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As we know that nowadays, there are many malicious kids of software that
being used to access certain system without authorization. Viruses, Trojan
horse, worms and logic bombs are some of the example that can harm the
computer system in an organization. It is show that unethical action
happened there which could make breaking the company system and could
be penalized due to the unauthorized access. Because of that, information
technology professional should be concerns on the ethics that should be
apply in information technology themselves or the professional people who
involved computer science so that, they could achieve a great environment
information technology industries. At the same time, it can improve
performance an individual in information technology field.
Other than that, the importance of ethics among the information technology
professional also will increase of respect among the professional people.
When talk about the respect it is come from the cooperation between the
team member which contribute to the development of the project that
should be do by them and the developers of the system understand the
users needs because from that, information technology can find the
opportunities in order to develop some of the project to fulfil the user
requirements. Besides that, ethics in information technology professional can
leads the user or customer satisfaction. As an example, computer
professional will develop the systems that are related to the technology in
order to satisfy the interest of the users and directly can bring the good work
environment by develop system. it will show that the performance of an
organization if the information technology involve under the organization and
make them become more professional in term of manage of information
technology that are very importance in each of an organization in the world.
Information technology ethics is the study of the ethical issues arising out of the use and
development of electronic technologies. Its goal is to identify and formulate answers to questions
about the moral basis of individual responsibilities and actions, as well as the moral
underpinnings of public policy.
Information technology ethics raises new and unique moral problems because information
technology itself has brought about dramatic social, political, and conceptual change. Because
information technology affects not only how we do things but how we think about them, it
challenges some of the basic organizing concepts of moral and political philosophy such as
property, privacy, the distribution of power, basic liberties and moral responsibility.
Ethics and Information Technology is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the
dialogue between moral philosophy and the field of information and communication technology
4
(ICT). The journal aims to foster and promote reflection and analysis which is intended to make
a constructive contribution to answering the ethical, social and political questions associated with
the adoption, use, and development of ICT.
Within the scope of the journal are also conceptual analysis and discussion of ethical ICT issues
which arise in the context of technology assessment, cultural studies, public policy analysis and
public administration, cognitive science, social and anthropological studies in technology, masscommunication, and legal studies. In addition, the journal features research that deals with the
history of ideas and provides intellectual resources for moral and political reflection on ICT.
Below i have detailed points showing you how information technology has
impacted our lives.
Advantages
Business
and
Disadvantages
of
information
technology
in
ADVANTAGES
information technology to cut down on costs of operation, then their ROI will
increase which will result into business growth.
6. Improves business to consumer relationship Businesses have
embraced the social technology to interact with their consumers and fans.
This creates a strong business to consumer relationship and it results into
business growth and expansion. Information technology can be used to
improve customer service in so many ways. For example, businesses can use
internet to inform their customers about great deals and discounts, this
makes customers feel special and it can drive their desire to buy. A good
customer service can be used as a great tool by any small business to gain
competitive advantage.
7. Improves on business competitive advantage: Companies have used
technology to gain competitive advantage over their competitors. A
business will improve on its technology and improve on its services and
products which will make its customers happy, this will turn these happy
customer loyal to that business and also invite more friends to use that
service or product.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Implementation Expenses: Small businesses fail to afford this
expensive technology so they end up losing their clients to a business which
has improved its technology and provides a better service or product.
2. Job Elimination: Technology has replaced most positions which humans
used to occupy. Accounting is now being done by software, so accountants
run out of opportunities.
3. Security Breaches: Since businesses store their data on remote cloud
servers which can be accessed with a user name and password, they risk
losing that data to wrong minded knowledge works, hackers or viruses, which
can harm he business.
1. Credit Cards and Smart cards: Buying and selling of goods and
services has become simple because of these smart cards. A user can go to
a merchants website and make an order using their smart card or credit
card. Money will be transferred from the consumers account to the
merchants account in seconds, and then the merchant will deliver the item
to the consumers address. This saves time for both parties.
2. Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment: (EBPP) systems send us
bills over the internet and they give us an easy way to pay them if the
amount looks correct. In this there is need for billing companies to send our
bills in mail. It saves time for both parties.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Internet security issues: For the merchant to process an order online,
a consumer has to provide their financial details. Experienced hackers can
use this lop hole to channel this information and use it for their own needs.
2. Faulty products and duplication: In most cases auction websites have
products that are not real. So a user can bid on a shoe thinking it is original,
upon delivery, they discover that the shoe is fake and it does not resemble
the picture on auction.
3. Privacy ecommerce websites collect personal data using cookies to
know more about us and suggest products basing on that information. This
data is collected without any notice , but with selfish intent.
3. Improved social discovery: Finding both old and new friends has
become very simple. With social networks like facebook and twitter, you can
easily keep up with all your old friends and also make new ones.
4. Globalization of knowledge: Today you can use the internet to get the
latest news from any country on the globe. Services like Twitter have
enabled people to become journalist so they report news on instant by
twitting. Services like Wikipedia.org are well equipped with data on about
anything.
5. Improved communication:
DISADVANTAGES
1. Cyber-sickness: With the increased addiction to social networks and
internet games, people are spending more time on computers and give up on
their normal offline life. This has resulted into relation breakups and
increases loneliness.
2. Social implications access to harmful information which corrupts
peoples minds and drives them to commit crime. People use search engines
to find information on how to create harmful weapons and how to commit
wrong acts in society.
Advantages
Banking
and
Disadvantages
of
information
technology
in
behaviors
among
information, store, and search and retrieved the information making the
computer technology treating anyone to keep various kind of information
that are privacy. It is the challenges also that are faced by the information
technology professional especially sensitive information like medical record.
Because nowadays, the people think so far in order to get the information
and make it as the basic information that is not importance. It is because of
the hacker that wants the information. Therefore, information privacy
nowadays also does not secure in hundred percent.
5. Globalization fraud in using business transaction.
In term of globalization, computer ethics today is rapidly involved in more
importance field. It is also can be known a global information ethics. Global
networks like internet will connect people all over the world.
Globalization refers to the variety of used like global cyber business, global
education and so on. The world is very close to the technology which can
provide electronic privacy and security on the interne in order to connect the
international business transactions. This challenge is very familiar nowadays,
because in transaction of the business today cheating and fraud in business
always happened.
Recommendations
to
address
encouraging
ethical
behaviors
technology professional.
the
challenges
in
among
information
like software ownership, tell them what is the impact if the people not
comply with the act that are implement by the government.
3. Discuss with the team member at the workplace
In this point, that I recommend, means that all the information technology
professional that are deal with the information technology, should discuss
everything about the problem or the challenges that they faced in manage
the technology and the system. For example, when people used t software
and sale that software without any permission of the software ownership,
they could discuss about it on their intellectual property on how to take the
action to the people who wrong in that situation. From the discussion with
the team member, it will provide more decision and the best decision will be
used to settle that problem. That is the good ethics when working in the
group as the information technology professional.
4. Told the society about the act of privacy
We know that, government today implement the act of privacy but the
society does not know about the act anymore. It is because the society today
lack of information that they should know. When we told them about the act
of privacy, they will know what might be right and what might be wrong.
From there, the act of privacy will be clear to the society. We can disseminate
the information through the pamphlet, poster and so on which related to the
medium that the people could read and heard like television, radio and
others electronic media through the implementation of the entertainments.
The act of the privacy that is implementing at Malaysia today is Protection of
Personal Data Act 2010.
5. Motivate the information technology professional in term of
globalization.
In order to motivate the information technology professional, the top
management in an organization should lead them in order to motivate them.
Top management in an organization should remind the information
technology professional when they do their job or work. It is very importance
thing to do where the top manager alert with the leadership style or skill in
each of the organization. Top manager should support their staff so that they
will motivate to accomplish the task that is given. The Information
Technology Professional themselves also can get the information about the
fraud in globalization by reads the news that are shows in the internet
medium. It ismore to the business transaction when related to the
globalization.
The ACM Code in its current form dates from 1992, with revisions up to 2004.
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(A calling is also a role). The last three items on the reorganized list
areobligations: The obligation to obey the laws is based on what is often
called tacitconsent, namely, continuing to live in the country and accept its
benefits (Locke,
1690). The obligation to uphold the bylaws of AITP and to cooperate is
basedon an individuals agreement to be a member. And the obligation to
upholdconfidentiality is based on an employees agreement with his or her
employer.
All the other preceding considerations are different. The first two call for
thecharacter trait of honesty and its exercise in not falsely claiming credit
forothers work. This is worth reminding people of and serves to separate the
ITprofession from the dishonest professions of thievery, drug dealing, and so
on.
But it may not be necessary to include this specifically in a professional code
of ethics. Perhaps the general statement that ethical behavior is, of
course,expected of IT professionals would be sufficient.
The remaining duties are owed to three basic groups: Employers, the
ITProfession, and Users. The duties to employers one acquires by becoming
anemployee. The duty to accept responsibility and not misuse authority
requiresa bit more, namely, that one be given authority as employee or
manager. Butall of these duties to employers are duties of every employee
namely avoidingconflicts of interest, protecting employer interests, not
misrepresenting orwithholding knowledge, and not using employer resources
for ones ownpurposes. They are indeed duties because one cant get out of
them by sayingthat one didnt agree to them or no one told me about them.
Someone who says
No one told me not to make phone calls to my aunt in the Ukraine on
thecompany dime, is not likely to be an employee for long. Again, because
theseare definitely not specific to IT professionals, it is not obvious that they
belongin a code of IT professional ethics.
However, it may once again be that these areas need to be brought to
theattention of IT professionals because IT professionals have more
opportunityto transgress in these areas. Conflicts of interest and using
employer resourcesfor ones own purposes can arise in unexpected ways
within an IT professionalcontext, and so special care may need to be taken to
avoid them. So it may beworth including them in a code of IT professional
ethics.
The remaining duties are definitely good candidates for ethical
responsibilities,specifically of the IT professional:
To promote management understanding of IT;
To disseminate IT knowledge;
Not to misrepresent IT capabilities;
To cooperate in identifying and solving IT problems; and
Not to exploit system weaknesses for ones own purposes.
16
All except the last are what I called enabling dutiesthey enable the
ITprofessional to fulfill his or her calling. The last is a substantive duty of
ITprofessionals. Not all professions would endorse a requirement not to
exploitsystem weaknessespart of what lawyers do is to exploit weaknesses
in thelegal system.
So, in fact, the AITP Code really includes only one substantive IT
professionalduty, as well as some enabling duties for IT professionals and
many generalduties.
The codes Public, Client and Employer, and Judgment sections parallel
similarsections on general ethical concerns in the other two codes: Software
engineersshould recognize that their work has to serve the public good,
avoid beingdangerous and causing harm. Issues of fair access to software
should beaddressed. A concern not addressed in the other codes is
professional skillsshould be volunteered to good causes. Two items also not
found in the othercodes: specifically not to use software obtained or retained
illegally; and nointerest detrimental to employer or client is to be promoted,
including outsidework, except when a higher ethical principle is at stake.
The section on PRODUCT includes specifics not found in the other codes
thatdefinitely belong in a list of professional IT duties:
Take responsibility for understanding and documenting specifications
andinsuring that specs meet user requirements and have appropriate
approvals;
Ensure realistic estimates of project costs, scheduling, personnel,
quality,and outcomes together with probability of success or failure;
Use only ethically obtained data;
Help maintain data integrity; and
Be responsible for appropriate maintenance.
As you can see, all of these apply to IT development generally, not just
tosoftware.
The Management section is unusual. It states the ethical responsibilities
ofmanagers of IT, including due process for disputes and fairness in
employment.
Besides fair compensation, hiring, and ownership agreements, managersare
to respect the IT professionals ethical concern and the Code itself.
Thedirective to ensure realistic project estimates is included here too.
Thesedirectives are obligations and duties owed to IT professionals, rather
thanobligations and duties of IT professionals. These responsibilities will
bediscussed shortly in the section on Management Conflicts.
The final sections on Profession, Colleagues, and Self are mainly devoted
toenabling duties that enable an individual to function well as a
professional:mutual support, honesty, and keeping current. A striking
concern not presentin the other codes is that the SEC is to be taken as
definitive of ethical behaviorfor a software engineer, and the Code itself is to
be promoted as an ethicalstandard within and without the profession.
Although this is a laudable goal,considerably more institutional backup is
probably necessary to make it stick,probably including widely accepted
credentialing for IT professionals. How ever, recent attempts to license IT
professionals have met with ACM opposition11
18
E-Problems
I observed that new uses of IT will be built on four basic featuresof
information technology:
Speed of information processing
Unlimited size of information storage capacity
Availability of information at any location (connectivity)
Easy reproduction of digital information
These features combine in many different ways to produce the
variousapplications of IT that give rise both to new benefits and to new
ethicalproblems. But, just as new and unpredictable uses of information
technologyarise with some regularity, so do new and unpredictable ethical
problems. I willdefine an e-problem as an ethical problem that arises as a
result of one of thefour features of IT listed above. In this chapter, I will
examine five unexpectedand difficult e-problems:
Sales Tax: Should sales tax be collected on Web-based transactions?If so,
where and by whose rules? If not, isnt this an unfair advantage forebusinesses?
Paperless Transactions: How does eliminating paper affect thosewithout
computers, especially those less well-off? How does oneestablish trust and
appropriate controls without a paper trail?
Fraudulent Copies: With a decent printer, it is very easy to
duplicatevirtually any document or picturewith or without modifications.
Thisalso makes it easy to produce fraudulent pictures. It is easy also
toproduce seemingly authentic requests for confidential information.
Spam: Should freedom of speech allow so much speech that speech inthe
form of e-mail is itself jeopardized?
Sales Tax
Should sales tax be collected on Web-based transactions? If so, where and
bywhose rules? If not, isnt this an unfair advantage for e-businesses?
Whatmakes this an e-problem is the IT property of connectivitythe
availability ofinformation at any location. Sales tax is collected by states, and
each state setsits own percentage and its own list of what is taxable and
what is not. The taxis collected on transactions done by businesses with a
physical presence in that state. Two U.S. Supreme Court rulingsfound that it
would be an excessive burden for mail-order companies to comply with
7,600 state and local tax codes and thus anunconstitutional restriction on
interstate commerce. Thus, the Supreme Courts
Some retailers who are required to collect sales taxes are attempting to
changethe situation. They have proposed a Federal Sales Tax Fairness Bill
19
whichwould require all retailers to collect and remit sales taxes. Such a
change wouldincur the previous Supreme Court objection unless sales tax
codes weredrastically streamlined. There is a separate proposal by the
National Governors
Association (NGA) called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), foruniform
sales tax rules and definitions (Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2004).
Unfortunately, under this proposal, different state and local governments
willstill be able to tax different items and at different rates. The only change
will bea uniform list of types of taxable items and procedures for publicizing
change.
It is hard to see how the NGAs proposal would meet the Supreme
Courtsprevious requirement of no excessive burden.
But the ethical question behind the e-problem is one of justice. We have
seenbefore that the Supreme Court does not always make just decisions. 1
And sowe can ask, is the practice of exempting businesses without a physical
presencein the taxing jurisdiction, a just practice? And are the Supreme
Courts groundsfor exempting businesses correct from the point of view of
justice, namely, theburden caused by having to comply with a huge number
of changing rulespromulgated by a huge number of jurisdictions?2
To begin the discussion, let us assume that the sales tax itself is a reasonably
justinstitution. For various reasons, it may be the only way certain
jurisdictions canobtain funds for activities belonging to a just society (police
protection, healthcare, etc.), even though the tax is correctly described as
regressive in takinga significantly greater share from lower income
individuals. The more importantconsideration is that Internet business
transactions simply do not take place ata few specific physical locations. The
distinctive IT property of availability ofinformation at any location transforms
the ability to locate a sales transaction.
Mail-order (and phone-order) sales transactions still take place at
particularphysical locations. The selling organization has its operations at
one place, andthe customer is at another. But with IT, the various parts of a
sales transactioncan easily be scattered across not only many states but
many countries. Fromthe point of view of justice, the tax should be collected
at the point where itsupports the infrastructure needed for commercial
transactions between sellerand customer. And the seller should be
responsible for knowing only the taxrules for the areas in which it does
business (and, therefore, has someresponsibility for contributing to the
infrastructure needed for commerce). Butit is different when the marketing is
planned in San Francisco, and executed ona server in New Jersey, and the
order information is taken from a customer inIowa, and processed by
someone in Ireland, and shipping is coordinated inSeattle for shipment from
a warehouse in Colorado, and payments areprocessed in the Bahamas, and
questions about the transaction are handled inBangalore. Where is the
physical presence of such a company? The Supreme
Courts Sales Tax Location Principle no longer seems to apply.
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Paperless Transactions
The speed, storage, and reproducibility features of IT produce strong
reasonsto eliminate or minimize the use of paper for many transactions. Two
differenttypes of ethical issues arise as a result. The first is along the lines of
professionalduty: How does one establish trust and appropriate controls
without a papertrail? The second is a digital divide issue: How does
eliminating paper affectthose without computers, especially those less welloff? Some colleges onlyaccept online applications. And only students with
ready access to computerscan avail themselves of online courses.4
As soon as a good deal of transaction and managerial information is
electronicrather than paper-based, the nature of both internal and external
auditingchanges. The two traditional choices are: Auditing around the
computer, andauditing through the computer. The first choice, auditing
around the computer,focuses on (paper) output and input. It is not likely to
be recommended thesedays, nor is it particularly ethical because it will not
reveal defects caused bycomputer processing. The second choice, auditing
through the computer,requires checking the actual processing done to
produce the output. Typically,sample data is actually run through the system.
Thus, business systems that rely on IT rather than paper produce a change
inthe duties of auditors (including managers responsible for the accuracy
ofcontrol reporting). It is the auditors professional duty to be IT-literate
enoughto understand how the companys system functions and its potential
for error.
This can be a tall order. I recall some years ago a yearly gross profit
reportcalculated in two different ways by two different departments,
presumably fromthe same data. When there was a 50% discrepancy between
the gross profitson the two reports covering the same period of time,
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Fraudulent Copies
With a decent printer, it is very easy to duplicate virtually any document
orpicturewith or without modifications. This also makes it easy to
22
Spam
Many other problems about the misuse of e-mail are similar to the
previousproblem of fraudulent copies. They are not so much ethical problems
asproblems of enforcement. But spam, that is, anonymous unsolicited email,does raise questions about freedom of speech on the Internet. Spam
has beencompared to unsolicited advertising mail, but one obvious
difference is thevolume. Throwing away junk mail is a minor annoyance.
Getting rid of spam istime-consuming. Another difference is content. I dont
get junk mail saying:
Best Priiiices
Best Selectiooooooon.
That is the content of a spam e-mail recently received. Like a lot of spam
Ireceive, it is totally pointless. It would be like receiving dozens of phone
23
1. Security: With tools like the internet, hackers have found it very easy to
hack into any computer or system as long as it is connected on internet.
Hackers can easily use an IP (Internet Protocol) address to access a users
computer and collect data for selfish reasons. Also the wide spread of
internet cookies which collect information whenever we use the internet , has
exposed IT users to high risks of fraud and conflicting interests. Many big
companies use these cookies to determine which products or service they
can advertise to us. When it comes to online banking, the transfer of money
can easily be interrupted by a hacker and all the money will be transferred to
their desired accounts , which affects both the bank and the customers who
is using online banking technology.
2. Privacy Issues: As much as information technology has enabled us to
share and find relevant information online,. It has also exploited our freedom
of privacy. Their so many ways our privacy is exploited, (1) use of internet
webcams, experienced computer users can turn on any webcam of any
computer online and they will have access to your private life, many
celebrities have been victims of these online stalkers. A good example is
DharunRavia former Rutgers University student who was spying on his
roommate through a webcam. Read more on this story here .(2) use of
social networks, the main concept of these networks is to connect with new
and old friends then share your life with them, however, the loop hole in
this , is that when eversome one access your shared life data like photos ,
they can like it and send it their friends who are not your friends, which
might expose you to users with wrong intentions to use your data, also
some companies are known for spying on their employees via these social
networks.
3. Copyright Infringement: Information technology has made it easy for
users to access any information or artifact at any given time. With the
increased development of music sharing networks and photo bookmarking
sites, many original creators of these works are losing the credibility of their
works, because users of IT can easily gain access and share that data with
friends. Free music and file downloading sites are popping up on internet
every day , lots of original work like music albums, books , are being
downloaded for free. In this case one legitimate user will purchase the
book , software, web template or music album, and they will submit it to a
free download site where others will simply just download that data for free.
It is good news for the users because it saves them money, but it harms the
original creator of these works. The government has closed some of these
sites like megaupload.com , but many are popping up using funny URLs.
4. Increased pressure on IT experts. Since information technology
systems have to run all the time, pressure is mounted on IT experts to
ensure the accuracy and availability of these systems. Many big
organizations which need to operate 24 hours will require a standby IT team
25
to cater for any issues which might arise during the course of operation. This
pressure results into stress and work overload which some times results into
Imperfection.
5. Digital divide: Information technology has many opportunities and it has
shaped many industries in developed countries; however, developing
countries have difficulties of enjoying the same benefits of Information
technology. To get these benefits they have to train their labor and users
should also adopt the new culture which is a bit costly in these developing
countries. In some remote areas they do not even have power, so
information technology tools like computers can not be used. In other sectors
like education, most of these developing countries have poor old education
systems, so a student will not be aware of new information technologies.
All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
26
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and well-being of himself and of his family.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
declaration, without distinction of any kinds, such as race, color, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth, or status.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination
to equal protection of the law.
resources .Since they have the knowledge and abilities to abuse and bypass
the system they must instead set an example and enforce policies.
Clients
The relationship between an IT professional and their clients usually begins
with the client contacting the IT Professional and asking them to perform a
specific job.The IT Professional then accepts the job he waits for the client to
provide relevant information about the job. IT Professionals rely on the
information provided by clients to be truthful and complete, so in turn they
can provide recommendations to their clients who make decisions about the
project.Clients must also listen to IT workers and ask them questions to
understand key nuances that will impact the decisions they make and how
those decisions will affect the projects budget and schedule.
It Professions sometimes become in ethical dilemmas when they begin
recommending there products to clients that may or may not remedy their
problem, if it ever existed.Other problems may arise when Project manager
begin to fall behind on their projects due to a variety of reasons such as lack
of experience and/or information.Clients may not be aware of the problem
until it becomes a crisis which forces the project manager to reveal the
truth.The client may charge the IT Professional with fraud, misrepresentation
and / or breach of contract.
Suppliers
Suppliers provide IT workers with hardware, software and services. Like with
clients IT workers must have a good working relationship with their Suppliers.
In order to build a good relationship with suppliers deals with them fairly and
do not make unreasonable demands. Since its a competitive market many
suppliers try to increase sales. Suppliers may try to bribe IT workers in order
to achieve their goals. A bribe is the exchange of money, property or favors
to someone within an institution, business or government to obtain
privileged information or special treatment in contracts attribution. A gift is
essentially different because a gift does not come with obligations, in any
case in a commercial setup or in relation with a recipient that is in a position
to benefit the donor; ethics dictate that the practice is negative. Gifts must
always be reported and never hidden; the moment a gift is hidden it
28
becomes a bribe. Most bribes are made through a third party, while gifts
should lead directly from donor to recipient.
Computer Crime
Computer crimes are illegal activities performed using a computer and they
include theft, financial fraud, embezzlement, online harassment, virus
infection and sabotage. Computer crimes affect all businesses that rely on
the Internet to operate. A research report in 2000 by the FBI showed that out
of all the business respondents, 85 percent had been victims of computer
crime. These crimes compromise businesses and put them at a
disadvantage; for example, the same FBI report shows that $265 million was
lost to computer crime in 2000. Small businesses suffer more crimes because
they cannot afford to implement security measures to stop the crimes, unlike
the big companies. Small businesses are also reluctant to put in security
measures because they believe that hackers will mainly target big
companies.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is the creation of a business and includes the name,
designs, inventions, images and symbols that a company uses. The success
of a business largely depends on its assets. Information technology has
enabled other businesses or companies to imitate or copy ideas from others
and use it as their own. Some of these innovations are from the small- and
medium-size enterprises (SMEs), but their efforts may not be fully utilized
and they don't gain any financial benefits. This is because their inventions
are unprotected and are normally taken by big companies who can afford to
quickly commercialize the service or product. To avoid this, the SMEs should
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Software Piracy
Piracy is the illegal copying of software, whether knowingly or unknowingly.
Software piracy violates copyright agreements. In 2002, 39 percent of
business application software were pirated in the U.S. Software piracy can be
costly, especially for corporations as it leads to significant losses. In 2002
alone, the software industry in the U.S. lost a total of $13 billion. There may
be arguments that individual piracy may not be unethical as it leads to
computer literacy and may even lead to future purchase of the software.
However, the dilemma may come in when piracy is done on a large scale, as
this will lead to serious losses for software manufacturers, especially those
who are small-scale producers. Big companies like Microsoft can hardly feel
the loss as they have a way to protect their software but small-scale
businesses would greatly be affected as they are likely to incur big losses,
which might eventually lead to the closure of the business. Small business
firms' incentive to continue creating new software is also reduced as they
fear their works would be pirated.
Job Displacement
The use of information technology might require less deployment of man
power and this has created ethical dilemmas by forcing some companies to
reduce their workforce. Other companies give their employees more roles
than required, thus, increasing work pressure. Forcing employees out of their
jobs or giving them more work without added benefits is unethical. Those
who have lost their jobs should be compensated, but this is difficult for most
small-scale businesses because they lack sufficient resources and funds to
do so.
30
CASE STUDY
Official website of maharastra government hacked
IT experts were trying yesterday to restore the official website of the government of
Maharashtra, which was hacked in the early hours of Tuesday.
Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police, said that the states IT officials lodged a formal
complaint with the Cyber Crime Branch police on Tuesday. He added that the hackers would be
tracked down. Yesterday the website, http://www.maharashtragovernment.in, remained blocked.
Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil confirmed that the Maharashtra
government website had been hacked. He added that the state government would seek the help of
IT and the Cyber Crime Branch to investigate the hacking.
We have taken a serious view of this hacking, and if need be the government would even go
further and seek the help of private IT experts. Discussions are in progress between the officials
of the IT Department and experts, Patil added.
The state government website contains detailed information about government departments,
circulars, reports, and several other topics. IT experts working on restoring the website told Arab
News that they fear that the hackers may have destroyed all of the websites contents.
According to sources, the hackers may be from Washington. IT experts said that the hackers had
identified themselves as Hackers Cool Al-Jazeera and claimed they were based in Saudi
Arabia. They added that this might be a red herring to throw investigators off their trail.
According to a senior official from the state governments IT department, the official website has
been affected by viruses on several occasions in the past, but was never hacked. The official
added that the website had no firewall.
According to the information provided by the police, one of the customer received a SMS based
alert for purchasing of the ticket even when the credit card was being held by him. Customer was
alert and came to know something was fishy; he enquired and came to know about the misuse.
He contacted the Bank in this regards. Police observed involvement of many Bank's in this
reference.
The tickets were book through online means. Police requested for the log details and got the
information of the Private Institution. Investigation revealed that the details were obtained from
State Bank of India . Shaikh was working in the credit card department; due to this he had access
to credit card details of some customers. He gave that information to Kale. Kale in return passed
this information to his friend Lukkad. Using the information obtained from Kale Lukkad booked
tickets. He used to sell these tickets to customers and get money for the same. He had given few
tickets to various other institutions.
Cyber Cell head DCP Sunil Pulhari and PI Mohan Mohadikar A.P.I Kate were involved in eight
days of investigation and finally caught the culprits.
32
Conclusions
Thus, there are a vast range of ethical issues in I.T., and some of these have been
discussed in this article. These can be broken down into a number of sub-headings,
including computer crime, social implications, advanced I.T. issues, netiquette and
intellectual property rights. Some of these can be solved quite easily, whilst others seem to be
almost impossible to solve.
33
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Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Borgmann, A., 1984, Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life, Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
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