Ethical Computing

Ethical Computing QBA 362 w/ Burke Ltelatk H. Fritz FRITZ, LTELATK Ethical Computing QBA 362-Spring 2010 E T H I C AL C O MP UT I NG 1. Find a code of ethics from a firm of your choosing (other than the CPSR or the ACM). What do you think are the best five guiding principles from all the tips that you found? http://www. buzzle. com/articles/computer-ethics-code-of-ethics-in-computing. html Code of Ethics ? Information stored on the computer should be treated as seriously as written or spoken word. ? Privacy should not be violated. In case of academic use, it is known plagiarism. ? ? ? Information for public viewing should not be modified or deleted or inaccessible since these are considered as destructive acts. Intrusive software such as â€Å"worms† and â€Å"viruses† which are destructive to the computer system is also illegal. Congesting somebody’s system with a lot of unwanted information is also unethical. Sending obscene and crude messages through mail or c hat is also forbidden. ? Sending sexually explicit content, message or pictures is also forbidden †¡ I felt the top five codes under Buzzle ®Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Code of Ethics were the best. Because in general it covers a broad area of things. Treating information stored on computers as if they were written or spoken words, is like asking users to respect the rights of others, as well as their responsibility towards other people’s work. (Individual Responsibility) Leaving other people’s work in tact as they are—without modification or deletion, is important because it preserves the other person’s integrity. It’s kind of the same as walking into (or breaking into ) someone’s home and rearranging their furniture without their knowledge. Preserving Integrity) †¡ 2 FRITZ, LTELATK Ethical Computing QBA 362-Spring 2010 2. Is forwarding e-mail jokes good or bad? Summarize the opposing arguments you found. †¡ I personally forward e-mail that I think is appropriate for the individual I am sending the message to. However, congesting someone’s space is considered unethical according to the Buzzle ® Code of Ethics. †¡ Another factor I was totally oblivious of was the fact that all these people’s names and address are forwarded with the mail. My current method of forwarding the message is just to cut the message content and then forward it to friends. Sometimes I insert their address in the blind carbon copy (bcc) area to keep their address private. It is all about respecting someone’s privacy and integrity. 3. How does anonymous e-mail work and why would you use it? †¡ There are so many sites where you can set up anonymous e-mails, i. e. http://www. sendanonymousemail. net/ or http://www. hidemyass. com/anonymous-email/. But you can just as well set up a bogus account and use it to send anonymous e-mails. There were so many given reasons to use such websites like, â€Å"catching a spouse/partner cheating,† whistle-blowing, reporting illegal activities to the authorities. But I say, if you can’t say it in person, write it in a letter and sign it with your name. Be account for what you believe. It takes guts, but sometimes we just gotta. †¡ 4. What are five ways e-mail use can be unethical? Which do you think is most common? Why? †¡ †¡ †¡ †¡ †¡ †¡ Using e-mail to steal company information. Using e-mail to scam people out of money. Using e-mail to conduct illegal activities, like money laundering, human trafficking, etc†¦ Using e-mail to ruin someone’s reputation or â€Å"blasting† stuff about a foe. Using e-mail in push/mass marketing. (Free Viagra or stuff like that) The most common I used to get is push/mass marketing. I once got my Inbox filled with 10,000 messages in less than a month. 5. Why is deliberate spreading of viruses unethical? Name five reasons. ? ? Intrusive software such as â€Å"worms† and â€Å"viruses† which are destructive to the computer system is also illegal. (Buzzle  ®) Congesting somebody’s system with a lot of unwanted information is also unethical. Buzzle  ®) ? 1) Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people: If it is unethical to harm people by making a bomb, for example, it is equally bad to write a program that handles the timing of the bomb. Or, to put it more simply, if it is bad to steal and destroy other people’s books and notebooks, it is equally bad to access and destroy their files. (CEI) 3 FRITZ, LTELATK Ethical Computing QBA 362-Spring 2010 ? 2) Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work: Computer viruses are small programs that disrupt other people’s computer work by estroying their files, taking huge amounts of computer time or memory, or by simply displaying annoying messages. Generating and consciously spreading computer viruses is unethical (CEI) ? 7) Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization: Multiuser systems use user id’s and passwords to enforce their memory and time allocations, and to safeguard information. You should not try to bypass this authorization system. Hacking a system to break and bypass the authorization is unethical 4