Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 2 Ethics
Chapter 2 Ethics
Creativity
Employment law covers all rights and obligations within the employer-employee relationship
whether current employees, job applicants, or former employees. Because of the complexity of
employment relationships and the wide variety of situations that can arise, employment law
involves legal issues as diverse as discrimination, wrongful termination, wages and taxation, and
workplace safety. Many of these issues are governed by applicable federal and state law. However,
the employment relationship is based on a valid contract entered into by the employer and the
employee, state contract law alone may dictate the rights and duties of the parties.
The term IT user distinguishes the person who uses a hardware or software product from the IT
workers who are:
Regulatory laws establish safety standards for products and services to protect the public.
However, these laws are less than perfect, and they fail to safeguard against all negative side effects
of a product or process. Often, professionals can clearly see what effect their work will have and
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can take action to eliminate potential public risks. Thus, society expects members of a profession
to provide significant benefits and not cause harm through their actions.
One approach to meeting this expectation is to establish and maintain professional standards that
protect the public. Clearly, the actions of an IT worker can affect society. For example, a systems
analyst may design a computer-based control system to monitor a chemical manufacturing process.
A failure or an error in the system may put workers or residents near the plant at risk. As a result,
IT workers have a relationship with society members who may be affected by their actions.
However, no formally organized body of IT workers that takes responsibility for establishing and
maintaining standards that protect the public.
IT workers deal with many different hardware, software, and service providers. Most IT workers
understand that building a good working relationship with suppliers encourages the flow of useful
communication as well as the sharing of ideas. Such information can lead to innovative and cost-
effective ways of using the supplier’s products and services.
Computer ethics is a branch of practical philosophy that deals with how computing professionals
should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct. There are three primary
influences:
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different methods for protecting these rights of ownership based on their type. There are essentially
four types of intellectual property rights relevant to software:
1. Patents
2. Copyrights
3. Trade secrets
4. Trademarks
Each affords a different type of legal protection.
Intellectual property is an umbrella term for various types of rights individuals or businesses can
have in their:
Names
Creative Works and
Inventions
Software developers need a solid understanding of their rights to
Develop and protect a brand;
Ensure exclusive ownership of their creations and
Keep their work confidential to create and maintain an advantage in this
competitive market.
1. Patents – Software
A patent is a grant of a property right issued by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) to an inventor.
A patent permits its owner to exclude the public from making, using, or selling a protected
invention, and it allows for legal action against violators.
Unlike a copyright, a patent prevents independent creation as well as copying.
Even if someone else invents the same item independently and with no prior knowledge of
the patent holder’s invention, the second inventor is excluded from using the patented
device without permission of the original patent holder.
A patent entitles an Inventor to exclude others from making, using or selling the claimed
invention for a period of 20 years.
To obtain a patent, your software or algorithm must have a very high level of originality
and you must disclose the “recipe” for your invention to the public.
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A Software Developer can get a patent on software inventions much as if a Mechanical
Engineer can get a patent on a new machine or device.
The main body of law that governs patents rights is contained in Title 35 of the U.S. Code, which
states that an invention must pass the following four tests to be eligible for a patent:
It must fall into one of five legal classes of items that can be patented:
o Processes
o Machines
o Manufactures (such as objects made by humans or machines)
o Compositions of matter (such as chemical compounds)
o New uses in any of the previous four classes.
It must be useful.
It must be novel.
It must not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the same field
2. Copyrights – Software
A copyright is the exclusive rights to distribute, display, perform, or reproduce an original
work in copies to prepare derivative works based on the work.
Copyright protection is granted to the creators of “original works of authorship in any
tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be
perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a
machine or device.”
The author may grant this exclusive right to others. As new forms of expression develop,
they can be awarded copyright protection.
a. Eligible Works: The types of work that can be copyrighted include architecture, art,
audiovisual works, choreography, drama, graphics, literature, motion pictures, music,
pantomimes, pictures, sculptures, sound recordings, and other intellectual works. It also
includes new technologies; thus, software, video games, multimedia works, and Web pages
can all be protected.
To be eligible for a copyright, a work must fall within one of the preceding categories and
it must be original.
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b. Software Copyright Protection
The use of copyrights to protect computer software raises many complicated issues of
interpretation. For example, a software manufacturer can observe the operation of a competitor’s
copyrighted program and then create a program that accomplishes the same result and performs in
the same manner. To prove infringement, the copyright holder must show a striking resemblance
between its software and the new software that could be explained only by copying. However, if
the new software’s manufacturer can establish that it developed the program on its own, without
any knowledge of the existing program, there is no infringement.
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information that must be protected from undisclosed patent applications to market research and
business plans and developing a comprehensive strategy for keeping the information secure.
Trade secret law protects only against the misappropriation of trade secrets. If competitors come
up with the same idea on their own, it is not misappropriation; in other words, the law does not
prevent someone from using the same idea if it was developed independently. Trade secret law has
several key advantages over the use of patents and copyrights in protecting companies from losing
control of their intellectual property, as summarized in the following list:
1. There are no time limitations on the protection of trade secrets, as there are with patents
and copyrights.
2. There is no need to file an application, make disclosures to any person or agency, or
disclose a trade secret to outsiders to gain protection.
3. While patents can be ruled invalid by the courts, meaning that the affected inventions no
longer have patent protection, this risk does not exist for trade secrets.
4. No filing or application fees are required to protect a trade secret.
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.info .name and .pro.
.museum
This is all managed by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers) which is a non-profit organization responsible for the namespaces of the Internet.
The country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) .za administered by www.zadna.org.za. The
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a department of ICANN, and coordinates
the Internet Protocol (IP) addressing systems.
Employers can avoid these defaults by requiring employees to sign pre-invention assignment
agreements require the employee to assign their patent rights to the employer.
► Copyrights
A form of protection provided by the laws to the Authors of original works of
authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual
works.
The Author of a work owns the copyright unless:
There is a written agreement assigning the copyright to someone else or the
work was “made for rental.” A “work made for hire”.
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2.7.The Nature of Digital Reliability and Failure
Types
Duration
1. Permanent fault (static/hard faults) : remains active for a significant period of time (eg:
damaged or incorrectly implemented component)
2. Temporary fault (dynamic/soft faults)
o Transient fault: appears for a very short period and disappears (eg: soft error)
o Intermittent (periodic) fault: appears, disappears, and reappears (eg: a parasitic signal
emitted by a part of an electronic system disturbs another part during the operation)
Origin
Where
o Internal fault: origin of the fault is product itself (eg: incorrectly designed
component)
o External fault: the fault results from user or environments (eg: operator mistakes or
soft error)
When
o Creation: origin of the cause to faults is during specification, design, and
production
o Operation: faults occur at regular operation
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2.8.Software and Hardware Representation and Risk Communication – Who is
responsible?
o Providing appropriate software and hardware utilization in the workplace
contribute advantages to both employee and employer.
o Inappropriate utilization of software and hardware could compromise productivity
of an employee and employer or the company as a whole.
o The responsibility lies on both, the employee and the employer. There should be
proper and appropriate communication and usage of its technologies suited to the
workplace and field of expertise in the productivity in the assigned task to its
employees.
2.9. From Medical Software to “Star Wars” and The Complexity of Computer Systems
The implementation of software technology advancement in the field of medical
areas is vital on its utilization in generating and providing reliable information to its
patience and the credibility of the medical institution as a whole.
Workers in the medical areas are responsible in providing accurate and informative
information based on specific findings through complete analysis.
Continuous training to both medical workers and owners are encourage for better
implementation, utilization and in providing of informative information anchored
with the complexity of its system technology.
2.10. Origins of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility: What is reasonable
reliability in complex system
Complicated system’s developers should have narrow and complete knowledge in
the development process.
Obtaining consistency in generating accurate information
Designing centralize information
Accessing rapid information and capable in updating new information is very much
vital.
Address end-users with the proper and complete training for better accessibility and
usability in providing informative information.