Ethics in Information Technology - Assignment Example

Ethics in Information Technology Introduction Ethics is the expected or standards of behavior of a person by a given group (Reynolds, 2014). Ethics are important in IT given the growth of the internet and its ability to store large amounts of personal data; all these factors make IT prone to being used unethically. This paper will be answering six questions that are related to ethics in IT. Question one: Intellectual property protection Initially Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) were granted when there was a dire need to encourage innovation from others and was only given for as little as three years. Today, however, in countries like the USA the IPR is given for protection so that the inventor can enjoy the benefits as well as for as long as twenty years. In light of this, I realize that the arguments pertaining to granting intellectual property protections are quite strong. This is because today Intellectual property protection is sounder than in the previous years; it has been enhanced through: first, copyrights that help inventors determine who can copy their work if at all they allow it and to what extent and software patents those which make the inventor exclusive such that nobody else can enter into the same market (Reynolds, 2014). Besides this, there are protection bodies such as Business Software Alliance (BSA) that provides intellectual protection to the world’s greatest software manufacturers such as Microsoft, Adobe, Intel, Apple and others. This is achieved by stopping unauthorized copying of software produced by its members; it basically attempts to Itcombat software piracy. BSA is said to have hundreds of lawyers who defend these companies; thousands of pirates are prosecuted in a year facing hefty monetary penalties and other serving a jail term for five years. For instance, in 2012 the Alexander automotive group paid $ 325,000 for using Microsoft software on its computers. Question two: Malware and its types Malware is any malicious code that attacks the computers and seeks to control the functional state of the machine. There are various types of malware in existence in the information technology context: viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware (Reynolds, 2014). To begin with, viruses are common programs that everyone has encountered. They often attempt to spread themselves across servers and networks and could be harbored by installing anti-virus software. Secondly, worms are like viruses only that they tend to take advantage of weak security apprises in the server or software package; they can be prevented by ensuring there are security updates in computers. Thirdly, the Trojans are software programs that breach privacy as they allow for an intruder to access a people’s computer programs without permission; they can be detected using anti-virus. Lastly, the spyware is software installed without the user’s knowledge to monitor the programs accessed; For instance, when present the internet slows down if area accessed is unauthorized. This is common in working organizations as employers spy on their employees most times to gauge how productive they are at the work place. It can however be uninstalled using a spyware scanner. Question three: Improvement in software- quality Software quality improvement has been as a demand from customers to have error-free software products at their disposal (Reynolds, 2014). This has pushed the organizations to improve software quality so as to save themselves from the non-compliance fines they have had to deal with in the past. The evidence of quality improvement in IT lies in Empirical Model for Improved Quality (EMIQ); within its four stages is a reflection of how organizations have worked to improve quality. First is the Ad Hoc Quality, using this stage organizations have learned how to test their software for failure before releasing into the market. Second is Release control stage that capitalizes on the approval of representatives to release a product into the market so as to reduce defects. Third has been Quality discipline stage that are planned and monitored so that the costs for testing quality are reduced. Fourth is Quality optimization stage that entails giving the production of quality software to the developmental team so that defects are prevented. Question four: Utilitarianism in decision-making Ulitararian thinking entails making decisions that are in line with morality; resulting in a morally correct course of action (Reynolds, 2014). In businesses, it is important to make ethical choices; this is why most businesses are adopting the Corporate Social Responsibility so as to act ethically in terms of taking responsibility for the impact of its actions on community, the environment and its employees. This has in turn resulted in one major advantage that is good business in terms of improved profits; because safe and effective products avoid costly recalls and lawsuits. According to Reynolds (2014), many IT equipment manufacturers have also decided to take into account energy and resource conservation so as to sell their products in European Union Countries as well as attain lower costs. Question five: Models of technological diffusion Technological diffusion seeks to measure how far wide technology is being used in an organization; the two models to be explained are epidemic model and order model Reynolds, 2014). The epidemic model emphasizes on the spread of information as key to explaining technological diffusion. This means that the more information about new technology is passed around the higher the chances that people will be more interested in the technology. In light of this the technological pessimists will thus always disseminate information pertaining to any new technology using adopters so as to gauge how people will respond to it thus to effect production to satisfy needs and demand. A technological pessimist knowing that in the epidemic model technological diffusion does reach a point and starts to slow down when most non-adopters become adopters is likely to avoid using the adapters to pass the information round. In order model, the order in which the firms adopt the technology is the determinant of how far and wide the diffusion will take place. Earlier adopters of technology get better and bigger returns as opposed to them that adopt late. Thus innovations diffuse at different speeds because for some organizations the order effect is stronger than for others. In light of this a technological pessimist is likely to adopt technology soon enough so as to make constructive returns while a technological pessimist will see no good in adopting early because there is a chance that the net return will rise to give room for more firms to adopt after all. Question six: Morality Moral code is a set of rules that establishes the boundaries of generally accepted behavior within a society (Reynolds, 2014). Morality hence stems from internalized individual rules that are as a result of societal boundaries, thus what is right or what is wrong by someone. Ethics on the contrary, are standards or conduct of behavior expected of a person by a group; in this light conducts of behavior expected of someone by the organization the person works for. Therefore, I agree with the idea that if everyone were moral, there would be no need for ethics; this statement is true because, morality encompasses values such as honesty and genuineness but a few. Thus, in application of morality, even at work would make ethics highly dispensable; hence a lack of meaning in publishing codes of conduct that describe acceptable behavior as people have already internalized the essence of morality and thus will act appropriately ethics notwithstanding. Reference Reynolds, G. (2014). Ethics in Information Technology (5thed). USA: Cengage Learning Read More