From Accumulated Notes

Derived from the Greek word ethikos meaning custom or character

Oxford American dictionary: Concerned with the principles of what is right and wrong in conduct

Chambers Dictionary Ethics is a code of behaviour considered correct

Ethics is the practice of making a principled choice between right and wrong

Ethical principles are ideas of behavior that are commonly acceptable to society

Using ethical principles as a basis for decision making prevents us from relying only on intuition or personal preference

So many unethical situations we encounter each day that we should careSome unethical actions can violate lawOthers, though not illegal, can have drastic consequences for our careers and reputationsWe should care about ethics for our own self interest

A characteristic common to computer ethics is the difficulty of identifying ethical issuesMany who perform unethical practices with computers dont see the ethical implicationsWhen caught, their first reaction is:I didnt know I did anything wrong. I only looked at the file, I didnt take it.If they copy a file they say:I didnt do anything wrong. The file is still there for the owner. I just made a copy.

Hackers often say,I was just testing to see how secure the system was. I was going to report the weakness to management. I was performing a valuable service.

Choosing right from wrongMost of us know that stealing, lying, and cheating are wrongThese three actions are taboos of a commonsense moralityChoosing right from rightSome ethical choices are harder when the situation is not as clearLying may be wrong but if you visit a sick friend is it wrong to exaggerate how well they look?Some might lie about how the friend looks to achieve a perceived higher goodThe quick recovery or general welfare of the patientIs it wrong to steal food if one is starving?Is it wrong if ones child is starving?

Is it wrong to keep coins found in a pay telephone?Does the money belong to the previous caller?To the phone company?To you?Does the amount found make a difference?Would you keep a small amount?Return a large amount?How would you give the coins back?Would you call the operator and feed the coins back into the machine?What if the operator wouldnt take them?Are you then off the hook?Should you give them to charity?

These trivial examples ilustrate the complexity of ethical choiceThe necessity to choose a course of action from two or more alternativesEach having a desirable resultIn an ethical choice then, an individual must often choose between two or more goods or the lesser of two evils

Making ethical decisions is not a sciencePeople do it differentlyIn ethical decision making the individual must decide that the answer depends onWhat the facts areWhat harm might be done by each alternativeWhich course of action results in the least harmSome ways to do this are to use laws, guidelines, and ethical principles

Law often represents an ethical minimumEthics often represents a standard that exceeds the legal minimumEthicsLawFrequent Overlap

Law is the rules of conduct established by the government of a society to maintain stability and justice.

The Relationship Between Ethics and Law If everyone made the same ethical decisions with the same results, there would be no need for law. In the real world, however, some people engage in conduct that most people agree is wrong.

Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the government of a society to maintain stability and justice.Law defines the legal rights and duties of the people and provides the means of enforcing these rights and duties.

Because law is made by people, it is imperfect. Legislators and judges bring their own personal opinions on ethics to the lawmaking process.As a result, ethics and law will sometime conflict.

Law has immediate primacyLaw is concerned with formally expressed rules.Law requires compliance.

Courts are the arbiters of legal dispute.

Ethics has long term concernsEthics is concerned with debatable statements.Ethics requires an attempt to meet aspirational standards.Ethics often finds its resolution in other forums.

Behavior or act that has been committedPrevailing norms of acceptabilityValue judgments and perceptions of the observercompared with

When a law tells us to do nor not to do something it implies that a recognized authority has decided that the action the law prescribes is of benefit to society

Often, an ethical principle was used prior to a laws constructionRemember that ethical principles are ideas of behavior that are commonly acceptable to societySo, law is often grounded in ethical principles, a good starting point for ethical decision making

The relationship between ethics and law leads to four possible statesLegalNot LegalEthicalNot EthicalI IIIIIIV

Ethical and LegalBuying a spreadsheet program and using it to do accounting for clientsFiring an individual who does not perform according to expectations or who fails to follow certain contractual obligationsIncreasing the price of goods when the demand for those goods increasesEthical but not LegalCopying copyrighted software to use only as a backup, even when the copyright agreement specifically prohibits copying for that purpose

III. Not Ethical but LegalRevealing data that was expected to remain confidential for example, gossiping by data entry operators, about the salary data they are processingUsing a pirated version of a software product in a foreign country that has no software copyright lawsIV. Not Ethical and Not LegalPirating copyrighted softwarePlanting viruses in someone elses computer system

When law does not provide an answer, as in categories II and IV, it becomes necessary to consider the ethical situation by using informal or formal guidelines.

**