Legal, Et hical &

Int ellect ual Propert y

Issues in ICT

Presented By: Mr Blessed Imeh

(Snr IT-Lead SPFL)
Defining Computer Ethics

Computer ethics is a branch of practical

philosophy which deals with how computing
professionals should make decisions regarding
professional and social conduct. The term
"computer ethics" was first coined by Walter
Maner in the mid-1970s, but only since the
1990s has it started being integrated into
professional development programs in academic
settings.
Redefining Computer Ethics

No matter which re-definition of computer ethics

one chooses, the best way to understand the nature
of the field is through some representative
examples of the issues and problems that have
attracted research and scholarship which may
include:
• Computers in the Workplace
• Privacy and Anonymity
• Intellectual Property
• Professional Responsibility
• • Globalization
Computers in the Workplace
As a “universal tool” that can, in principle, perform almost any
task, computers obviously pose a threat to jobs. Although they
occasionally need repair, computers don't require sleep, they don't
get tired, they don't go home ill or take time off for rest and
relaxation. At the same time, computers are often far more efficient
than humans in performing many tasks. Therefore, economic
incentives to replace humans with computerized devices are very
high. Indeed, in the industrialized world many workers already have
been replaced by computerized devices — bank tellers, auto
workers, telephone operators, typists, graphic artists, security
guards, assembly-line workers, and on and on. In addition, even
professionals like medical doctors, lawyers, teachers,
accountants and psychologists are finding that computers can
perform many of their traditional professional duties quite
Privacy and Anonymity
The variety of privacy-related issues generated by computer
technology has led philosophers and other thinkers to re-
examine the concept of privacy itself. Since the mid-1960s,
for example, a number of scholars have elaborated a
theory of privacy defined as “control over personal
information”. On the other hand, philosophers Moor and
Tavani have argued that control of personal information is
insufficient to establish or protect privacy, and “the concept
of privacy itself is best defined in terms of restricted access,
not control”. In addition, Nissenbaum has argued that there
is even a sense of privacy in public spaces, or circumstances
“other than the intimate.” An adequate definition of privacy,
therefore, must take account of “privacy in public”. As
computer technology rapidly advances — creating ever new
possibilities for compiling, storing, accessing and analyzing
information — philosophical debates about the meaning of
“privacy” will likely continue.
Intellectual Property
One of the more controversial areas of computer ethics concerns
the intellectual property rights connected with software
ownership. Some people, like Richard Stallman who started the
Free Software Foundation, believe that software ownership should
not be allowed at all. He claims that all information should be free,
and all programs should be available for copying, studying and
modifying by anyone who wishes to do so. Others argue that
software companies or programmers would not invest weeks and
months of work and significant funds in the development of
software if they could not get the investment back in the form of
license fees or sales. Today's software industry is a multibillion
dollar part of the economy; and software companies claim to lose
billions of dollars per year through illegal copying (“software
piracy”). Many people think that software should be ownable, but
“casual copying” of personally owned programs for one's
friends should also be permitted. The software industry claims
that millions of dollars in sales are lost because of such copying.
Ownership is a complex matter, since there are several different
aspects of software that can be owned and three different types of
ownership: copyrights, trade secrets, and patents.
Professional Responsibility

Computer professionals have specialized knowledge and

often have positions with authority and respect in the
community. For this reason, they are able to have a significant
impact upon the world, including many of the things that
people value. Along with such power to change the world,
comes the duty to exercise that power responsibly. Computer
professionals find themselves in a variety of professional
relationships with other people, including:
employer — employee
client — professional
professional — professional
society — professional
 Globalization
Computer ethics today is rapidly evolving into a broader
and even more important field, which might reasonably be
called “global information ethics”. Global networks like
the Internet and especially the world-wide-web are
connecting people all over the earth. As Krystyna
Gorniak-Kocikowska perceptively notes in her paper,
“The Computer Revolution and the Problem of Global
Ethics” for the first time in history, efforts to develop
mutually agreed standards of conduct, and efforts to
advance and defend human values, are being made in a
truly global context. So, for the first time in the history of
the earth, ethics and values will be debated and
transformed in a context that is not limited to a particular
geographic region, or constrained by a specific religion
or culture. This may very well be one of the most
important social developments in history.
THE END