Computers Are
Your Future
© 2006Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Computers Are Your Future Spotlight 1
Computers Are Your Future
Spotlight 1
Ethics
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Computer Ethics
 Computers cause new ethical problems
 Computer ethics uses basic ethical principles to help
you make the right decisions
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Ethical Principles
 Ethical principles are tools which are used to think
through difficult situations
 Three useful ethical principles:
 An act is ethical if, were everyone to act the same, society
benefits from it
 An act is ethical if people are treated as ends and not as a
means to ends
 An act is ethical if it is fair to all parties involved
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Your School’s Code of Conduct
 Read acceptable use
policy
 Respect yourself
 Respect others
 Respect academic
integrity
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Don't use a computer to harm other people
Don't interfere with other people’s computer work
Don't snoop around in other people’s files
Don't use a computer to steal
Don't use a computer to bear false witness
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
6. Don't copy or use proprietary software for which
you have not paid
7. Don't use other people’s computer resources
without authorization or proper compensation
8. Don't appropriate other people’s intellectual output
9. Don’t think about the social consequences of the
program you write or the system you design
10. Don’t use a computer in ways that show
consideration and respect for your fellow humans
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Netiquette
 Netiquette refers to the guidelines that involve
showing respect for others and yourself while you are
online
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Mailing List Netiquette
 Read the discussions for the past few days before posting
questions
 Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) list
before posting questions
 Don’t belittle people for grammatical errors
 Don’t post inflammatory messages
 Learn how to unsubscribe from the list
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E-Mail Netiquette
 Promptly respond to
messages
 Delete messages after you
read them
 Speak of others
professionally and
courteously
 Run your computer’s antivirus program on any email received or sent
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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E-Mail Netiquette (continued)
 Keep the message short and to the point
 Don’t type in all capital letters
 Spell check your message before sending it
 Be careful with sarcasm and humor in your message
 Be mindful of the recipient’s reaction when you request a
return receipt; this feature can be annoying and intrusive
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Internet Relay Chat Netiquette
 Listen to the discussion for a while before joining it
 Learn the commonly used abbreviations
 Don’t flood the channel with text
 Don’t harass others with unwanted invitations
 Be careful if you are asked to type in a command; it may
have unexpected results
 Use the ignore command when being bothered
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Computer Games: Too Much Violence?
 Splatter games emphasize all-out violence
Some say it increases violent behavior
Others say it provides an outlet for violent feelings
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Computer Ethics for Organizations
 A business must protect its data from:
 Loss or damage
 Misuse or errors
 Unauthorized access
 Backup procedures are used to protect data from loss
 It is the organization’s responsibility to ensure that its
data is as complete as possible
 Divulging customer data without asking permission is
considered unethical behavior by privacy advocates
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Whistle-blowing
 Whistle-blowing refers to employees reporting their
company’s dangerous or illegal acts to regulatory
agencies or the press
 Some laws exist to protect whistle-blowers, but many
find themselves unemployed and blacklisted
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Computer Ethics for Computer Professionals
 The field of computer ethics specifies ethical codes for
computing professionals
 The core of a computer professional’s code of ethics is to
preserve and protect human life from harm
CODES OF CONDUCT AND GOOD PRACTICE FOR
CERTIFIED COMPUTING PROFESSIONALS
The essential elements relating to conduct that identify a
professional activity are:
· A high standard of skill and knowledge
· A confidential relationship with people served
· Public reliance upon the standards of conduct in established
practice
· The observance of an ethical code
Excerpt from the Code of Ethics of the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals
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The ACM Code of Conduct
 A computing professional:
 Contributes to society and human well-being
 Avoids harm to others
 Is honest and trustworthy
 Is fair and takes action not to discriminate on the basis of
race, sex, religion, age, disability, or national origin
 Honors property rights, including copyrights and patents
 Gives proper credit when using the intellectual property of
others
 Respects other individuals’ rights to privacy
 Honors confidentiality
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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Safety First
 Programmers can produce programs with errors
 Computer experts agree that the liability for a program
failure should be shared among the programmer, the
software company, and the organization that buys the
software
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It’s Not Just Unethical, It’s Illegal, Too
 Types of legal problems that arise from computer use
include:
 Plagiarism
 Software Piracy
 Copyright Infringement
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Plagiarism
 Plagiarism is the unauthorized and/or uncited use of
someone else’s intellectual property
 Intellectual property rights refer to an individual’s
ownership over original works
 Legal implications of plagiarism:
 Dismissal from school
 Lawsuits
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Plagiarism
 Copyright infringement is plagiarism
of copyrighted material
 The Fair use doctrine states that a
brief selection from copyrighted work
can be used for commentary, parody,
news reporting, research, and
education
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Libel
 Libel is the publication of a false statement that
injures one’s business or reputation
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Software Piracy
 Selling software that contains all
or part of a commercial software
program
 Using shareware beyond its
evaluation period
 Violating the terms of a software
license
 Making copies of site-licensed
programs for personal use
 Giving or selling commercial
software to others
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Software and Copyrights
 Public domain software can be copied, sold, and
modified
 Shareware is copyrighted software that can be used
without a license for a specified time
 Trial versions can be copied
 When the evaluation period ends, a registration fee is paid for
continued use of the software
 Commercial software is copyrighted
 You must purchase the software to use it
 Organizations purchase a site license to use the software on
all of their computers
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Software and Copyrights (continued)
 General Public License (GPL) specifies that anyone
may freely copy, use, and modify the software, but it
cannot be sold for profit
 Copyright protection schemes thwart the illegal use of
programs
 Machine dependent
programs can only be
used on the machine on
which they were installed
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Are you guilty of software piracy?
 Incorporating all or part of a GPL program in a
commercial program that you sell
 Continue to use shareware after expiration without
paying
 Violate terms of software license
 Making copies of site-licensed
programs
 Giving or selling copies of
commercial software to others
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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File Sharing: Music, Movies, and More
 An increasing number of Internet users are making
illegal copies of music
 Rationalizations copyright violators use:
 “It’s OK to download MP3 files if I only keep them for 24
hours”
 “It’s free advertising for the band”
 “It’s legal because I don’t charge any money for sharing
them”
© 2006 Prentice-Hall, Inc
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