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Chapter 6

Computers and Technology in a Changing Society, Second Edition 1

Ethics and Intellectual Property

Rights

Chapter 6

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Chapter 6


Objectives

1. Understand the concept of intellectual property rights and how these rights relate to computer use.

2. Define the term “ethics” and provide several examples of unethical

behavior in computer-related matters.

3. List several types of copyrighted materials and describe how they

can be used ethically.

4. State several ethical issues related to the use of school or business

resources and information.

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Objectives (cont’d)

5. Explain what computer hoaxes and digital manipulation are and

how they relate to computer ethics.

6. Identify several ethical issues surrounding business practices

and decisions.

7. Discuss the status of legislation related to intellectual property

rights and ethics.

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What Are Intellectual Property

Rights?

• Intellectual property rights – the legal rights to

which the creators of intellectual property–original

creative works–are entitled.

• Intellectual property rights indicate who has the right

to use, perform, or display the creative work; how

long the creator retains rights to the property; and

other related restrictions.

• The three main types of intellectual property rights

are copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

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Copyrights

• A copyright is a form of protection available to the

creator of an original artistic or literary work, such as a

book, movie, software program, musical composition,

or painting.

• Copyright protection in the U.S. gives the copyright

holder the exclusive right to publish, reproduce,

distribute, perform, or display the work.

• Copyrights can be registered, but don’t have to be.

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Copyrights

• Copyrights are often displayed on

published works and Web sites.

• Copyrights last until 70 years after

the creator’s death (95 years from

publication date or 120 years from

creation date for works registered

by an organization).

• Can be protected by digital watermarks and other

digital rights management (DRM) software.

Figure 6-1

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Trademarks

• A trademark is a word,

phrase, symbol, or design

that identifies and

distinguishes one good or

service from another.

▪ Can be claimed ™ or

registered ®.

• Cybersquatting – registering a domain name

confusingly similar to a trademark or for the purpose

of selling the domain name at an inflated price.

Figure 6-3

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Patents

• A patent protects inventions by

granting exclusive rights to its

inventor for 20 years.

• In addition to products,

business methods can be

patented.

• Patents are expensive to

register, but can be lucrative. Figure 6-4

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What are Ethics?

• Ethics – standards of moral conduct.

▪ Computer ethics.

▪ Business ethics.

▪ Personal ethics.

• Unethical acts aren’t always illegal, but illegal acts would be viewed as unethical by most people.

• Ethics play an integral role in our lives since they guide our behavior

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Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

• Software:

▪ With copyrighted software, the developer holds

the ownership rights for that program.

▪ When software is purchased, the buyer is

acquiring a software license that permits him or

her to use the program.

▪ The terms of the software license dictate the

allowable use.

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Example of a Software License

Figure 6-5

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• Four main types of software:

▪ Commercial software – developed and sold for a

profit; typically can’t be shared with others.

▪ Shareware – distributed on the honor system; can

be shared with others.

▪ Freeware – given away by the author, but still are

copyright protected.

▪ Public domain software – not copyrighted.

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• Books and Web-based articles:

▪ Cannot be legally reproduced, presented as ones

own original material, or otherwise used in an

unauthorized manner.

▪ To present someone else’s work as your own is

plagiarism, which is both a violation of copyright

law and unethical.

▪ Internet and computers make it easier to

plagiarize.

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Examples of Plagiarism

Figure 6-8

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Examples of Plagiarism (cont’d)

Figure 6-8

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Example of an Online Originality

Test for an Essay

Figure 6-9

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• Music:

▪ Many legal and ethical issues surrounding music

downloads, especially via P2P sites.

▪ RIAA lawsuits are getting a great deal of attention.

▪ You can legally download music for roughly $1 per

song.

▪ Once a song is legally obtained, it is considered

fair use to transfer those songs to another medium

for personal use.

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Examples of Online Music Stores

Figure 6-10

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• Movies:

▪ Copy protection is built into many VHS, DVD, and

pay-per-view movies to prevent individuals from

making unauthorized copies.

▪ Pirated movies easily available via the Internet.

▪ New issues surrounding sharing recorded or

downloaded movies via the Internet.

▪ FCC broadcast flag may affect the ability to share

content via the Internet.

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Ethical Use of Resources

and Information

• School or company resources:

▪ Code of conduct – states what is considered proper

and ethical use of school or company resources.

▪ Codes of ethics – summarizes the moral guidelines

adopted by a particular organization and typically

address such issues as honesty, integrity, fairness,

responsibility to others, proper use of intellectual

property, confidentiality, and accountability.

• Employees should carefully consider the use of the

confidential information they have access to.

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A Sample Code of Ethics

Figure 6-12

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and Information

• Employee and customer information:

▪ While a business may be legally bound by such

restrictions as employee confidentiality laws, union

contracts, and its customer privacy policy, there are

gray areas inside which ethical decisions need to be

made.

▪ Ethically questionable acts may ultimately hurt

business in the long run.

▪ Most business schools incorporate business ethics

into their curriculum.

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• Cheating and falsifying

information:

▪ Cheating in school is very

common, but unethical and

can have serious

consequences.

▪ Schools with academic honor

codes have a lower rate of

cheating.

▪ Résumé padding is unethical.


and Information

Figure 6-13

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• Computer hoax – an

inaccurate statement or

story spread through the

use of computers.

▪ Are sometimes

published on Web

pages, but are more

commonly spread via

e-mail.

Computer Hoaxes and

Digital Manipulation

Figure 6-14

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• It is a good idea to

double-check any

possible hoax before

passing it on to another

person.

• The federal government’s

Hoaxbusters site is a

good resource for

computer hoax

information.

Computer Hoaxes and


Figure 6-15

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• Digital manipulation – the use of computers to modify text, images, photographs, music, and other digital content.

▪ Can be used to misquote individuals, repeat comments out of context, retouch photographs–even create false or misleading photographs.

▪ The matter of altering photos to be published is the subject of much debate.

Computer Hoaxes and


Figure 6-16

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• Ethically questionable products and services:

▪ Businesses must decide whether or not to sell

products or services that some people find

objectionable.

▪ Policies within a particular industry may vary from

company to company.

▪ Difficult to prove age for online sales, though can

require an adult signature for deliveries.

Ethical Business Practices

and Decision Making

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• Vaporware – software and hardware products that have

been announced and advertised, but are not yet–and

may never be–available.

• Recent corporate scandals involving fraudulent reporting

and other illegal and unethical activities has resulted in

the perception of low business ethics by the public.

▪ Corporate Responsibility Act includes numerous

provisions to improve the quality of financial reporting

by businesses.


and Decision Making

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• Workplace monitoring - businesses have the right and

responsibility to ensure that employees are productive

and the company resources are not being abused, but

need to decide how to carry this out and should inform

employees.

• Cultural considerations – there are

cultural, legal, and ethical

differences between businesses

located in different countries.


and Decision Making

Figure 6-18

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Related Legislation

• Some federal laws related to intellectual property

rights and ethics include:

▪ Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Corporate

Responsibility Act)

▪ Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

▪ U.S Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act

▪ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

▪ Trademark Amendments Act of 1999

▪ Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages

Improvement Act

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Related Legislation (cont’d)

▪ Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

▪ Copyright Term Extension Act

▪ No Electronic Theft (NET) Act

▪ Copyright Act of 1976

▪ Lanham Act (Trademark Act of 1946)

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Summary

• What Are Intellectual Property Rights?

• What Are Ethics?

• Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

• Ethical Use of Resources and Information

• Computer Hoaxes and Digital Manipulation

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Chapter 6


Summary (cont’d)

• Ethical Business Practices and Decision Making

• Related Legislation

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