings would prevent access by cults. Those who lean toward complete freedom of speech and no regulation would tend to not favor commercialization. All these questions are intimately related to each other."

Here are the program participants:

• Moderator: Ronald Kline, associate professor of the history of technology and director of the Bovay Program.
• Panelists: Bruce Lewenstein, associate professor of communication and of science and technology studies, Cornell; Mark Holtzapple, associate professor of chemical engineering, Texas A&M University; Deborah Johnson, professor of philosophy, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• Closing Remarks: Harry Bovay, founder, Bovay Engineers and president, Mid South Telecommunications Co.

The discussion also is sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology Studies; Department of Computer Science; School of Electrical Engineering, all at Cornell, and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers of New York City.