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Organisation and Structure of Debates

Debates will be run in weeks 5 and 6.

Schedule

Presentation

A concise guide to debate structure and judging can be found on the Resources page of the Debating Society of Victoria web site.

This site is a reference for those unfamiliar with formal debates. Please have a look at the information under Introduction to Debating especially:

A very brief precis follows:

Introduction

The first speaker from each team should spend 2 minutes (out of the allotted 5) on a team introduction. The introduction should present the other speakers and also set the scene for the team’s argument. The A team opens.

Main body of debate

Each team member will debate the topic for no more than 5 minutes each. The A team will open and speakers from the two teams will alternate. As well as presenting arguments, the speakers should attempt to rebut the the arguments of the opposing team.

Summation

The last speaker from each team should spend 2 minutes (out of the allotted 5) on a final summation of the team’s argument. The B team has the last word.

4 person teams

Where a 3-person team is debating against a 4-person, one person from the the 3-person team will be allowed to speak twice, as a second last speaker.

During discussion each speaker will be given a warning 1 minute before the end of their allotted time. They must finish at the end of that minute.

Assessment

The final mark for this component is 10% of the total (100%).

The marking will be done according to the following scheme and the result adjusted to a mark out of 10.

All marks maximum.

Additionally, there will be 1 mark for attendance at the debate sessions.

A blank marking guide can found here, but marking sheets customised to each debate will be provided by the facilitator at the time of the debate.

Debate Topics

The following topics are subject to change.

1. Academics of the School should have general right of access to student accounts
2. All Information should be Free
3. Computers Can’t Be Trusted
4. Ethics and Morals are Simply a State of Mind
5. Ethics and Professional Success are Incompatible
6. Ethics and Software Quality Control are Mutually Independent
7. Ethics is the Responsibility of Management, Not the Software Implementor
8. Security is More Important than Privacy
9. Software is Intrinsically Faulty and hence is Incompatible with Ethics
10. The Anarchy of the Internet makes it Intrinsically Unethical
11. The Internet is a Strongly Democratic Medium
12. The Internet is a Tool for the Good of Humankind
13. Computers Help People Communicate
14. The Internet is the School of the Future
15. The Internet Brings the World Closer Together
16. All software contains bugs, therefore it’s acceptable to deliver software with known bugs
17. It is unethical to develop a software solution when it is not the most appropriate solution
18. Safety critical software should be Open Source
19. Using unlicenced software may be illegal, but it can be ethical
20. Good software engineers are ethical professionals
21. Software development may be professionally sound and legal but still unethical
22. Software requires it own ethical theory
23. Ethics in software is theoretical not practical
24. Professional programmers should be licensed
25. Software engineers are real engineers/Computer science is a true science
26. Sometimes you can blame the computer
27. Digital Rights Management (DRM) may be legal, but it’s not ethical
28. To protect its citizens, Governments should have the right to monitor its citizens in cyberspace.
29. Internet filtering is ethical.
30. Software patents are unethical.
31. Laws to protect intellectual property stifles creativity and is unethical.
32. Software companies have a moral obligation to produce products that are ”fit for purpose”.
33. Software companies should never be held responsible for software failures.
34. Computing professionals are morally and ethically obliged to take personal responsibility for all the software they produce.
35. It’s not our fault! Software always fails, we cannot be held responsible.
36. “Hands off, my information is mine.” No one should have a right to it.
37. Identity theft is the fault of poor ethical practices.
38. Electronic surveillance is justified; it reduces crime
39. Internet companies are free to use my data as they wish
40. The prevalence of social media means the end of quality journalism