Ethical Concepts (SAQ 1-1)

Self-Assessment Question 1-1

Three definitions of ethics with examples.

Definition: Ethics as a concept suggests the notion of correct or incorrect practices relative to various concerns of fields of study.

Case:
Clark is the network engineer of Dought Net ISP., an internet service provider of a local community. He’s incharge of maintaining the server configuration that manages accounts for internet access among its subscribers. In an under the table transaction, he sidelines selling of anonymous accounts to internet café operators offering limitless internet connection at the price of his own discretion. Similarily, Jay is an engineer assigned at the technical division of a large telecommunications company. Using his skills, he has been secretly wire tapping conversations of prominent electoral candidates during elections - a would-be tool for leftist and oppositionist to expose conducts public officials. Both demonstrates unethical practice in the fields of communications engineering.

Definition: Ethics focuses on the care for the soul

Case:
Ed is a graphic and multimedia expert. He is so talented that he can modify faces of the characters of a film. Now, he does one of a sex video editing the face of its character and replacing it with faces of famous local actresses. He then sells his edited video to his friends. Ed’s conduct is ethical and puts the personalities involved in blatant public humiliation.

Definition: Ethics is the study and philosophy of human conduct with emphasis on the determination of right and wrong.

Case:
Chunlan is operating an internet café, and sidelines doing systems development, one day a group of 3 students approaches and inquires if his café offers thesis encoding and program development. Upon knowing that the services are offered, the 3 asked if Chunlan accepts the job of making ready made thesis and program packaged as one. However, Chunlan relate his experience as a student, that making thesis by themselves would help them better as an I.T. professional some day. He told the group that he won’t accept such offer because it is the students’ obligations to do their work. Chunlan's decision on this case was considered ethical.

Applied Ethics in telecommunications.

I choose of the field of telecommunications engineering because of the current wire-tapping issues our country is facing. In a statement of House Majority Floor Leader Prospero Nograles in an inq7 news (http://beta.inq7.net/top/index.php?index=1&story_id=40398) he says "Is it legal to listen to the tapes? Are we going to violate the anti-wiretapping law? It's a very complicated issue," Indeed it is, While we have a law that prohibits wire tapping of private conversations, CDs and tapes have already flourished and streets and to some extend convincingly implicates the president (as far as my assessments on this case in are concerned). We are now turned into a classic dilemma between the law and ethics since the people ought to know the truth behind such allegations. Whether our legislatures find these conversations admissible or not is another story. I like to center my assessments on the wire-tapping issue in relation to ethics in the operation of telecommunications industry. Our wire-tapping law states:

SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or cable, or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly over hear, intercept, or record such communication or spoken word by using a device commonly known as a dictaphone or dictagraph or detectaphone or walkie-talkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise described.

Regardless, of the implications of the tapped-conversation, the law clearly recognizes privacy of communication in whatever medium the parties may choose. Any 'body' who exercise the act of wire-tapping is not just unlawful but also committing unethical practice. Technicians and engineers who take advantage of their skills in the field of telecommunications to secretly intrude the privacy of others is a conduct that endanger matters that ranges from personal, business interests and as far as national interests. The issues or wire-tapping is just a minute area in the multi-faceted ethical viewpoints in telecommunications industry. Pirating cable TV or video signals, scams involved in mobile cellular technology, the use of advance electronic gadgets to commit criminal and terror attacks are examples to name a few.

My Opinion which are Ethical/unethical Acts

ETHICAL ACTIONS

Ethics means customs, character; another definition says, it focuses on the care for the soul and another one defines it as the correct or incorrect practices relative to various concerns. Act then is ethical when it clearly and justifiably conforms to the code of ethics, norms, customs, religious traditions of a community or society.

e.g. John is a youth leader who creates a web site that features search engines and links about subjects related youth activities, programs on juvenile delinquency, ill-effects of premarital sex, alcoholism, substance abuse; all geared towards the information dissemination campaign among NGOs or youths in Philippines

An act is ethical when a person takes the responsible conscious precaution about the repercussion of his action, and delivered the act in way that it protects the welfare and goodness of others.

e.g. Mikee is an instructor and saw bold pictures in some computer workstations in one of the laboratory rooms of the school. She then installed a software that disallows surfing the web with nudity and sexual content

An act is ethical when it is delivered in a manner that it upholds respect, dignity and fairness among the people and one’s surrounding environment.

e.g. Winston is an agriculturist who leads this co-workers in the tree-planting activity of their community.

UNETHICAL ACTIONS:

It is unethical when one is doing an act deliberately or unintentional for the purpose of gaining something at the expense of interfering or trespassing directly or indirectly with the rights and welfare of others

e.g. You are employed by the company as a programmer you intentionally embed a code(such as a easter egg) to prove to the world that you are best in your field. Certainly software companies, will not allow hidden snippets embedded within the softwares they sell.

An act is unethical when does not lead or it contravenes to the idea of the pursuit of good life
e.g. By using your skills in computing you help or lend your services to others who advocate terrorism and the like.

Ethical Norms governing computer use

• Use software and hardware resources without harming other people’s welfare.
  
• Respect other people’s privacy and ownership over a property
  
• Know the rules and laws that apply in your community/and or other communities where you works in computing will be applied. Excuse due to ignorance of the law has always been a justifying reason for an unlawful act. The study of the law particularly on the issues of computing is not only limited to lawyers or legislatures. As I.T practitioners, we ought to know what rules or laws do we have. It is in knowing these laws that we will be aware whether our conduct abides to it.
  
• Ensure that your works promotes fairness, justice equity and righteousness among its users. It is our duty to ensure that whoever uses our works, invention shall conform to customs and norms of the society