Chapter 15 Legal _ Ethical Issues

							  Prepare by :

  Salameh ahmad al_khawaldeh

  Layth ahmad al_rababah




WWW
                             Objective
   Ethical Issues                                 Legal Issues
        What is Ethics?                                Liability Question
        Major Threats                                  Basis of Liability
        Improving the Climate                          Copyrights & Trademarks
        Code of Ethics                                 Website – Product / Service?
        Self-Assessment                                Warranties
        Privacy Factor                                 Strict Liability
                                                        Taxation Issues
   Information Technology Ethical challenges
   Challenges: Web Design
   Challenges: Commerce
   Challenges: Workplace                          New technology new ethical
   Challenges: Speech                              problems
   Challenges: Computing Resource Abuse                Example
   Challenges: Privacy
   Challenges: Intellectual Property

WWW
   Challenges: Other                                                             2
                 What is ethic?
   Fairness, justice, equity, honesty,
    trustworthiness & equality
   Subjective
                               Legal




                              B    C
           Immoral                        Moral
                              A    D



WWW                            Illegal
                                                  3
                 Major threats

   Faster computers & networks
   Sophisticated telecommunications & routers
   Massive distributed databases
   Eases of access to information & knowledge
    base
   Transparency of software




WWW                                              4
             Improving the climates

   Top management support
   Code of ethics
   Ethics training program
   Motivation to focus on honesty & integrity




WWW                                              5
               WHERE TO START

   Bottom-up
       Inculcates ethics behavior at the employee level with
        full support of top management


   Top-down
       The actions of the company start with the CEO
       Extend to a variety of stakeholders



WWW                                                             6
               Code of ethics

   A declaration of principles and beliefs that
    govern how employees of a corporation are to
    behave
   Inspirational & disciplinary
   All-compassing & stable over time




WWW                                                7
             Self- Assessment
   A question-and-answer procedure
   Allows individuals to appraise & understand their
    personal knowledge about a particular topic
   An educational experience




WWW                                                 8
                      Privacy factor
   Notice
       Right to be told in advance
       Choice
       Final say regarding the use of personal info

   Access
       Access & correct any personal info

   Security/integrity

   Enforcement
       Backed by the courts if any principles are violated

WWW                                                           9
         THE LIABILITY QUESTION
   Liability of Designer
       Nontrivial errors
       Out-of-bound errors

   Liability of User
       Passive negligence

   Basis of Liability
       Tort law
       Product liability

WWW                               10
     TORT LAWS ON INTERNET

   Settling contract problems between e-merchants &
    ISP
   Fraud – intent to deceive
   Negligence – failing to make certain action causing
    injury / material losses
   False advertising
   Misrepresentation – claiming a product will perform
    certain functions when it could not
   Trademark violations – under intellectual property law



WWW                                                          11
                    COPYRIGHT
   Copyrights

       Ownership of an original work created by an author
       A form of intellectual property protection covers the
        „look & feel‟ and content of printed media
       Gives author the right to exclude others from using
        the finished work
       Good for life of its author + 70 years




WWW                                                             12
     TRADEMARK / TRADE NAME

   A word / symbol distinguishing a good from other
    goods in the market
   A maze of federal & state laws
   Web designer – „work made for hire‟




WWW                                                13
    WEBSITE – PRODUCT/SERVICE?
   Product
       Software sold off the shelf
       Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) allows developer to
        limit liability for defective websites though a disclaimer
        of warranties
   Service
       Custom-designed software
       Negligence principles should be usede




WWW                                                              14
                  WARRANTIES

   Assurance made by seller about the goods sold
   Express warranty
       Offered orally or in writing by maker of products
   Implied warranty
       Arises automatically when a sale is made
       Merchantability
   Disclaimer
       Seller‟s intention to protect the business from unwanted
        liability
       http://www.microsoft.com/misc/info/cpyright.htm


WWW                                                         15
            STRICT LIABILITY

   Joint & several liability for developers,
    manufacturers & distributors if tort theory applies

   Protects web visitor regardless of whether
    anyone is at fault




WWW                                                   16
           TAXATION ISSUES

   Controversial

     Different jurisdiction
     Consumers‟ reaction




WWW                            17
          New technology = new
            ethical problems
    Traditional rules of conduct are not always
     applicable to a new medium

    A question that often arises: Should a
     device, a technique or technology be
     restricted because people can use it for
     illegal or harmful actions as well as
     beneficial ones?



WWW                                                18
                      Example
Mobile phones with cameras. Pupils at school
take photos of other pupils in the shower, and
publish the pictures on the Internet.

    Discuss. How to deal with this?




WWW                                              19
  Information Technology
     Ethical Challenges




WWW
                  Challenges: Code of Ethics


   No Form of licensing for computer professionals
       Results in no real way to enforce ethical standards within the
        computing field
       There is movement within the industry to create a licensing
        process but there are many issues to be resolved
            What will be included on the exam?
            How often will an IT professional be required to renew the
             license?
   Developed by several organizations
       Adoption
       Implementation
       Monitoring
       Example: http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html

WWW                                                                       21
                 Challenges: Web Design
   Implementation of features
        Pop ups
        Blocking/filters
        Aliases and redirecting
        Cookies
        Privacy policies
        Security policies
        Spyware

   Use of other design features
        Javascript
        Graphics - pictures, buttons, logos, icons
        Content
        Design layout
        Accountability/responsibility
        Outdated material, inaccurate material

WWW                                                   22
             Challenges: Commerce
   Fraud
   Taxation
   Free Trade
   Gambling
   Auctions
   Spamming
       Who were Canter and Siegel?
       Spamming cell phones?
   Term papers for sale
       Atlanta Journal Constitution article




WWW                                            23
                 Challenges: Workplace
   Accessibility
   Ergonomics
   Outsourcing
   Telecommuting
   Customer relationships – Vendor relationships
   Should IT professionals be in the ethics business or should other
    areas of the business handle these issues?

   Monitoring
        Should your employer have the right to monitor private email
         messages?
        What are the two most popular Web sites for American workers?
         Playboy and ESPN



WWW                                                                      24
              Challenges:Workplace
   62% of employers monitor employees' eMail and Internet use.
   68% cite legal liability as the primary reason to monitor.
   87% of companies that monitor have a written eMail Policy,
   83.1% an Internet Policy,
   68% a Software Policy.
   51% of employers have disciplined or terminated employees for violating
    ePolicy.
   35% of organizations have eMail retention & deletion policies in place.
   10% of companies have been ordered by courts to turn over employee
    eMail related to workplace lawsuits.
   8.3% of organizations have battled sexual harassment and/or sexual
    discrimination claims stemming from employee e-mail and/or Internet use.

Source: The 2001 Electronic Policies & Practices Survey from The American
   Management Association, US News & World Report, and The ePolicy Institute-Click
   Here for Survey Results.

WWW                                                                                  25
                      Music Downloads
   Risk of getting caught
       Studies have shown that a majority of the people who share music on the
        Internet are aware that their actions are illegal, said Michael McGuire, a analyst
        with the Gartner Group. ``But they also know that the chances of getting caught
        are pretty remote''
       Why is “getting caught remote”?
            There are an estimated 60 million peer-to-peer network subscribers
             in the United States alone, with tens of millions more in other
             countries

       The RIAA is seeking out people who make their music files
        available for others to download.
            The networks have features that allow users to block others from
             downloading their files but allow them to continue to download files




WWW                                                                                      26
                          Challenges: Speech
   Net Etiquette
   Email privacy
        Email privacy policy
        “Flaming” – insulting, argumentative or chastising replies to messages
   Free Speech
        Accountability and responsibility for web content
               Abortion sites
               Outdated information
               Accurate information
               Privacy and security policies
        Porn
               Professors pc – filled with porn, found by pc maintenance workers
               Visa – won‟t give permission to be used on offensive or pornographic sites
        Hate
               MACHADO CASE
        Internet Filters
               Should filters be in schools or libraries, and /or should they be mandated by law?
               Filters can also be set up to filter out other subjects, would this be an ethical violation?
   Chain Letters


WWW                                                                                                            27
    Challenges: Computing Resource Abuse

   Computers in the Workplace and the Classroom
       Use or Abuse
       Internet Access
       Instant Messenger
       Laptop use in the classroom
       Email
            Legal document
            Can be modified
            Flaming
       Access
       Computer Usage policy
       Email policy




WWW                                                28
 Challenges: Computing Resource Abuse

 Computer   Crime
  Viruses
  Hackers
  Theft
  “These cyber swindles and dot-cons present
   new challenges to law enforcement” said
   John Ashcroft
  US Charges 135 With Net Crimes



WWW                                             29
                  Challenges: Privacy
   Privacy issues are at the top of the list in regards to
    ethical use of information.
           Loss of control
           Misuse of information
           Risk to physical privacy
           Risk of identity theft (video)
           Unwanted intrusions into daily life
   USA Patriot Act (post 9/11)
           Efforts to detect and deter terrorist activity
           Datamining corporate data
           Loss of business and risk of lawsuits due customers being outraged
            at their loss of data privacy
   Cookies
   Privacy policies
WWW                                                                          30
         Challenges: intellectual Property
   Electronic Copyright
   Licensing
   Interoperability
   Licensing
        Cyberlicenses
        Shrinkwrap
        Shareware
        Freeware
   MP3
        RIAA court case against college students
        University Internet Usage policies
   Internet Downloads
        Files
        Graphics
        Text

WWW                                                 31
         Challenges: Intellectual Property

   Patent, trade secrets, and copyright law
       Who owns the program
       Who owns the algorithm
   Software Piracy
       Why shouldn't I use pirated software? Who am I hurting by
        doing so?
       Piracy exists in everywhere.
       Loss of revenue hurts everyone.
       All software piracy is illegal and Software piracy is unethical.
       Various studies have found that the software industry loses
        approximately $12 billion every year .
       State Industry Study
   CD-RW

WWW                                                                    32
                  Challenges: Other

   Decision making using Expert Systems
   Network Security
   Software accuracy and reliability who is ethically
    responsible?
       Therac-25 Accidents
       Killer Robots
       The Hughes Whistleblowing Case




WWW                                                      33
    Conclusion: Some Ideas to Ponder

   Computer ethics today is now a global effort
        The gap among the rich and poor nations, rich and poor citizens exists. How can
         it be eliminated or reduced eithically and morally to provide information and
         services that will move them to into the world of cyberspace?
        Will the poor be cut off from job opportunities, education, entertainment, medical
         care, shopping, voting - because they cannot afford a connection to the global
         information network?
        Whose laws will apply in cyberspace when hundreds of countries are
         incorporated into the global network?

   What happened? Where did our knowing right from wrong go too?
        Are we missing an opportunity to introduce ethics at an early age in children by
         not integrating these thoughts and practices in video games?
        Should more controls and regulations be introduced into the system? Will they
         actually help to improve our moral and ethical behavior?

   Unethical behavior continues to permeate industry, what measures,
    policies, codes of conduct be changed to change this behavior?



WWW                                                                                         34
                   Works Cited:
   http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/its/cei/overview/Ten_Com
    manments_of_Computer_Ethics.htm
   http://www.computingcases.org/case_materials/case_mater
    ials.html
   http://www.epolicyinstitute.com/
   http://legacy.eos.ncsu.edu/eos/info/computer_ethics/
   http://www.spa.org/piracy/
   http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/cases.html
   http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~kschwaig/present.ppt




WWW                                                       35