Part 2

Table of Contents
◦ Part 1




What Are Ethics?
Solving Ethical Dilemmas
Corporate Social Responsibility
How Do Ethics Apply to ICT?

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



Legal and Ethical Issues in ICT
Access to Information
Ownership of Information
Company Resources and Company Time
Unauthorized Use of Computers and Information
Fraud
Protecting Yourself from Cyberscams
◦ Part 2
If I do the
wrong thing,
am I breaking
the law?
Why is it that the
relationship
between
something that is
legal and
something that is
ethical not
necessarily that
defined?
If I do the right
thing, then should my
actions be seen as
legal? And I’m not
going to get into
trouble?
Why don’t
clear
differences
between what
is legal and
what is ethical
exist?

The difference between legal and ethical:
Legal and ethical
actions do not
necessarily go
hand in hand.


The law is constantly evolving to address
issues in ICT.
Some legal and ethical issue include:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Access to Information
Ownership of Information
Company Resources and Company Time
Unauthorized Use of Computers and Information
Fraud

A serious ethical issue raised by ICT concerns
the degree to which all Canadians have equal
access to information.
◦ In an information-literate society, citizens must
have the ability to read and write.
 According to Statistics Canada , there still is a digital
divide - a gap in the rate of Internet use among certain
groups of people.

Citizens should have access to computer
hardware and software.
◦ Hard-copy resources are widely and cheaply
available in places such as the libraries.
◦ However, information is increasingly converted to
digital-only formats and requires computers to
access it.
◦ These days, the cost for a computer has dropped
significantly and as a result technology is accessible
to more individuals and organizations.
 However, there are still people in our society who
cannot afford to purchase ICT.

Factors that influence access to
technology:
1. Income:
 Internet users by income (2005–2006)
 Wealthier Canadians have more access to
Internet
2. Gender:
 Men tend to use the Internet more than
women
3. Education:
 Internet users by education (2005–2006)
 More-educated Canadians have better access
to ICT
4. Age and the presence of children:
 People with teens in the home tend to have
more access.

Other factors that influence access to
technology:
5. Access to digital information (information that
people have to pay to use.)
 Even with access to ICT, this is another cost that is
often unmanageable .
 Example: access to medical information from online
medical articles
6. Lack of training to use hardware and software
wisely and safely

Information should be
thought of as material
goods
◦ You would not want someone
to borrow your stuff without
asking, so why would you
borrow information without
asking?
◦ You need to give people credit
for their work.

Ownership of information
raises many legal and
ethical issues.

While giving credit for written work and ideas
is one aspect of ownership of work, there are
many more forms of intellectual property.
◦ Definition: This term describes an idea, a concept,
or any other intellectual work that has commercial
value, meaning that it can generate income or
profit for its owner.

Examples of intellectual
property:
◦ written work (books, poems,
essays, articles, etc. )
◦ creative work (e.g., songs,
recordings, video, cartoons,
drawings, photographs,
choreography)
◦ code created by a computer
programmer (e.g., HTML code used
for a website, code used to make a
video game)
◦ company logos
◦ unique ways of doing or making
things, such as a recipe, a process
for manufacturing, a trade secret
(e.g., a secret recipe for a fast
food, etc.)
◦ a design for a product (e.g., iPod)
Use of these materials
has ethical and legal
aspects. From an ethical
perspective, fair dealing
allows us to think
through consequences
of use. As well, most
would say that
plagiarism is also
wrong.

So what laws do we have to protect intellectual
property?
 The Canadian Intellectual Property Office allows
people and organizations to protect their intellectual
property formally by filing it officially for
trademarks, and patents, or using the Copyright Act.

So why doesn't
everyone do it?
◦ It’s a time-consuming
process
◦ Registration can be very
expensive

So what does a copyright, patent, or
trademark do for the owner?
◦ When a person (or organization) uses protected
information without the owner’s permission, he or
she is breaking the law.
◦ The penalties vary depending on the offence, but
there are some exceptions where just citing the
work is legal-referring to fair dealing
 Fair Dealing is a set of principles or guidelines that
are used to interpret the law on copyright (not the
law).
 Fair Dealing is the use or reproduction of a work for
private study, research criticism, review, or news
reporting without permission from the copyright holder.
 They help you determine when it is OK to use other
people’s work. Basically if the work is for:
 Educational purposes
 For Factual reasons
 Use only a small portion of the original work.

The copyright law protects authors, of a
paper, book, song, or other piece of original
work, from having their work stolen.
◦ When a individual creates an original work,
legislation gives the creator of that work the
copyright that is the exclusive right to reproduce,
publish, or perform the work.
 You don’t need to register for it, it is automatic.

Law for copyright = The Copyright Act
◦ This law governs copyright infringement.
◦ It states that no one can reproduce or use the
work created by another person without
permission from the holder of the copyright.
◦ Duration: exists for the life of the creator plus
50 years after the end of the calendar year of the
creator’s death
 However there are some expectations, such as Crown
works (government publications), works by unknown
authors, etc. (page 329 of handout)
 Once the copyright expires, the work is said to be a
public domain and may be copied freely without
permission.



The Copyright Act allows for civil and criminal
charges to be laid against a person who
infringes copyright. Civil charges mean the
copyright owner, or someone on behalf of
owners, can sue the culprit.
If found guilty, the person infringing copyright
will be fined.
Criminal charges can also be laid against the
person by the Crown, and if convicted, the
person who infringed copyright can be fined or
imprisoned, or both.
Example:

◦
Read the article “Is It Sharing or Stealing?”


Divide into two groups in the class. Brainstorm
arguments on both sides of the Napster issue—to
share or not to share, to pay for copyrighted
material or not to pay. Create a list, and share your
arguments with the other group.
Based on what you learned about Ownership of
Information, what Canadian laws or statutes govern
a case like the Napster case?


Article “Is It Sharing or Stealing?”
Issue:
◦ to share Easy access
 free
◦ or not to share Illegal to share since artists don’t get money
◦ to pay for copyrighted material or not to pay Most students don’t want to pay for music


Trademarks and patents
provide protection of nonwritten work, similar to
copyright.
Trademarks protect
intellectual property in the
form of words, phrases, or
images.
◦ Unlike copyrights, which are
automatic, trademarks must be
registered with government and
are costly to acquire.
◦ Example : Nike


Trademarks are governed by Section 409(1)
of the Canadian Criminal Code. Under that
section, it is a criminal offence for a person
“to have in his possession, or to dispose of, a
die, block, machine or other instruments
designed or intended to be used in forging a
trademark.”
Like copyright infringement, trademark
infringement can be handled in civil court,
where a trademark holder sues the person
infringing.

Example dealing with ICT:
◦ Trademark cases: between Pro-C, a small Waterloo, Ontario,
software development firm and a large retailer, Computer City.
◦ Pro-C owned the trademark WINGEN. It was registered in both
Canada and the United States for software only.
◦ Computer City launched a line of its own PCs called WINGEN, sold
only in the United States.
◦ Pro-C sued Computer City.
◦ As it turned out, Pro-C’s website wound up getting Computer
City’s online traffic. So many people visited the site and sent
inquiries to Pro-C that its website crashed, so the company could
not serve its customers.
◦ Pro-C first won the case, but Computer City appealed. Computer
City won the appeal because its product was sold in the United
States (and, therefore, did not compete with the Canadian
WINGEN products from Pro-C), and because Pro-C did not
actually lose business from its website because of the problems.




Talking Trademarks
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/pre2007/files/money/words/index.html#
The CBC Marketplace segment examines how
brand names have entered our language as
common usage and the effect that this has on
companies.
After viewing the clip, make a list with a
partner of the top 10 brands you use.
◦ For each, discuss ways in which you might
inadvertently advertise the brand name.

Parents, similar to trademarks, can be
registered to protect intellectual property in
the form of processes, articles and inventions
◦ Must register a patent and therefore can be a
costly and lengthy process



In Canada, patents are governed by the
Patent Act.
Like trademarks, they can also be dealt with
criminally or civilly.
Example;
◦ Patent case in Canadian and U.S. law dealing with
ICT.
◦ In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in
favour of Monsanto, an agricultural biotech
company that creates genetically modified seeds.
The ruling was that a Canadian farmer had violated
Monsanto’s patent by growing canola seeds
developed by Monsanto on his land without
permission.

Example:
◦ In 2006, a Waterloo, Ontario, company, Research in Motion
(RIM), which created the BlackBerry PDA, settled a patentinfringement case with a company called NTP.
◦ RIM had been using technology for BlackBerries that NTP
claims to hold a patent on.
◦ Through the U.S. court system, NTP tried to shut down RIM’s
service to consumers.
◦ The case was eventually settled out of court, with RIM paying
$612.5 million to NTP.
◦ Just when that case was settled, RIM was accused of a similar
patent infringement by mobile email provider, Visto.
 In 2009, RIM ended the three-year patent dispute with Visto
Corp. by agreeing to pay $267.5 million to settle, adding to a
costly series of intellectual-property purchases.

License is a contract through which the owner
of a piece of intellectual property permits
another individual or organization to make,
use, or sell that piece of intellectual property
in exchange for some form of compensation.
◦ The license allows the owner to maintain his/her
ownership of the intellectual property


There are three forms of licensing:
1. Content licensing
◦ Refers to the ownership and sharing of any type of information in digital
form through a contract
 Includes: databases, articles, Web content, videos, clipart, font, stock reports
and music
 Example: Napster: case regarding ownership and sharing of content

2. Technology licensing
◦ Refers to permission to use processes or actual software applications
 Example: individuals and corporations purchase Microsoft Office, therefore,
the license to use it.

3. Advertising and cross-branding
 Refers to agreements among businesses (or individuals) to use one another’s
names and logos to increase business
 Example: “Starbucks, Hershey to create new high-end chocolate products”
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/07/16/daily26.html?b=11
84558400%5e1493520&hbx=e_abd


Cross-branding. Good enough for Starbucks and Hershey. How ’bout you?
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/2007/07/23/cross-branding-good-enoughfor-starbucks-and-hershey-how-bout-you/
 Problem: when intellectual property is used without a license (Website
displayed a company’s logo without that company’s permission) or logos are
not properly displayed as per a license agreement


Piracy is the illegal reproduction and distribution
of materials such as software applications,
whether for business or personal use.
Piracy is a form of copyright infringement, and it
can take several forms:
◦ End-user piracy
 users copy software without buying it.
◦ Pre-installed software
 takes one copy of software and installs it illegally on more than one
computer
◦ Internet piracy
 unauthorized copies are downloaded over the Internet
◦ Counterfeiting
 illegal copies of software are made and distributed in packaging
that reproduces the manufacturer’s packaging

A 2006 survey found that, in 2005, 35 percent of the
packaged software installed on computers worldwide was
illegal, amounting to over $34 billion in losses due to
piracy.

Canadians have a double standard for
software piracy. This graph shows that half of
Canadians believe that pirating software is OK
for personal use but not for companies.

Legal and ethical issues:
◦ theft from employers by employees.
 Examples of theft:
 Employees who bring home company stationery or use
equipment such as photocopiers for personal use are
stealing.
 While at work, employees are paid to carry out
the duties of the job.
 Employers often say that personal business
should be left for personal time.

Examples (continued)
◦ Using the Internet at work for personal reasons
 Since the employer pays for the Internet service, the
computer the employee is using, and the employee’s
time, many believe that the Internet should be used
only for work related purposes.
 A survey of Internet use while at work shows:
 Canadian workers spend nearly 800 million hours a
year surfing the Web for personal reasons not related
to their jobs at all!
 Similarly, a U.S. survey found that for every eight
hours at work (not including lunches and breaks),
employees spend about two hours surfing the Web for
non-work purposes, with an estimated cost of $759
billion to the U.S. economy.
◦ Many of the Canadian
workers surveyed stated that
their companies had no
policy governing use of the
Internet at work.
◦ Companies need to act (with
regards to the use of
company equipment for
faxing, e-mailing, and
accessing the Internet) or
suffer losses in productivity

Its unethical to surf the Internet for personal use
at work,
◦ BUT a recent ruling suggests that it just might be legal
 In 2006, one New York City employee who was fired for
surfing the Internet at work fought back—and won!
 A Department of Education employee was fired for using
the Internet at work. However, the judge ruled in his
favour because employers should apply the same standard
to personal Internet use as they do to other personal
activities, such as taking personal calls or reading the
paper, as long as a worker still does his or her job.

Do you think as more cases like this go to court,
this fuzzy issue, linking what is ethical and legal,
will be resolved?

Read the article “Which Company Am I?”
◦ In your group answer question #1 and 2



Intellectual property is one form of information
that is subject to Canadian law.
However, it is also illegal to use various other
forms of information and ICT without permission.
The Criminal Code of Canada’s Section 342.1
makes it a crime for people to use any computer
service (processing, storage, or retrieval of data)
fraudulently, intercept any function of a
computer system, and even use a computer with
intent to commit a crime.
◦ Examples: hacking, stealing your friend’s password
to use her or his computer at work without her or
his knowledge, spamming an organization’s server
so that it crashes, or using a computer to plan a
crime.

Example:
◦ A high-profile case in 2001 was the story of “Mafiaboy,”
the 17-year-old Canadian teenager who launched a
denial-of-service attack by bombarding companies with
thousands of simultaneous messages, which prevented
users from accessing the companies’ websites.
◦ The attack paralyzed many major Internet sites
(including Yahoo!, eBay, and Amazon) for one week in
February 2000. Mafiaboy was caught and charged under
the Criminal Code.
◦ He was sentenced to eight months in a youth detention
centre and a year of probation once released, and he
was ordered to pay $250 to charity.
◦ Mafiaboy on The Hour with Stromboulopoulos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M172NlX3H1Q&feat
ure=relmfu
◦ CBC Report About Mafiaboy Book:
◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=mWmcFsoV7I
Q
◦ Identity Theft with Mafiaboy:
◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBOl_tM15Cg

Section 430(1.1) of the Criminal Code talks about
“mischief to data.”
◦ This section makes it a criminal
offence to destroy or alter data that
rightfully belongs to someone else
or to make data unavailable to its
owner.
◦ For example, suppose a student at your school is laid off
from her part-time job at a local retail shop. Because she
is angry at the situation, she decides to delete all the
financial data from the hard drive at the shop’s computer
so that the owner no longer has accounting records.
◦ This would be an offence under the “mischief to data”
clause.

The Criminal Code addresses
“theft of telecommunications”
in Section 326.
◦ This section makes it a crime to
use any telecommunication
service (e.g., wireless, radio,
visual, or other transmission)
fraudulently. Under this section,
you cannot steal wireless
Internet from a source such as
an ISP or organization that is
emitting a wireless connection
without the organization’s
permission.

Cyber Terror
◦ Terrorists are becoming expert Internet hackers,
using the Web to get what they want. North
American governments are scrambling to develop
ways to stop them.
◦ After viewing the clip, discuss the threats of
hacking. What should individuals, organizations,
and governments know about this topic?
◦ Cyber Terror Still Top Threat?
 http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000043305
◦ Cyber Attack:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgNlx8UUJ0o&feat
ure=related
Fraud is a crime in which individuals deceive others
or misrepresent themselves to gain something

◦
Forms of ICT fraud:

◦

Example: false businesses, identity theft, selling a
product or service as something it is not.
phishing, pharming, online auction scams, and other
forms.
ICT opens up the floodgates for all sorts of
fraudulent activities, because:
1. it is quite easy to mask one’s identity (or worse yet, to take
someone else’s identity); and
2. online crime is “borderless,” Internet fraud has grown
steadily over the past decade.
 Figure 11.6 on page 331 in handout


The RCMP
tracks the
number of
Canadian
victims of
various types
of online fraud.
This chart
shows the
results of only
those who
actually
reported being
victimized in
2004.

Most people think:
◦ Knowingly committing fraud is unethical
 Example: stealing another person’s identity or credit cards.
◦ It is illegal to commit fraud.

Most online fraud is dealt with under two pieces of
Canadian legislation:
◦ The Competition Act makes it a crime to have “false and
misleading” advertising. This Act allows the Crown to
charge an individual or business that is misleading
consumers.
◦ Canada’s Criminal Code supplements the Competition
Act by allowing the Crown to charge ISPs with a crime. By
allowing criminal web services, the ISP can be charged
with “aiding and abetting” a crime.

In addition the Government of Canada
enforces a law called the Personal Information
Protection and Electronic Documents Act
which aims to ensure that organizations in
Canada use information about individuals
responsibly.
◦ This Act helps to protect the use and misuse of you
personal information that many organizations have
(such as governments, credit card companies, etc.)
from problems such as telemarketers and identity
theft.
• Examples of
scams
targeting
businesses
and
institutions
 Most
aggressive
scams against
businesses
(identified by
the Council of
Better
Business
Bureaus)
◦ Bogus Billing
for Yellow
Pages
advertising
◦ Fake
Directories
◦ Questionable
Advertising
Specialty
Product
Promotions
•
•
•
•
Fraudulent Telemarketing Offers for Office Supplies
Advance Fee Loan Brokers
Phony Promotion/Prize Offers
Fundraising Appeals from Fake Charities and Non-profit
Organizations





Example:
◦ In Canada, one of the most important cases of online fraud was against Alan
and Elliot Benlolo.
◦ In 2000, they sent out letters to businesses that looked like bills from Bell
Canada or the Yellow Pages.
◦ These letters were actually for a separate online directory (similar to the
Yellow Pages) owned by the Benlolos.
◦ Their scam resulted in sales of over $1 million, and generated 4400
complaints to the Competition Bureau.
◦ Because of the complaints, law enforcement was able to catch the Benlolos.
◦ They were found guilty on 10 counts under the Competition Act, and were
sentenced to 34 months in prison and fined $400 000.
Yellow Pages advertisers are being targeted by a ...
◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8rk9nIL1BU
Yellow Pages Scam Alert
◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bHSx6-Cl_g
This case represented an important milestone, because three principles were
used to sentence these convicted criminals:
◦ Fines should equal the profits that the criminals made.
◦ Jail time should be required.
◦ Criminals can face both a fine and a jail term.
These principles be applied to all online fraud cases from now on.

One of the problems in Internet fraud is
catching the criminals.
◦ They can be operating from any part of the world,
and their identities might not be clear.
◦ However, Canadian law-enforcement agencies work
hard to catch these criminals based on complaints
they receive from consumers and targets.
Legal and Ethical Issues in ICT Questions

Compare copyright, patents, and trademarks. How are they similar? How are they
different?

If students at your school were to create a video yearbook, under what law (if any) would
it be protected? Why?

Discuss the legal and ethical aspects of taking HTML code from a website you like on the
Internet and using it for your own personal website.

What is piracy? Define it, and give an example.

What have individuals and companies done to ensure that people can download music
from the Internet legally?

Is the use of the Internet at work the same as stealing? Why or why not?

What is meant by unauthorized use of computers and information? What law governs
this in Canada?

Give three examples of types of fraud, and which Canadian law(s) they break.

Are ISPs legally responsible when a criminal uses the ISP’s services to commit fraud? Why
or why not?

If you are targeted for an online scam, what should you do?

Having learned about the legalities of online crime, do you feel that you are sufficiently
protected by the government and law-enforcement agencies? Why or why not?

Page 335 in Handout
◦ Question # 1-6

See the Windows Movie Maker Assignment
Word document