Ethical Issues in Information Technology

What are ethics? Ethics are known as a system of moral principles. Codes of behavior we live our lives by. Generally what’s right or wrong in a society. They govern a persons or groups behavior. Ethical issues in the area of computer technology include unauthorized hardware usage, software theft, disputed rights to products, using computers to commit fraud, hacking and data theft, viruses, and so on. The list could go on and on.

Software piracy occurs when one copies an application on one or more computer unless they have a license allows for multiple distribution. What most don’t know is, when you purchase software you actually purchase the license to use it. The license tells you how many times you can install that software. If you distribute more than the number of copies permitted you are pirating. The software industry has lost nearly $63.4 billion dollars due to theft. The countries with the highest rate of piracy on record are Venezuela with 88%, Indonesia with 86% and China sitting at 77%. However, the U.S. has lowest rate with 19% and the largest market for software. If caught pirating software there can be some serious punishment such as up to 5 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

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Intellectual Property (IP) is an original piece of creative work that can be protected legally (known as copyright laws), such as music, movies, etc… What is copyright? A copyright is the exclusive rights given by the author to copy, distribute, or perform an original piece of work. Violation of intellectual property is probably the most widely debated issue recently. Why? Because of the widespread use of file-sharing programs such as BitTorrent, Bearshare, Sendspace, and many others to illegally copy music and movies. The No Electronic Theft (NET) Act of 1997 clearly states “The penalties for criminal infringement, set forth in Title 18 of the U.S. Code, are determined by its extent: if the infringer has made, in any 180-day period, ten or more...