Intellectual Property - Assignment Example

Intellectual Property Intellectual property is the creation of an individual’s mind like innovations, literary and creative works, strategies, images, names and figures used in business (D'Urance 34). It is a projection of property through laws like copywriters, trademarks among others, which allow individuals to get recognition or commercial advantage from what they formulate or produce (D'Urance 38). The intellectual system tries to promote a situation in which originality and improvement succeed within a given society by uncovering the actual position between innovators’ interests and the general public concern (D'Urance 38). However, there have been debates on the issues of intellectual property based on technological ethical issues, which aim at protection individual rights to intellectual property. Digital development has made it easy for software theft within several computer firms around the world (D'Urance 38). Miller and Davis noted in their review that, under intellectual property, proprietors are allowed certain complete rights to an assortment of indescribable assets like, music, fictional, creative works, innovations, discoveries, lyrics, idioms, figures, and designs (234). According to the ACM ethnic code, any organization should protect all individual rights within an organization (Forester 90). For instance, a computing professional firm should aim at protecting the efforts of all their workers (Miller and Davis 234). Intellectual property is divided into individual property, which includes innovations, and copywriters, where individuals can put their creations, as well as fictional materials (Miller and Davis 234). According to consequentialism, ethical system, effects of specific behavior shape the base for several valid ethical decisions concerning a given conflict (Vendemiati 67). The main concept in this theory is that a given behavior directs the type of decision one makes after an action has been done. The report made from the newspaper can be justified using this ethical system because theft has already occurred, and companies have incurred extreme losses because of the loss of data in their computer system. From the report, these companies experienced loss that made them develop the current financial turning point, which created big global collapse of essential information. This also motivated the first worldwide research on the security of information economies in china, Japan, Brazil, India, Britain, Germany, Dubai, and the United States (AFP 1). Consequentialism is a customary normative concept that centers on the moral assessment of actions, rules, association among others (Shapiro and Nam 78). It tends to focus mainly on the goodness of their effects, where the standard of kindness used is a normal form of goodness. This concept motivated the companies’ directors to conduct a survey on the major losses incurred because of data theft within the organization (Shapiro and Nam 78). A total of 600 million dollars was used to repair the damage from data contraventions (Shapiro and Nam 78). This action can be termed as an act of kindness conducted out of goodness in order to protect intellectual property in future (Shapiro and Nam 78). As a result of major loss of data loss in the companies, different cyber companies started understanding the importance of protecting their own intellectual properties. Just as companies leaders reported that companies started undervaluing the loss, and saw the importance of their intellectual own property (Forester 90). They started understanding that intellectual property was important like gold and silver or other important assets within an organization. Without protecting it, it would lead to serious impact on their economy. The report indicated that, these extreme losses motivated most cybercriminals are mainly target those managers using complex phishing systems (AFP 1). According the ethical system an act is good when it results to positive or good consequences, and it is immoral when it results to negative consequences such as loos of property or money (Shapiro and Nam 78). People contributed to massive data loss through their actions like phishing online techniques, which are deceptive online communications or other online tricks that deceive people into disclosing passwords, account numbers, or other sensitive information. Through these, online theft became easy and contributed to massive data loss within the companies. The unfriendly economy also increased the chances of businesses being robbed by workers, who are out to add their contracting paychecks or increase job possibilities with future companies. According to consequentialism, the consequences of theft are good to these thieves because it produces positive outcomes. Therefore, the theft or looting behavior is moral since it contributed to a positive outcome. This is in contrast with the IEEE codes of ethics, which advocated for honesty among staff members using available data in their system (Berleur and Brunnstein 45). These kinds of behavior taken by computer professional are acceptable by the ACM and IEEE codes of ethics. The ACM code of ethics states that every individual human right should be protected and made to respect the diversity of all cultures (Forester 90). Therefore, the main aim of a computing industry is to provide protection to all workers and reduce negative outcomes of computing systems. They also provide rules that protect copywriters and trademarks from any violation of property. Therefore, a copy of the software is usually presented to them for protection and damages that can result to losses. These intellectuals are not to take credit of others intellectual ability, they are to honor and protect all intellectual properties. Copies of software are not to be reproduced by others without the owner’s authorization. Communication technologies are meant to promote privacy of its users involves taking insurances to ensure the correctness of information, as well as keeping it from illegal access or unintentional discovery to unsuitable individuals (Forester 90). In addition to this, measures should be created to allow entities to evaluate their accounts and rectify errors (Forester 90). Using this policy, the companies reported that important company data is more important because of present economic situations. Therefore, they, aim at establishing important sites and organizations to protect their information and reduce illegal access and unintentional discoveries. The code advocates for honesty by all computer professional, honesty is closely related to confidentiality. Information should be treated with confidentiality to clients, employees, and the computer users unless the principles and laws of the code clear them from these responsibilities. The IEEE code on the other hand, requires its members to be responsible of their decisions concerning their safety and protection of their properties (Berleur and Brunnstein 143-5). Just like the ACM code, it aims at reducing harm among its members. The IEEE code aims at reducing conflicts and discloses them to the individuals members should also avoid bribery at all cost because it causes harm to the company members. IEEE code of ethics advocates its members to be fair to all members despite their race, color, gender disability, age, or their ethnic origins (Berleur and Brunnstein 127-9). Members are encouraged to avoid harming others or getting employment through false procedures. Finally, it encourages its members to improve and understand their technology, its application, and the possible consequences that can result from their usage. These behaviors and issues are consistent with the issues of privacy or intellectual property because intellectual property rights are rights provided to protect individuals over their creations through their intelligences and creativity (Forester 90). The laws protecting intellectual property are currently seeking to reduce copying of information developed by others (Forester 90). Therefore, this law is taking the direction of cultural and social effects of developing technology to protect individual production (Forester 90). Moral rights are taken as individual rights in addition to copyrights prescribed by the code of ethics to protect the individual authors, and avoid other illegal production of the material (Forester 90). The author should be provided to a copyright to own their individual protection (Forester 90). Copyright can be assigned through assignment to the third party. The states identify that intellectual property is important to an organization and because it as a social function (Forester 90). Therefore, it calls for protection of knowledge for the development of the organization or the nation as a whole. The country has the responsibility to register all trademarks and copyrights to provide protection of intellectual property among their members (Forester 90). Finally, there are four main legal categories of intellectual property; the Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade secrets (Shapiro and Nam 78). Moral rights in intellectual property include the author’s independent rights, where the author is in a position to claim individual ownership of written or creative materials. The author should be in a position to object any alteration, damage or other adjustment of, or other critical action in connection to the produced work, which should be prejudicial to the author’s honour or status (Shapiro and Nam 78). In intellectual property, moral rights must be indicated in the material after production. Engineering associations are currently not tolerating easygoing of monetary, accounting, as well as computer crimes. Initially companies provided the rights of individuals through the provision of laws (Shapiro and Nam 78). However, to implement this concept within the firms, managers had to provide workers with incentives to motivate them. Currently managers ought to be careful when making ethical decisions concerning intellectual property within their organizations (Forester 90). Information technologies develop ethical issues because technological developments change the process of decision making among the companies owners (Forester 90). Increase in technological crimes compels the technological companies to develop ethical issues for protecting intellectual property (Forester 90). In conclusion, illegal use of intellectual property privileges can be described as infringement in relation to copyright, patents, trademarks, and misuse in relation to business secrets, might be an introduction of civic law or illegal law, dependent on the kind of property, authority, and the kind of behavior within an organization. It important to note that, the importance of information and creative work originate from an individuals’ creativity, thoughts, study, skills, work, efforts and qualities the author provides. Copyright has complete rights to own their properties, develop several copies, to provide important directives like translation of materials, make distribution and make the creative material public. Works cited AFP. Data Theft from firms topped a trillion Dollars in 2008: Study. 30 Jan. 2009. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. ‹ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jZcC6eKWlbhXG-xvRYDJKZgcKPng› Berleur, Jacques and Brunnstein, Klaus. Ethics of Computing: Codes, Spaces for Discussion and Law IFIP Advances in Information and Technology. International Federation for Information Processing Series. London: Springer: 1996. Print. D'Urance, Michel. Milestones for a rebellious ethics: Axes, tensions matrix. Paris: Aléthéia, 2005. Print. Forester, Tom. Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press: 1994. Print. Miller, Arthur and Davis, Michael. Intellectual Property: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright. New York: Thomson/West, 2012. Print. Shapiro, Robert and Nam, Pham. “Economic Effects of Intellectual Property-Intensive Manufacturing in the United States,” World Growth, 7/07. Print. Vendemiati, Aldo. In the First Person. An Outline of General Ethics. Rome: Urbaniana University Press, 2005. Print. Read More