1. CS 305 Topics Covered

2. Chapter 1: Overview of Ethics What is ethics? Ethics is a set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior. These beliefs are guided by morality. Why is ethics important in (IT) business? – To gain goodwill of the community – To create an organization that operates consistently – To produce good business – To protect the organization and its employees from legal action – To avoid unfavorable publicity

3. Chapter 2: Professional Ethics Importance of ethics to IT workers in their business relationships: Are IT workers professionals based on legal standards? Role of certification and licensing in legitimizing IT workers as professionals Significance of IT professional organizations and their codes of ethics: – Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Code of Ethics – Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) Code of Ethics – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Code of Ethics

4. Chapter 3: Computers and Internet Crime Decisions IT professionals must make and the business needs they must balance when dealing with security issues. Examples: – If your company produces defective software that allows hackers to break into customers’ computers, what action should you take? – What should be done when recommended security safeguards make life more difficult for customers and employees, resulting in lost sales and increased costs? The types of crimes IT professionals must watch out for and try to prevent: – Viruses, Worms, Denial-of-Service Attacks, etc. – Establishing security policies, Educating employees, Installing firewalls, Protecting against malicious insiders

5. Chapter 4: Privacy What is privacy? – “the right to be left alone—the most comprehensive of rights, the right most valued by a fee people” (Justice Brandeis, dissenting in Olmstead v. US, 1928) Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution (1791 ratified): – The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and persons or things to be seized. Rights granted by the constitution mostly constrain what government entities can or cannot do: Census Bureau, IRS, FBI, CIA, State Universities, etc. How does the use of IT affect privacy rights? What happens when we use IT facilities provided by private companies? Companies like Google, Facebook, MySpace collect huge amounts of information. Some issues: – How much privacy should they provide? – Who owns the information about oneself: the individual or the company? – Who should they share their information with?

6. Chapter 5: Freedom of Expression In spite of its young age, the Internet has become a dominant vehicle for expression of ideas First Amendment of the US Constitution provides for extensive protection of free speech, even if it is offensive or annoying (1791 ratified) – Congress shall make no law respecting ….abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble,…. Key issues in Freedom of Expression: – Obscene speech is not protected by the First Amendment. How should pornography be controlled on the Web? – Defamation (untrue spoken or written speech that harms another person) is not protected by the First Amendment, but the standards to prove defamation are high. – Ability to communicate anonymously on the Internet makes it even more difficult to enforce laws against obscenity and defamation.

7. Chapter 6: Intellectual Property When you (an individual or a company) develop an algorithm, or write a piece of software, who owns the right to make money from it? Do you want it to be open-source? What are ways to ensure right to intellectual property? – Copyright: Grants creators of “original works of authorship in any tangible medium, now known or later developed, ….the exclusive right to distribute, display, perform, or reproduce the work in copies or to prepare derivative works…” (US Code, Title 17, Section 102(a)) – Patent: A patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, permits an inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling protected information, and allows legal action against violators. – Trade Secret Laws: A trade secret is “information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process” (Uniform Trade Secrets Act, 1970s) that has economic value to a company and needs to be kept secret to have economic value.

8. Chapter 7: Software Development What process should be followed to produce quality software? Why is software quality important? Besides market-share.. Who is responsible if safety-critical or life- critical software fails and property and life are lost?

9. Chapter 8: Employer/Employee Issues Use of non-traditional workers – Independent contractors: Advantages and Disadvantages – H1-B or foreign workers – Offshore outsourcing Whistle-blowing – An insider, e.g., an employee, reports on and brings attention to negligent, illegal, unethical or dangerous act by a company. – Should whistle-blowers be protected? – How should a company deal with a whistle-blowing situation?

10. Chapter 9: Impact of Information Technology on the Quality of Life IT is impacting every aspect of life, but some issues stand out more than others: – Productivity of workers – Entertainment – Socialization and community development – Digital Divide: Access to IT and IT products are absolutely essential to live in the 21 st century. IT infrastructure (e.g., networks, access to computers) is like roads, fire stations, water supply. Many people in this country and world-wide don’t have any access to IT or have limited resources. – Effect of IT on healthcare costs