Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Ethical Behavior With Regards to Computer Usage

Increase public knowledge about technology.

The ethics codes of the computer professional societies was is an emphasis on the relationship and interaction of the computer professional with other people, rather than with machines.

One reason that the four codes are not only similar to each other, but also very similar to codes of non-computer professionals is that they take a generic approach to ethics. With the exception of the concern raised about privacy and the confidentiality of data, the codes could have been written to cover most professions and do not fully reflect the unique ethical problems raised by computer technology. Of the four codes, the ICCP code is most clearly geared to the computer profession and deserves further discussion.

it is heavily oriented toward an attempt to enforce standards of competence and accountability. For instance, the Preamble to the Code of Conduct confines its reach to “matters pertaining to personal actions of individual certified computer professionals in situations for which they can be held directly accountable without reasonable doubt (ICCP, p. 2),” Such language is subject to several interpretations and thus will keep lawyers in business for years. It then explains the obligations of certified computer professional under sections that appear to encourage or prohibit certain conduct in somewhat limited ways.

A person's moral and ethical values are critical to the relationships developed with fellow workers, the types of applications that are developed, the quality of the work done, and the general honesty and integrity of the person. Persons who have relative values will often see relationships with other persons as an avenue to further themselves. Their intellectual honesty is often open to question because using another person's property will be okay as long as it gets the job done and furthers that person's objectives. A person's values do make a difference in the character of a computer professional.

Honor property rights including the copyrights and patents.

Violation of copyrights, patents, and the terms of license agreements is prohibited by law in most circumstances. Even when not so protected, such violations are contrary to professional behavior. Copies of software should be made only with proper authorization. Unauthorized duplication of materials must not be condoned.

Unauthorized copying of software is illegal--copyright law protects authors and publishers of software.

The unauthorized copying of any software owned by the College will be viewed as an act of theft and a violation of the appropriate copyright protection provided for under the law.

The installation of any unauthorized software on any storage medium owned by the college, or the running of unauthorized software on computing equipment owned by the college will be viewed as a violation of the appropriate copyright protection provided for under the law for their junction/s.

1. Privacy -protect my privacy and respect the privacy of others.

2. Property -property and respect the property of others.

3. Appropriate Use- use technology in constructive ways and in ways which do not break the rules of my family, religion, school, or government.

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