Computer Ethics and Legal Issues
Computer Ethics and Legal Issues
Computer Ethics and Legal Issues
1 Define Computer Ethics, Code of Ethics, Intellectual Property, Privacy, Computer Crime and Cyber law. 1.2.2.2 Differentiate between ethics and law. 1.2.2.3 State the need for intellectual property laws. ETHICS IN GENERAL A guidelines is needed to stop the current technology products from being exploited for example replicating original CDs and selling them as pirated software, this unethical behaviour can be controlled by the code of conducts. Computer ethics is a system of moral standards or values used as a guideline for computer users. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMPUTER CRIMES. The United States Institute of Computer Ethics has come out with the Ten Commandments of computer ethics This principles consider the effective code of conducts for the proper use of Information Technology. 1) You shall not use a computer to harm other people 2) You shall not interfere with other people's computer
work
3)
files 4) 5) You shall not use a computer to steal You shall not use a computer to bear false witness
6) You shall not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid 7) You shall not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation. 8) You shall not appropriate other people's intellectual output. 9) You shall think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing. 10) You shall always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow human. UNETHICAL COMPUTER CODE OF CONDUCTS Example of unethical computer code of conducts include: modifying certain information on the Internet., affecting the accuracy of the information selling information to other parties without the owner's permission using information without authorization involvement in stealing software invasion of privacy
*** with the advanced of ICT, it is easy for anyone to retrieve your information from the Internet. You may not realize that when you fill a form on the Internet, your information may be exposed and stolen. ETHICAL COMPUTER CODE OF CONDUCTS Examples of ethical computer code of conducts include:
Asking permission before sending any business advertisements to others Using information with authorization.
DEFINITION OF ETHICS In general, ethics is a moral philosophy where a person makes a specific moral choice and sticks to it. On the other hand, ethics in computing means moral guidelines to refer to when using the computer and computer networks. This includes the Internet. DEFINITION OF LAW Law is a legal system comprising of rules and principles that govern the affairs of community and controlled by a political authority. Law differs from one country to another. In the era of technology, computer law is needed to clarify goods or actions that fall under the computer law. Computer law refers to all areas in law that requires an understanding of computer technology such as hardware, software and Internet. Examples of law of computing in Malaysia include the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Act, the Computer Crime Act 1997 and the Telemedicine Act !997. RESPECTING OWNERSHIP We must respect ownership by not stealing other people's work either by duplicating or distributing it. Duplicating and distributing copies of audio tapes, video tapes and computer programs without permission and
authorisation from the individual or company that created the program are immoral and illegal. RESPECTING PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY We should respect other people's privacy and confidentiality by refraining ourselves from reading their mails or files without their permission. If we do so, it is considered as violating and individual's rights to privacy and confidentiality. RESPECTING PROPERTY Property here means ownership. Since an individual data and information are considered as property, therefore, an act of tampering and vandalism and disrespect for other people's property. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW Both ethics and law are complimentary to each other and are made: - to guide user from misusing computers - to create a healthy computer society, so that computers are used to contribute to a better life - to prevent any crime. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW Ethics Guidelines - as a guidelines to computer users Moral standards - ethical behaviour is judge by moral standards Free to follow - computer users are free to follow or ignore the code ethics. No punishments - no punishment for anyone who violates ethics Universals - Universals can be applied anywhere, all over the world. Produce ethical computer users - to produce ethical computer users Immoral - not honouring computer ethics means ignoring the moral elements (immoral)
Law Control - as a rule to control computer users. Judicial Standards - law is judge by judicial standards. Must follow - computers user must follow the regulations and law. Penalties, imprisonments and other punishments - penalties, imprisonments and other punishments for those who break the law. Depends on country - depends on country and state where the crime is committed Prevent misusing of computers - to prevent misuse of computers Crime - not honouring the law means committing a crime. UNETHICAL VS LAW BREAKING CONDUCTS Unethical: Using the office computer to do personal things Reading your friend's e-mail without his or her permission Plagiarising and using materials from the Internet for your class assignment without giving credit to the original author. Law breaking Sending a computer virus via email Hacking into your school's database to change your examination results. Selling pirated software in a night market.
DEFINITION OF INTELECTUAL PROPERTY Intellectual property (IP) refers to works by created by inventors, authors and artists. These works are unique and have value in the market place. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Intellectual property laws cover ideas, inventions, literary, creations, unique names, business models, industrial processes, computer program codes and more.
INVENTIONS PROTECTED BY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS As businesses continue to expand globally, business owners must realize the important of getting professional advice on how to establish and safeguard their intellectual property rights. 1) Trademarks - A distinctive sign of some kind which globally , business owners must realize the importance of getting professional advice on how to establish and safeguard their intellectual property rights. 2) Service marks 3) Trade/ company names 4) Domain names 5) Geographical indications 6) Copyrights - A set of exclusive rights granted by the government for a limited time to regulate the use of a particular form, way or manner in which an idea or information is expressed. 7) Patents - A set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or substance (known as an invention) which is new, inventive and useful.
INVENTIONS PROTECTED BY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS Architectural Audio visual Sound recording
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION There are four types of Intellectual Property protection. They are: 1) Patents for invention utility, design or plant patents that protect inventions and improvements to existing inventions. 2) Trademarks for brand identity Words, names, symbols, devices and images that represent products, goods or services. 3) Designs for product appearance Literary and artistic material, music, films, sound recordings and broadcast, including software and multimedia.
4)
The features of in particular the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture of material of the product itself or its ornamentation. The designs for product appearance cover the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features, such as the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or material. For example: Apple IMAC.
TOPIC: COMPUTER ETHICS AND LEGAL ISSUES 1.2.2 PRIVACY 1.2.2.1 List ways to protect privacy. 1.2.2.2 State authentication and verification methods/ technologies. WHAT IS PRIVACY? Privacy in IT refers to data and information privacy. Data refers to a collection of raw unprocessed facts, figures and symbols. Then computers issused to process data into information In general, data includes texts, numbers, sounds, images and video. Information privacy is described as the rights of individuals and companies to deny or restrict the collection and use of information about them. WAYS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY THREATEN OUR PRIVACY How does computer technology threaten the privacy of our data? It is done through: 1) Cookies - are used to identify users by web casting, e-commerce and other web application. Contain user information and are saved in the computer hard disk. Are used by some websites to store password and track how regularly we visit a website, that's how we become potential targets for web advertisers.
Enable web sites to collect information about your online activities and store them for future use, then the collected details will be sold to any company that request for it. 2) Electronic File electronic file is the combining of data in a database that can be sold to the Internet by the company to the interested parties. This database is in a form such as magazine subscription or product warranty cards that had been filled by online subscribers. The information in electronic profile includes
personal details such as your age, address and marital status. 3) Spyware - Refers to a program that collects user information without the user's knowledge. Can enter computers, sneaking in like a virus Is a result of installing new programs Communicates information it collects to some outside source while we are online. * * * * * Every time you click on an advertisement or register a software product online, your information is entered into a database. Computer technology can also threaten privacy through Spam. Spam is unsolicited e-mail messages, advertisements or newsgroup posting sent to many recipients at once. WAYS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY THREATEN OUR PRIVACY
Computer technology threatens our privacy through electronic profiling. For example, when we fill out a form such as a magazines subscription, purchasing products or contest entry form on the Internet, this data is kept in the database. It will include age, address, marital status and other personal details.
WHY DO WE NEED PRIVACY? We need privacy for anonymity. Foe example, the Internet creates an elaborate trail of data detailing a person surfing on the web because all information is stored inside cookies. We do not want our trail to be detected. We also need privacy for confidentiality. For example, online information generated in the course of business transaction is routinely used for a variety of other purposes without the individual's knowledge or consent. We do not want our private lives and habits exposed to third parties.
b) Utilities software -Example: anti-spam program, firewall, anti-spyware and antivirus. AUTHENTICATION Authentication is process where users verify that they are who they say they are. The user who attempts to perform function in a system is in fact the user who is authorized to do so.
METHODS OF AUTHENTICATION There are two commonly used authentication methods, which are: 1) Biometric devices - Biometric devices is a device that translates personal characteristics into a digital code stored in the database. - The example: a) Fingerprint Recognition b) Facial Recognition c) Hand Geometry d) Iris Scanning e) Retinal Scanning f) Voice Recognition g) Signature Verification System Fingerprint Recognition
-
to prevent fake fingers from being used. Many biometrics fingerprints systems also
measure blood flow or check for correctly arrayed ridges at the edges of the fingers. Facial Recognition Analyses the characteristics of an individual's face image captured through a digital video camera. It also used for recognizing potential threats (whether terrorist, scam artists, or known criminals). Hand Geometry Scanning. Hand scanning involves the measurement and analysis of the shape of one's hand. It is possible to devise a method by combining various individual features and measurements of fingers and hands for verification purposes.
Iris Scanning Analysis the features that exist in the coloured tissues surrounding the pupil which has more than 200 points that can be used for comparison, including rings, furrows and freckles. The scans use a regular video camera can be done from further away than a retinal scan.
It will work perfectly fine through glasses and in fact has the ability to create an accurate enough measurement that it can be used for identification purposes.
Retinal Scanning - Involves the scanning of retina and analysis the layer of blood vessels at the back of the eye. Requires the user to remove glasses, place their eye close to the device and focus on a certain point. Whether than accuracy can out weight the public discomfort is yet to be seen. Voice Recognition - Voice recognition system compares a person's live speech with their stored voice pattern. Requires user to speak into a microphone. What he speaks can be his password or an access phrase. Signature Verification System Signature verification system recognizes the shape of your handwritten signature, as well as measuring the pressure exerted and the motion used to write the signature. Uses special pen and tablet. After pre-processing the signature, several features are extracted. The authenticity of a writer is determined by comparing an input signature to a stored reference set (template) consisting of three signatures. 2) Callback System
Callback System refers to the checking system that authentication the user.
The Callback System is commonly used in the bank operation and business transaction.
For example, when you book for the taxi service, the operator will ask you to hang up and she will call you back to confirm for the service required.
WHY IS AUTHENTICATION IMPORTANT? Authentication is important in order to safeguard againts the unauthorized access and use. VERIFICATION Verification is the act of proving or disapproving the correctness of a system with respect of a system with respect to a certain formal specification. METHODS OF VERIFICATION There are two methods commonly used in verification, which are user identification and processed object. User identification refers to the process of validating the user. Processed object refers to something the user has such as identification card, security token and cell phone. USER IDENTIFICATION The examples of validating process using the user identification are: Key in the user name to log in to a system and the system will verify whether the user is valid or invalid user.
Show the exam slip to verify that you are the valid candidate for the exam.
PROCESSED OBJECT The examples of validating process using the processed object are: The policeman will check on the driver's license to identify the valid driver. Employees have to swipe their security card to enter the building. Buy blouses at the mail using a credit card.
TOPIC: COMPUTER ETHICS AND LEGAL ISSUES 1.2.3 CONTROVERSIAL CONTENTS AND CONTROL 1.2.3.1 List effect or controversial contents on society 1.2.3.2 Describe the process of filtering to control access to controversial contents. CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT A controversial content is information that causes disagreement in opinions and may cause the disruption of peace because different people or culture will have different views about the contents. ISSUES ON CONTROVERSIAL CONTENTS The issues on controversial contents are always focusing on pornography and slander. Malaysia considers pornography and slander as illegal. Pornographic and slanderous activities can be in the format of plots and actions displayed on video games, controversial rhythm or lyrics of music, controversial contents of books and controversial issues on religion and philosophy.
1) Pornography
The definition of pornography is any form of media or material like books or photographs that depicts erotic behaviour and is intended to cause sexual excitement.
2) Slander
Slanders is legal term for false and malicious statement (meaning knowing that it is false, or "reckless disregard" that it was false) about someone. - Example: i) You wrote an e-mail that a fellow classmate was having and affair with a teacher, even though it was not true. You then sent it to five other friends. ii) Ahmad is a muslim. One day, he received a "Spam" e-mail stating that his favourites soda drink "Soda Moda" uses non halal food colouring, but he does not know if the source of the content is credible or true. He decides to forward the e-mail to 50 of his friends. iii) Chin Wei spreads a rumour that a Government Minister is receiving bribes from an enemy government. IMPACT ON MALAYSIAN SOCIETY What can you conclude about the impact of controversial content on the Malaysian society? Pornography i) Can lead to criminal acts such as exploitation of women and children
ii)
iii) Can develop low moral value towards other men, women or children. iv) Can erode good religious, cultural and social beliefs and behaviour. Slander i) Can develop into a society that disregards honesty and truth. ii) Can develop bad habit of spreading untruth and rumours. iii) Can lead to unnecessary argument. iv) Can cause people to have negative attitudes towards another person. INTERNET FILTERING It is our responsibility to ensure that the teenagers are protected from these corruptions of the mind by filtering access to the Internet. Internet filtering is a process that prevents or block access to certain materials on the Internet. it is our responsibility to ensure that teenagers are protected from these corruptions of the mind by filtering access to the Internet.
WHAT IS INTERNET FILTERING? Internet filtering is a process that prevents access to certain materials on the Internet. Filtering is most commonly used to prevent children from accessing inappropriate material and to keep employees productive on the Internet. CONTROLLING ACCESS TO THE INTERNET
The current preferred method of choice to limit access obn the Internet is to filter content either by: - keyword blocking - site blocking - web rating systems. Keyword blocking one of the strategies is by using the keyword blocking method this method uses a list of banned words or objectionable terms such as Essex, DICK Whittington and Penystone. As the page is downloading, the filter searches for any these words. It found, it will block the page completely, stop downloading the page, block the banned words and even shut down the browser. Site Blocking (1) Software company maintains a list of `dubious Internet Sites' The software prevents access to any sites on this list. 'Denial list' regularly updated Site blocking (2): Some software provides control over what categories of information you block. Who decides what goes on the `denial list' and what criteria are they using. Can you keep track of the whole of the Internet? Filters can use both side blocking and word blocking.
Web Rating System (1) Web sites are rated in terms of nudity, sex, violence and language. Web Rating System (2) Rating done either by the web page author or by the independent bureau.