Business Ethics Summary Case 7

CASE 7

I. BACKGROUND

* “Troll tracker” was a popular blogger in the world of patent litigation. Cisco was not aware that “ Troll tracker”, whose site the company had commended to member of Congress was its own in-house patent counsel, Rick Frenkel and had to take responsibility when his defamation.

* The blogosphere represents a risk for companies, despite the fact that many are embracing it and it is hard to track down sources and halt the spread of false information.

* Blogging issues arise when we are blogging away on our own time and our own computers.

II. ETHICAL ISSUES

* Employees post privacy, defaming information on their blogs causing trouble for his company.

* Individuals are served with suits when posting information that defame other people or company, inflicting damage to their reputation.

* Cisco require its employees to state that they are employees of Cisco when discussing opinions of the matters that affect Cisco.

III. ANALYSIS:

Utilitarianism:

The false, privacy information that they post on their blogs is just to serve themselves will, while inflicting damage to the companies can cause trouble not for the BOM but also the employees or themselves if the company goes down or even bankrupt by the defamation.

Deontology

When posting false information about someone, they have went against the legal rules when defame other people or company. In the case of Rick Frenkel, he also break the role-based rules and institution rules when public the privacy information of his company.

Kant theory:

When Rick Frenkel post about the privacy information of Cisco when they lobbied the Congress, based on Kant theory, he did the right thing because this is not the right thing that Cisco should do and people should know about their wrongdoings. But when they post information that inflict damage to other people for what they do not, it is totally wrong.

Virtue Ethics:

If they do not stop this blogging issues, sue the one...