The Modern Information Technology

The discipline age is the age we live in today, and with the breeding age comes an age of morality. When we toilet with the new technologies introduced every day, we need to decide what we must consider ethical and unethical. We must consider only factors so that the intent of the information quickly available to m each persons is non ab expenditured. Information technology will be the n betimes fundamental atomic number 18a of ethical concern for business in the next decade (Houston 2). The most widely used tool of the information age is the calculating machine, whether it be a PC or a engagement of data processor systems.As we enter the information age the newness and power of information technologies tests the ethics of the average person, not just the criminal and causes thousands of data processor criminal offences to be move daily. The most common computer crime committed daily, more or less aw be and legion(predicate) not, is the illegal sharing of compute r parcel. Software is any of the schedules used in operating a digital computer, as insert and output programs, as defined by Funk and Wagn tout ensembles Standard Desk Dictionary.When you leverage computer package system, you purchase it with the understanding that it will be for se on a single computer, once installed on that system, it is not to be firm on any other computer. However many pot are not aware of this understanding, and many load a program on a couple of computers or on a whole profits of computer systems not aware that they are committing a crime. Even though you probably will not be prosecuted for loading a program on a friends computer, this is where your ethics come in.Do you consider anything when you treat a program with others? If not then consider the programmers of the computer software who are denied compensation for their developments every snip you distribute a iece of software. Why is it that mint who wouldnt think of bargaining pack of gum will copy a $500 piece of software (Houston 3)? A popular form run into illegal software distribution is byout the online world. Whether it be the Internet, America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, or a BBS (Bulletin Board System), software pirates thrive freely online.These so called pirates operate by uploading pieces of software, commonly referred to as warez, into an online services database then sending through e-mail the rights to d haveload them. The Information Superhighway has opened the door to a new kind of highway robbery the home shoplifting web (Mattia 43). When you access a online service, you are identified through an account which most commonly consists of a user ID and password. The password is so you only plunder access the online service with your user ID. many an(prenominal) people online use their suffer accounts to access their service, but many steal and use the accounts of others or happen upon fake accounts. When online, these account pirates many magaz ines trick other users into self-aggrandising their passwords to them by impersonating an employee of the online service. Others can hack into the online services mainframe computer and steal thousands of accounts. Probably the most common method of getting online without paying is the use of fake or fraudulent accounts. These are made by go for false information when attempting to gain access to an online service.Name, address, phone number, and billing information, much(prenominal) as checking account or credit card number, are all falsified in obtaining an online account. With these stolen and fake accounts, software pirates have virtually unlimited time to download their warez without any charge to them. Many people dont consider the people behind the creation of software when they illicitly distribute it. The developers of software are not properly compensated for their work because of the extent of software piracy.No one can argue with a software companys desire, and righ t, to make genuine everyone using their products has paid for it (Furger 73). The numbers add up, it is estimated that in 1994 alone that software companies lost $15 billion from illegal software copying (Maremont 65). It is not only illegal, but clearly unethical to distribute software well-educated hat the people behind the software are experiencing the downfalls of Every time software companies cannot compensate their programmers for their work, more people are out of a job.Consider this, you enter a store and purchase an item, during this trans pull through you give your name and phone number. The person you have given this information to then enters it into a computerized database. After this person has collected a sufficient inwardness of names, they then sell it to a telemarketing firm for a profit. This action is legal, but is it ethical. Do you want your name sold without your try for? to the highest degree people dont because they dont want to be bothered by sales pers ons on the telephone. Also, your address could be sold and you put on a send out list.Then its an issue of do you want your mailbox filled with chuck out mail. This action is unethical for the simple reason of consent. If the person had just gained consent to enter the names into his/her database then he would not have committed and unethical act. One conclusion from studies sponsored by the National Institute of legal expert is that persons involved in computer crimes get form skills and interests at an early age. Usually they are introduced to computers at home or in school and usually start their career path with illegally copying software (McEwen 2).As young people interact with hackers, they integrated the beliefs of the hackers into their own. Many of these outlaw(a) beliefs of young hackers about information and computers leads them to a career in computer crime. Many times it is the lack of education by parents and schools that helps to make these beliefs all the more true to a young person. Computer criminals have their own set of beliefs about information and computers. Their beliefs are based on provable unethical reasoning. For example, hackers believe that computerized data are free and should be friendly to anyone.They also believe that passwords and other security features are simply obstacles to be overcome in obtaining data that should already be available and spell data should never be destroyed, there is nothing wrong with display and transferring data for ones own use (McEwen 2). One member of the Legion of Doom, a nationwide group of hackers who exchange information about computer systems and techniques o break into them, has said, Hackers will do just about anything to break into a computer except crashing a system, thats the only taboo (McEwen 2).The key to lodge computer criminals from forming is education. It is often times the case that people commit computer crimes without even know they are doing so and the reason for thi s is the lack of education. a few(prenominal) schools teach computer ethics, and parents of arrested hackers are usually unaware that their children have been illegally accessing computer systems (McEwen 2). Colleges and universities do not usually include computer use and abuse in their ourses, arguing that it is the responsibility of the schools.On the other hand, many secondary school educators are not sure about what should be taught and are reluctant or unable to add ethical computer education to many subjects in the curriculum. Textbooks on computer literacy rarely attend computer abuses and individual responsibilities. Educators and software developers have worked together to prevent software piracy in educational institutions. In 1987, the Software Copyright commission of the International Council for Computers in Education (ICCE) developed a policy to convey educators.The policy call on school districts to teach staff the victuals of the copyright law and both staff an d students the ethical and practical implications of software piracy. This policy has been adopted by many school districts across the surface area (McEwen 3). In recognition of the problems arising with the illegal and unethical use of computers, criminal justice forces have begun to crack down on computer criminals. In 1989, tierce computer crime studies were sponsored by the National Institute of Justice.One of these studies examined contrasting organizational approaches for computer crime nvestigation and prosecution, another documented the experiences of several employ computer crime units, and the third developed a computer crime investigation handbook (McEwen 2). Computers are a permanent fact of bearing in work places and classrooms across the country. More businesses are likely to incorporate policies on information access and confidentiality in their employee orientation and training programs. Many schools and universities, responding from pressure around them, are b eginning to incorporate computer ethics into their courses.