Chapter 6

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Ethics and Intellectual Property Rights

Chapter 6

Computers and Technology in a Changing Society, Second Edition

Objectives

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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 (contd)

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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.

Chapter 6

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What Are Intellectual Property XP Rights?

Intellectual property rights the legal rights to which the creators of intellectual propertyoriginal creative worksare 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

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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 dont 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 creators death (95 years from publication date or 120 years from creation date for works registered by an organization).
Figure 6-1

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Can be protected by digital watermarks and other digital rights management (DRM) software.
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Trademarks

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A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies and distinguishes one good or service from another. Can be claimed or registered .

Figure 6-3

Cybersquatting registering a domain name confusingly similar to a trademark or for the purpose of selling the domain name at an inflated price.
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Patents

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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 Chapter 6 Computers and Technology in a Changing Society, Second Edition 8

What are Ethics?

Ethics standards of moral conduct. Computer ethics. Business ethics. Personal ethics. Unethical acts arent 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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Chapter 6

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Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

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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

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Figure 6-5

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Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

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Four main types of software: Commercial software developed and sold for a profit; typically cant 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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Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

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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 elses 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

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Examples of Plagiarism (contd)

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Figure 6-8

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XP Example of an Online Originality Test for an Essay

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Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

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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

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Figure 6-10

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Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material

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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

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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

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Figure 6-12

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Ethical Use of Resources 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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Ethical Use of Resources and Information

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. Rsum padding is unethical.
Figure 6-13

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Computer Hoaxes and Digital Manipulation

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.
Figure 6-14

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Computer Hoaxes and Digital Manipulation

It is a good idea to double-check any possible hoax before passing it on to another person. The federal governments Hoaxbusters site is a good resource for computer hoax information. Figure 6-15
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Computer Hoaxes and Digital Manipulation

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 photographseven create false or misleading photographs. The matter of altering photos to be published is the subject of much debate.
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Figure 6-16

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Ethical Business Practices and Decision Making

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.

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Ethical Business Practices and Decision Making

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Vaporware software and hardware products that have been announced and advertised, but are not yetand may never beavailable. 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.

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Ethical Business Practices and Decision Making

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.
Figure 6-18

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Related Legislation

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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 (contd)

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Childrens 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?

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What Are Ethics?

Ethical Use of Copyrighted Material Ethical Use of Resources and Information Computer Hoaxes and Digital Manipulation

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Summary (contd)
Ethical Business Practices and Decision Making

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Related Legislation

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