Ethics in Computer Software Design and Development - Essay Example

Ethical Dilemmas in Software Project Management Institution: Instructor: Course: Ethical Dilemmas in Software Project Management Every progress in IT is attached to at least one ethical uncertainty. Basically, issues lying beneath IT include provision of ethical duty and fulfilling end user’s anticipation to use applications responsibly. According to Forester and Morrison (2001) ethics in IT concentrates on issues such as privacy, property and ownership rights, software piracy and computer hacking. Thomson & Schmoldt (2001) defined ethics as a set of principles of right conduct. In this regard, ethical involves abiding to the standards of conduct of a given group. Moreover, ethical dilemma is a complex situation that entails mental conflict, where two sides argue about what is wrong, and what is right. Thomson & Schmoldt (2001) posited that, ethical dilemmas enormously affect businesses especially small-scale businesses that do not have enough capital to deal with the ethical dilemmas in technology utilization. Thomson & Schmoldt (2001) observed that, the dilemmas in software project management include illegal use of software’s and usage of open-source code without crediting its source. Developing new software requires time and effort. Unfortunately, most software developers are given a small window and compressed budget to release a quality software package, this pressure hinders the goal of achieving a bug free product at a low cost and on time (Forester & Morrison, 2001, pp. 300-301). Due to a small window of time and strained budget, software developers have been tempted to use illegal and unethical acts to achieve their goals. However, code of conducts provided by IT profession societies has managed to address these ethical issues. According to Forester and Morrison (2001), facts’ researching enhances quality decision making, since it assist the decision maker to understand the outcome in advance. It is weird for someone to make an unworthy decisions especially when faced with a moral dilemma. Forester and Morrison (2001) observed that, when a software developer acquires a set of ethical standards, he could manage to overcome difficult standards. Ethics in software development enhances awareness and self-reflection (Jim Nindel-Edwards & Steinke, 2008, p. 54). However, lack of enough money and time shortage has led to development of low quality software’s, which in turn has created ethical dilemmas in the software project management. Jim Nindel-Edwards & Steinke (2008) posited that, lack of capital has pushed software developers to use illegal software. IT professions branded this unethical act ‘piracy’. Haque, et al. (2010) defined piracy as, an illegal copying of a software package. When a company uses a pirated software package, then it violates the software license. Piracy has created an ethical dilemma in software project managements. It is worth noting that software piracy has been recorded in some huge companies, where they use copies of pirated software (Forester & Morrison, 2001, p. 300). According to dailytech.com, software companies globally lose approximate $50.4 billion due to software piracy. The survey conducted by IDC and Business Software Alliance noted that, for every $100 legal software sold another $75 pirated software was being sold. From the above statistics, it worth observing that software piracy is a crucial ethical dilemma that hurts both the IT sector and software companies. However, Business Software Alliance a software watch group is working effortlessly to reduce software piracy temptation (Whitney, 2010). Another ethical dilemma facing software project management is the reversing of engineering code. According to Haque, et al. (2010), reverse engineering is the most confusing and disputable subject in both the IT sector and software development world. Haque, et al. (2010) defines reverse engineering as, a process of learning technological principles of an application through analysis of its structure to reveal the source code. Software developers crack software to reveal how the software program can perform an action. Software reverse engineering is illegal since it removes the program security. IT experts call it ‘cracking’. At this note, cracking makes the software program function differently from the original intended means. In 2003, US courts ruled that software reverse engineering is legal. However, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits software reverse engineering. DMCA indicates that ‘cracking’ is an act of circumventing technological rights of the copyright owners. According to DMCA, circumventing involves copying media, software reverse engineering and decoding encryption tools. For instance, in 1997 Sony woo Connectix for cracking Sony play station games from their systems. Sony had filed a complaint alleging that Connectix had violated its copyright infringement. Connectix had created an emulator allowing Apple’s Macintosh users to play Sony’s play station games. Even though the court ruled in favor of Connectix, citing Connectix cracking was reasonable. Sony in its part, was awarded an injunction barring Connectix from selling the controversial virtual game station for both windows and Macintosh. In addition, Connectix was blocked from using Sony BIOS code when developing Virtual Game station for windows (Forester & Morrison, 2001). The ethical dilemma in software reverse engineering takes place when another software company develops software that is compatible or similar to others companies software. Failure to address the available bugs in the software is another ethical dilemma in software project management. According to Forester and Morrison (2001), a bug is an error in the software that results to malfunction of the program. Failure by software companies to take quality assurance test has led to development of software’s with major flaws. In addition, when bugs are detected, software companies fail to fix them due to lack of enough time. As a result, Forester and Morrison (2001) observed that, flaws bring huge losses since it remains inconvenient in the market. For instance, in 2003 Microsoft admitted presence of a vital flaw in its operating system, which provided a platform for hackers to access and take control of other people computers (Thomson & Schmoldt, 2001). In another instance, DSC Communications Cooperation, in 1991-released software, which had not been tested, as a result, the software, which contained bugs, caused phone blackouts in US major cities such as Washington and San Francisco (Forester & Morrison, 2001). From the above illustration, its worth noting that, failure to spend time and money in quality tests leads to production of software with bugs. Even though, software companies cannot be charged in law courts for developing software with bugs, the company reputation maybe ruined. According to Qureshi (2001), code of conducts is an explicit set of professional behaviors and values, which must be abide. Furthermore, Code of ethics is a statement of rules, regulations, principles, or laws formulated by IT profession societies such as Australian Computer society (Qureshi, 2001, pp. 153-159). The main aim of formulating the code of ethics in the software industry is to promote the well-being of the software packages produced and punish any parties that intend to undermine the industry efforts. In this regard, all software industries are expected to use the code of ethics as a base of reference during their day-to-day development of software’s. In addition, code of ethics provides guidelines on what to do and what to avoid while developing software. Code of ethics falls under computer profession ethics. Qureshi (2001) posited that, Code of ethics purpose is to define the mandate of the profession association and outline the association governing powers in respect to both members and non-members. In addition, code of ethics provides the principle of ethical conduct statements, which prepares the software developers to fulfill their duties competently (Qureshi, 2001). It is worth noting that codes of ethics not only are meant for the professions in the software industry but also to educators, students, policy makers and practitioners. Some of the global organization that governs software code of ethics are Australian computer society (ACS), and Institute of Certification of Computing Profession (ICCP) (Qureshi, 2001). Most of the principles in these organizations code of conduct are similar. Summarizing, the principle indicates that, software developers should put the public interest always first and the products d be of high standards and should meet the set profession standards. According to Forester and Morrison (2001), in software development process, the ethics principles governing the software design and development should be strictly adhered. This in turn, will lead to ethical processes such as, efficient communication between the professions, best design, effective or pleasant quality assurance testing, increased knowledge, and skills on the software design. Moreover, code of ethics results to ethical practices and patience, this in turn increases the integrity of software’s developers. It is worth noting that ethical practices rewards. In addition, code of ethics enhances professions development of both the investor and employees, and increase competence. As a result, the quality of product produced is increased having less or no bug or flaws. Qureshi (2001) indicated that, code of ethics protects the ownership rights possessed by the software developers. In this respect, organizations offering ethical conducts can easily find a company that violate the licensing and copyright rules, thus reducing piracy. In conclusion, ethical dilemmas in the software project management can lead to ramifications such as court fines, or ruin company reputation. Dilemmas such as piracy reverse software reverse engineering and flawed software’s cannot be solved easily. They require high-level decision-making. Therefore, software companies should ensure that software’s produced are perfect in quality and should facilitate public awareness to inform the public about the new software. In order to achieve all this, the software companies should strictly adhere to the set code of ethics. In addition, they should publish ethics guidelines concerning the software developed and leave a small room for interpretation. References Forester, T. & Morrison, P., 2001. Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dillemas in Computing. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Volume 4, pp. 300-301. Haque, A., Rahman, S. & Khatibi, A., 2010. Factors Influencing Consumer Ethical Decision Making Of Purchasing Pirated Software: Structural Equation Modeling On Malaysian Consumer. Journal of International Business Ethics, 3(1), pp. 30-40. Jim Nindel-Edwards & Steinke, G., 2008. Ethical Issues in the Software Quality Assurance Function. Communications of the IIMA, 8(1), pp. 53-II. Qureshi, S., 2001. How Practical is a Code of Ethics for Software Engineers Interested in Quality?. Qureshi, Shoaib, 9(3), pp. 153-159. Thomson, A. J. & Schmoldt, D. L., 2001. Ethics in computer software design and Development. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Volume 30, pp. 85-102. Whitney, L., 2010. Piracy costs software industry $51 billion in '09. 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