Kennesaw State University
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Fall 2010
IS 8200/01, Legal and Ethical Issues in IS
Course Description:
This course is a survey of contemporary legal and ethical issues faced by IS
professionals. Topics include a review of applicable statutes and regulations that
impact the IS organization. Students will conduct on-line research and explore
ethical issues at the leading edge of the organization's technology frontiers.
Prerequisites:
Full admission to the MSIS program or permission of the graduate program
director.
Textbook & Resources:
American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th Ed.). Washington, DC. [ISBN 1-55798791-2]
Burgunder, Lee (2007). Legal aspects of managing technology. (4th Ed.). Mason,
OH. [ISBN 0-324-39973-1]
Instructor:
Office:
Email Address:
Phone:
Course Objective:
Learning Outcomes:
The textbooks will be used to support the learning outcomes for this course
through readings, examples and exercises. Online cases, articles and other
resources will be made available on the course web site.
Amy B. Woszczynski (wo-ZIN-ske), Ph.D.
CL 3005
awoszczy@kennesaw.edu (24/7 availability, preferred form of communication)
770.423.6572
Legal issues such as intellectual property, privacy, and product liability, permeate
the contemporary IS organization. In many instances, the velocity of change of
the technologies is out pacing society's ability to formulate policy in the form of
statutes and regulations. This rate of change requires organizations to develop
and provide both legal and ethical training to guide employees in making
decisions to deal with circumstances in which there may be no law, regulation,
company policy or precedent. This course will expose the IS professional to the
basic legal and ethical issues in technology management.
As a result of completing this course, students will be able to:
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Identify major trends in intellectual property law and policy as it relates to
information technology
Conduct research on contemporary ethical and/or legal issue that
impacts the effectiveness of IT deployment
Identify emerging privacy issues as they relate to IT
Compare and contrast methods and strategies for protecting intellectual
property
Track current issues that impact the management of IT within
organizations
Develop plans and strategies that address ethical issues related to IT
Tentative Course Schedule: Subject to change
Week
1
Topic
Introduction to Course
Readings
2
3
US & International Technology Policy
Patents
4
5
Patents (continued)
Protection of Secret Information
6
7
Introduction to Copyrights
Copyrights (continued)
B: Chapters 8 & 9
8
9
Midterm Exam
Trademarks
Midterm Exam
B: Chapter 10
10
12
13
Trademarks (continued)
Tort Liability & Contracts
Privacy & Personal Rights
B: Chapter 11
B: Chapters 12 & 14
B: Chapter 13
14
15
No class, project workday
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Research Paper Due
FINAL
B: Chapters 1 & 2
B: Chapters 3-5
B: Chapter 6
B: Chapter 7
Final Exam
Assignments:
Students will complete online activities in Vista groups, a midterm exam, a poster and research paper on a topic
related to the class, a summary of the poster presentations, and a final exam.
Grading rubrics are available on WebCT.
Project Requirements:
Details on the project will be posted on WebCT and discussed in class.
Assessment:
Online Activities
The online activities will be completed in discussion groups as assigned in WebCT.
Detailed guidelines are available in WebCT.
Midterm Exam
Research Paper & Poster Presentation
A poster on a research topic related to the course objectives is due at the end of the
term. The paper should be 10-15 pages in length, adhere to APA format standards,
and include at least 6 references. Each student will prepare and present a poster
overview of his/her research. Breakdown for the grade is as follows: Write-up 75%;
Poster presentation 25%. You must bring a hardcopy of the project and submit an
electronic copy to WebCT.
Summary of Poster Presentations
Each student will prepare a 1-2 paragraph summary of each of the student poster
presentations on the day that s/he did not make a poster presentation. These
summaries should be submitted by the due date. The summaries should be
combined into one Word document for submission. For each poster, the summary
should include: Poster title and author name, relevance of the poster presentation to
the class, and a one-paragraph statement of your overall evaluation of the poster. A
detailed breakdown of grading for the portfolio is included on WebCT.
Final Exam
TOTAL
20%
25%
25%
5%
25%
100%