ETHICAL DILEMMAS/ISSUES

IN THE CYBER WORLD

Professional Ethics in Information Technology
Intellectual Property Rights
- Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind:
inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names
and images used in commerce.

- Two Categories:

 Industrial Property includes patents for inventions, trademarks,

industrial designs and geographical indications

 Copyright covers literary works (such as novels, poems and

plays), films, music, artistic works (e.g., drawings, paintings,
photographs and sculptures) and architectural design.
Intellectual Property Rights
 Intellectual property rights are like any other
property right.
 They allow creators, or owners, of patents,
trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from
their own work or investment in a creation.
 Outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which provides for the right to
benefit from the rotection of moral and material
interests resulting from authorship of scientific,
literary or artistic productions.
Why promote and protect
intellectual property?
 the progress and well-being of humanity rest on its
capacity to create and invent new works in the
areas of technology and culture.
 the legal protection of new creations encourages
the commitment of additional resources for further
innovation.
 the promotion and protection of intellectual
property spurs economic growth, creates new jobs
and industries, and enhances the quality and
enjoyment of life.
Patent

 A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention –

a product or process that provides a new way of doing
something, or that offers a new technical solution to a
problem.

 A patent provides patent owners with protection for their

inventions. Protection is granted for a limited period,
generally 20 years.

 Patent protection means an invention cannot be

commercially made, used, distributed or sold without the
patent owner’s consent.
Trademark

 A trademark is a distinctive sign that identifies certain goods or

services produced or provided by an individual or a company. Its
origin dates back to ancient times when craftsmen reproduced
their signatures, or ―marks‖, on their artistic works or products of
a functional or practical nature.

 Kind of Trademarks:
 drawings,
 symbols or three dimensional signs (shape and packaging of goods
 Holograms
 Color
 non-visible signs (sound, smell or taste)
Copyright
 Copyright laws grant authors, artists and other
creators protection for their literary and artistic
creations, generally referred to as ―works‖. A closely
associated field is ―related rights‖ or rights related to
copyright that encompass rights similar or identical to
those of copyright, although sometimes more limited
and of shorter duration.
 Works covered by copyright include, but are not limited
to: novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspapers,
advertisements, computer programs, databases, films,
musical compositions, choreography, paintings,
drawings, photographs, sculpture, architecture, maps
and technical drawings.
 Copyright
 The creators of works protected by copyright, and their heirs
and successors (generally referred to as ―right holders‖), have
certain basic rights under copyright law. They hold the exclusive
right to use or authorize others to use the work on agreed
terms. The right holder(s) of a work can authorize or prohibit:
 its reproduction in all forms, including print form and sound
recording;
 its public performance and communication to the public;
 its broadcasting;
 its translation into other languages; and
 its adaptation, such as from a novel to a screenplay for a film.

 The economic rights relating to copyright are of limited duration--

beginning with the creation and fixation of the work, and lasting
for not less than 50 years after the creator’s death
Information accuracy
 relates to ―the correctness of the output information‖
(Bailey & Pearson, 1983). It is one of the elements of
intrinsic data quality (Wang & Strong, 1996)

 Freedom from error (correctness), or closeness to truth or

fact, resulting from exercise of painstaking care or due
diligence.

 Accuracy depends on how the data is collected, and is

usually judged by comparing several measurements from the
same or different sources.
Information privacy

- is the privacy of personal information and usually relates to

personal data stored on computer systems.

- Information privacy is also known as data privacy. Data privacy is

the aspect of information technology (IT) that deals with the ability
an organization or individual has to determine what data in a
computer system can be shared with third parties.

 The need to maintain information privacy is applicable to collected

personal information, such as medical records, financial data,
criminal records, political records, business related information or
website data.
Information privacy

 Information privacy is considered an important aspect

of information sharing. With the advancement of the
digital age, personal information vulnerabilities have
increased.

 Information privacy may be applied in numerous ways,

including encryption, authentication and data masking -
each attempting to ensure that information is available
only to those with authorized access. These protective
measures are geared toward preventing data mining
and the unauthorized use of personal information, which
are illegal in many parts of the world.
Information privacy
 Information privacy relates to different data types,
including:
 Internet privacy (online privacy): All personal data shared
over the Internet is subject to privacy issues. Most websites
publish a privacy policy that details the website's intended
use of collected online and/or offline collected data.
 Financial privacy: Financial information is particularly
sensitive, as it may easily used to commit online and/or
offline fraud.
 Medical privacy: All medical records are subject to stringent
laws that address user access privileges. By law, security
and authentication systems are often required for
individuals that process and store medical records.
Unauthorized used of computer and
network
 Unauthorized access is the use of
a computer or network without permission.

- is when someone gains access to a website, program, server,

service, or other system using someone else's account or
other methods. For example, if someone kept guessing
a password or username for an account that was not theirs
until they gained access it is considered unauthorized access.

- Unauthorized access could also occur if a user attempts to

access an area of a system they should not be accessing.
When attempting to access that area, they would be denied
access and possibly see an unauthorized access message.
Unauthorized used of computer and
network
 Unauthorized use is the use of a computer or its
data for unapproved or possibly illegal activities.

 Examples of unauthorized use of computers include:

 An employee using a company computer to send
personal e-mail.
 someone gaining access to a bank computer
and performing an unauthorized transfer.
SOFTWARE THEFT
 Software theft means the unauthorized or illegal copying,
sharing or usage of copyright-protected software programs.
Software theft may be carried out by individuals, groups or,
in some cases, organizations who then distribute the
unauthorized software copies to users.

 Software theft is committed when someone performs any of

the following:
 Steals software media
 Deliberately erases programs
 Illegally copies or distributes a program
 Registers or activates a software program illegally
SOFTWARE THEFT

 Two common forms of software theft are:

 physically stealing media (e.g., floppy disk, or CD-

ROM) that contains software;

 software piracy, which is the most common form of

software theft.
SOFTWARE PIRACY

- refers to the unauthorized and illegal duplication of

copyrighted software.

 Purchasing a software only provides a consumer with

a license agreement, or the right to use the software.

 Risks of software piracy include:

 Increase the chance of spreading computer viruses.
 No technical support for the software can be received.
 Drive up the software cost for all legal users.
 Four ethical dilemmas/issues in
information technology
1. PRIVACY ISSUES

 Involve collecting, storing, and disseminating information about

individuals.
 For example, businesses may appear to be collecting
information for one purpose but may be collecting a lot more
information than you think. Consider all of the loyalty cards
and programs for department stores and grocery stores that
you shop at. You are made to believe that you are getting the
deal by using their rewards card. This is actually incorrect,
what they are really doing is getting you to voluntarily give
them all of your personal information and access to all of your
shopping records so they can predict trends and market items
specifically to you in your email and mail.
 What information shouid one be required to divuige about
one's self to others? Under what conditions?
 Privacy issues
 The ethical issue of privacy in the Information Age involves the ability
of others to access personal information from computer files and
databases. Data that we readily provide to creditors, health providers,
financial institutions, and others may be accessed or used for purposes
other than the purposes for which we provided the information
 For example, an individual fills out a warranty registration card online,
and the company providing the warranty for its product uses that
information to conduct their own market research. Most of us would
readily accept that use as being beneficial to product owners since it
permits the company to determine its markets and pricing more
effectively
 However, if the company sold our warranty data (name, address,
income range, etc.) to another company so that the second company
could send us advertising material or use our data in a telemarketing
campaign, it could be perceived as unethical, provided the first
company did not inform us of the possibility that it might sell our data
to a third party.
 Four ethical dilemmas/issues in
information technology
2. ACCURACY ISSUES

 Involve the authenticity, fidelity, and accuracy of

information that is collected and processed
 It is unethical to collect information on someone that is
inaccurate. Even though this may not be illegal, it is
unethical to have incorrect information because it is
electronically stored where security threats may be
present and can ultimately hurt someone should the
wrong person get access.
 Who is responsible for the authenticity, fidelity and
accuracy of information? Similarly, who is to be held
accountable for errors in information and how is the
injured party to be made whole?
Accuracy issues
 How accurate is accurately enough? Who is responsible
for accuracy? Who will be held accountable for
accuracy?

 A simple mistake, whether in posting a grade or updating

the price of a stock or a credit report, can have serious
consequences. Investment and lending decisions rely on
the accuracy of the data that is input to the decision
support system or other application being used, as well
as on the accuracy of the programs themselves. As we
increasingly depend on information systems, it is
important that the programs in these systems are error-
free, that the data the systems use is accurate and up to
date, and that all parts of the system work together to
produce accurate, errorfree outputs.
Four ethical dilemmas/issues in
information technology
3. PROPERTY ISSUES

 Involve the ownership and value of information.

 This has become a big issue with the Internet. For

example, when you post information on Facebook, who
owns that picture? Do you still own it or does Facebook?
Consider all of the content that you have stored in your
online accounts. Who owns it? Ethically, you may claim a
right to it but there is nothing legal unless it is in a
contract that says who owns what.
Property issues
 The key issue of property is copyright. As discussed in Chapter 5, most software and
computer files are protected by copyright laws, regardless of the country of origin.
Violating copyright is theft—plain and simple. The author of the software or
computer file is robbed of either money (their portion of another sale) or credit for
the creation of the software or file. In either case, the author is viewed as being
diminished by the violation of copyright.
 Research shows that many individuals do not understand what clearly violates
copyright. For instance, a student loans another student a CD-ROM containing
software that cost $100. The second student installs the software on his computer to
see if he likes it and would like to purchase it. This act is a violation of copyright.
Even if the student then uninstalls the software after the test, it is still considered
copyright violation. Violation of software property rights is also known as piracy
 It has been estimated that if the computing public did not illegally duplicate and use
widely available software like Microsoft Office, such software would cost less than
half of what it costs today. All of the research and development costs, along with
advertising and other overhead costs, would have been spread among three or four
times as many purchasers, resulting in a much lower cost of the individual software
package.
Four ethical dilemmas/issues in
information technology
4. ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES

 Revolve around who should have access to

information and whether they should have to pay
for that access.

 What information does a person or an organization

have a right or a privilege to obtain, under what
conditions and with what safeguards?
ACCESSIBILITY ISSUES
 Ethical use of information includes the ability of all people to access information in
the public domain. The purpose of public libraries is to provide the general public
with access to information, primarily in written form. Public libraries provide
equitable access, regardless of race, creed, age, gender, or income level; of course,
an overriding assumption is that the general populace can read.

 Online information access is challenged even more than public libraries by the
notion of universal access.
1. individuals attempting to access and use online information must be educated
enough to read, write, reason, and even calculate. In other words, they must have
at least a minimal level of education
2. individuals attempting to access and use online information must have physical
access to the technologies—hardware, software, databases, telecommunications—
that are necessary to retrieve information.
3. the issue of property rights may restrict access to online information; unless
individuals can pay to obtain the information, it may not be in the public domain
GREEN COMPUTING
 is the emerging practice of using computing and
information technology resources more efficiently
while maintaining or improving overall performance.
 is an environmentally sustainable approach to
managing information and communication technologies.
It enables organizations to improve environmental
stewardship by increasing energy efficiency, improving
information management and providing appropriate
analytical capability (Binder & Suri, 2009; Oslon,
2009).
GREEN COMPUTING
 Some examples of the application of green
technology in computing include:
 reducing the use of environmentally hazardous
materials like CFC, lead and others.
 promoting the use of recyclable materials and
minimizing use of non-biodegradable components.
 promoting practices such as energy cost accounting,
virtualization and eWaste recycling
 with a change in lifestyle habits aimed at energy
conservation.
SIMPLE Ways to PRACTICE GREEN
COMPUTING
1. Buy "Energy Star" labeled monitors, desktops, laptops, and
printers
2. Put laptops in "sleep" mode when not in use.
3. Even better, turn OFF computers and other equipment when
not in use.
4. E-cycle used computer equipment.
5. Buy the new "Smart Strip" power strip.
The Smart Strip actually senses how much power your computer
peripherals use. And when the Smart Strip senses that you've turned
your computer off, it automatically shuts off your peripherals, too,
preventing them from drawing an idle current, which is the current
drawn even after equipment is shut off.
 Ethical issues of green computing
 Going green is not only a fashion statement, it is a real movement that begun
back in 1992 with "The Energy Star Program" (Brandrick, 2009). It has become
a way of life for many big corporations to try and reduce the amount of
energy waste that they would normally excrete and nowadays it is not only
expected to be done by such corporations but also by small businesses and
individuals alike who have a moral responsibility to their community.
 Due to the widely known need to save energy and natural resources of our
ever dyeing planet many manufacturers have come out with ideas on how to
make your device energy efficient, the problem is that with good inventions
come the useless ones and those are made to assume a purpose that it is not
properly attributed. Some manufacturers will label a product as energy
efficient just so it can be sold but sadly it will not work.
 Consumers can easily be deceived to buy such products that end up causing
more harm to the environment "considering the materials and energy used to
manufacture it"(Brandrick, 2009) such products are truly a waste. Like the "Eco
Button that promised its consumers that they would save energy and money"
(Brandrick, 2009) on their PC but there was a downloadable content available
on the internet that would provide the same results. It is not moral or ethical for
such manufacturers to lie on the efficiency of their product but it's not illegal to
say that the product was misinterpreted by the consumer.
Outsourcing
 Outsourcing (also sometimes referred to as "contracting out") is a
business practice used by companies to reduce costs or improve
efficiency by shifting tasks, operations, jobs or processes to an
external contracted third party for a significant period of time. The
functions that are contracted out can be performed by the third
party either onsite or offsite of the business.
 Examples:
 manufacturers have outsourced jobs overseas to countries like China and
Bangladesh. This practice is also known as ―offshoring," which involves
outsourcing to a third party in a country other than the one in which the
outsourcing company is based in order to save on labor costs.
 not limited to manufacturing jobs. Customer service jobs, such as those in
a call center, and computer programming jobs are also outsourced by
companies seeking ways to reduce costs
BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING

 Outsourcing can free up cash, personnel, facilities and

time resources for a company
 It can result in cost savings from lower labor costs, taxes,
energy costs and reductions in the cost of production
 a company may also employ an outsourcing strategy in
order to focus on its core business competencies
 A company may also choose to outsource in order to
avoid government regulations or mandates, such as
environmental regulations or safety regulations and
requirements.
DISADVANTAGES OF OUTSOURCING

 One of the biggest disadvantages of outsourcing is the risk of losing sensitive data
and the loss of confidentiality. It is important, therefore, to have checks in place to
avoid data loss.
 Since the outsourcing provider may work with other customers, they might not give
100% time and attention to a single company. This may result in delays and
inaccuracies in the work output.
 Hidden costs and legal problems may arise if the outsourcing terms and conditions
are not clearly defined.
 Losing management control of business functions mean that you may no longer be
able to control operations and deliverables of activities that you outsource.
 Not understanding the culture of the outsourcing provider and the location where
you outsource to may lead to poor communication and lower productivity.
 Problems with quality can arise if the outsourcing provider doesn't have proper
processes and/ or is inexperienced in working in an outsourcing relationship.
 If important functions are being outsourced, an organization is mightily dependent
on the outsourcing provider. Risks such as bankruptcy and financial loss cannot be
controlled.
Ethical issues of outsourcing
 The unfair pay and treatment of employees can have a
negative effect on the products that they are
assembling.
 The worker’s rights as human beings and workers are
being exploited not only by corporations but their own
government.
 There will always be countries that will not be as
developed as others, but that does not mean that
corporation can exploit that vulnerability.
Netiquette
 Rule 1: Remember the Human
The golden rule your parents and your kindergarten teacher taught you was pretty simple: Do
unto others as you'd have others do unto you. Imagine how you'd feel if you were in the other
person's shoes. Stand up for yourself, but try not to hurt people's feelings.
In cyberspace, we state this in an even more basic manner: Remember the human.

 Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online

that you follow in real life
In real life, most people are fairly law-abiding, either by disposition or because we're afraid of
getting caught. In cyberspace, the chances of getting caught sometimes seem slim. And, perhaps
because people sometimes forget that there's a human being on the other side of the computer,
some people think that a lower standard of ethics or personal behavior is acceptable in
cyberspace.
The confusion may be understandable, but these people are mistaken. Standards ofbehavior may
be different in some areas of cyberspace, but they are not lower than in real life.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
Netiquette
 Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
Netiquette varies from domain to domain What's perfectly acceptable in one area may
be dreadfully rude in another. For example, in most TV discussion groups, passing on
idle gossip is perfectly permissible. But throwing around unsubstantiated rumors in a
journalists' mailing list will make you very unpopular there.
And because Netiquette is different in different places, it's important to know where
you are.
 Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
It's a cliché that people today seem to have less time than ever before, even
though (or perhaps because) we sleep less and have more labor-saving devices
than our grandparents did. When you send email or post to a discussion group, you're
taking up other people's time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that
the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
Netiquette
 Rule 5: Make yourself look good online
don't want to give the impression that the net is a cold, cruel place full of people who
just can't wait to insult each other. As in the world at large, most people who
communicate online just want to be liked. Networks --particularly discussion groups --
let you reach out to people you'd otherwise never meet. And none of them can see you.
You won't be judged by the color of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or
your clothing.
You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. For most people who
choose to communicate online, this is an advantage; if they didn't enjoy using the written
word, they wouldn't be there. So spelling and grammar do count.
 Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
The strength of cyberspace is in its numbers. The reason asking questions online works is
that a lot of knowledgeable people are reading the questions. And if even a few of
them offer intelligent answers, the sum total of world knowledge increases. The Internet
itself was founded and grew because scientists wanted to share information.
Gradually, the rest of us got in on the act.
Netiquette
 Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control
"Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held
opinion without holding back any emotion. It's the kind of
message that makes people respond, "Oh come on, tell us how
you really feel." Tact is not its objective.
Does Netiquette forbid flaming? Not at all. Flaming is a long-
standing network tradition (and Netiquette never messes with
tradition). Flames can be lots of fun, both to write and to read.
And the recipients of flames sometimes deserve the heat.
Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy
Of course, you'd never dream of going through your
colleagues' desk drawers. So naturally you wouldn't read their
email either.
Netiquette
 Rule 9: Don't abuse your power
Some people in cyberspace have more power than others. There are wizards
in MUDs (multi-user dungeons), experts in every office, and system
administrators in every system.
Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give
you the right to take advantage of them. For example, sysadmins should never
read private email.
Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes
Everyone was a network newbie once. And not everyone has had the benefit
of reading this book. So when someone makes a mistake -- whether it's a
spelling error or a spelling flame, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long
answer -- be kind about it. If it's a minor error, you may not need to say
anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before reacting. Having
good manners yourself doesn't give you license to correct everyone else.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF
COMPUTER ETHICS
1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people: If it is unethical to harm people by
making a bomb, for example, it is equally bad to write a program that handles the timing
of the bomb. Or, to put it more simply, if it is bad to steal and destroy other people’s books
and notebooks, it is equally bad to access and destroy their files.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work: Computer viruses are small
programs that disrupt other people’s computer work by destroying their files, taking huge
amounts of computer time or memory, or by simply displaying annoying messages.
Generating and consciously spreading computer viruses is unethical.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files: Reading other people’s e-mail
messages is as bad as opening and reading their letters: This is invading their privacy.
Obtaining other people’s non-public files should be judged the same way as breaking into
their rooms and stealing their documents. Text documents on the Internet may be protected
by encryption.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal: Using a computer to break into the accounts of a
company or a bank and transferring money should be judged the same way as robbery. It is
illegal and there are strict laws against it.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness: The Internet can spread untruth as
fast as it can spread truth. Putting out false "information" to the world is bad. For instance,
spreading false rumors about a person or false propaganda about historical events is
wrong.
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF
COMPUTER ETHICS
6. Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid: Software is an intellectual product. In
that way, it is like a book: Obtaining illegal copies of copyrighted software is as bad as photocopying a
copyrighted book. There are laws against both. Information about the copyright owner can be embedded by a
process called watermarking into pictures in the digital format.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization: Multiuser systems use user id’s
and passwords to enforce their memory and time allocations, and to safeguard information. You should not try
to bypass this authorization system. Hacking a system to break and bypass the authorization is unethical.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output: For example, the programs you write for the
projects assigned in this course are your own intellectual output. Copying somebody else’s program without
proper authorization is software piracy and is unethical. Intellectual property is a form of ownership, and may
be protected by copyright laws.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write: You have to think about
computer issues in a more general social framework: Can the program you write be used in a way that is
harmful to society? For example, if you are working for an animation house, and are producing animated films
for children, you are responsible for their contents. Do the animations include scenes that can be harmful to
children? In the United States, the Communications Decency Act was an attempt by lawmakers to ban certain
types of content from Internet websites to protect young children from harmful material. That law was struck
down because it violated the free speech principles in that country's constitution. The discussion, of course, is
going on.
10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect: Just like public buses or banks,
people using computer communications systems may find themselves in situations where there is some form of
queuing and you have to wait for your turn and generally be nice to other people in the environment. The fact
that you cannot see the people you are interacting with does not mean that you can be rude to them.
http://www.ccsr.cms.dmu.ac.uk/resources/professionalism/codes/cei_command_com.html