CS2160 Aston University School of Engineering & Applied Science

CS2160: Professional and Social Aspects of Computing SAMPLE PAPER Time: 2 hours

Instructions to Candidates: The paper contains SIX questions. Answer any THREE questions. All questions carry equal weighting. The paper will be marked out of a total of 99 marks, which will be adjusted to a percentage mark by adding one mark to every candidates paper. Materials provided The BCS Code of Conduct is included as an appendix to this examination paper.

1. Professionalism a) In the context of the UK computing profession: (i) Describe the situation regarding the professional status of software engineers. (2 marks) (ii) Identify the principal professional bodies and describe their relationship to each other and to other international bodies. (3 marks) (iii) Describe how computing-related university courses are accredited. (3 marks) b) Identify four key roles and/or responsibilities of the British Computer Society (BCS) and, using examples, explain how these are fulfilled. (10 marks) c) A consultant is advising a local business on the introduction of a new software system to maintain its accounts. The consultant considers that a package called Computerised Business Accounts (CBA) best suits the clients needs and therefore recommends it. However, the consultants best friend is the marketing manager for the company that produces CBA. State and explain the clauses from the BCS code of conduct that are relevant to this situation? (15 marks)

2. Intellectual Property a) The following are established ways of protecting intellectual property rights in software. Describe the purpose of each of these approaches and explain how each can be used to protect property rights in software. (i) Copyright (ii) Patent (iii) Trademark (9 marks) b) (i) Under the UKs Patents Act 1977, what factors determine if an invention is patentable? (8 marks) (ii) Briefly state the current position in Europe regarding software patents? (2 marks) c) In a court case of North Software vs. South Systems Ltd, it was established that North produced a market leading global positioning system. The systems director of North left the company and established a new company, South, to develop a competitive product. The new product was produced quickly and bore a strong resemblance to the North product. Discuss the case between North and South, showing what North has to show to prove that its intellectual property rights have been infringed. (14 marks)

3. Data Protection, Privacy, a) An employee in a retail company alters the repayment records of several customers on the computerised repayments system, so that the customers repay less than they should. Discuss how this scenario relates to: (i) The Data Protection Act 1998 (4 marks) (ii) The Computer Misuse Act 1990 apply to this scenario. (4 marks) b) Under the Identity Cards Act 2006, the Home Office in the UK is planning to introduce National Identity Cards as a personal identification document. It is proposed that the National Insurance Number will be used as a unique identifier under the scheme. (i)Give THREE arguments for and THREE arguments against National Identity Cards? (6 marks) (ii) What are the potentials for invasion of privacy and fraud with regard to National Identity cards? Refer to the US Social Security Number model in your argument. (7 marks) c) Suppose a denial-of-service attack shuts down two dozen major web sites, including retailer, stockbrokers, and large corporate information and entertainment sites. The attack is traced to one of the following suspects. Do you think different penalties are appropriate depending on who it is? Explain why. If you would impose different penalties, how would they differ? A terrorist trying to cause large-scale monetary damage An organization publicizing its opposition to commercialization of the Web and corporate manipulation of customers A teenager using hacking tools he found on a web site A hacker group showing off to another hacker group about how many sites it could shut down in one day (12 marks)

4. Internet Issues a) An individual resident and domiciled in Wales posts a defamatory comment about a person also resident and domiciled in Wales, but having a national reputation throughout the UK, to a Usenet newsgroup. The person defamed is a public figure, e.g., a media celebrity, originally an American national, but who has established his principal home in Wales. The defamatory comment is readable in many countries including Wales, England and the United States. The principal harm done to the pursuer's reputation is in the United States. The defamed party wishes to sue. How should they initiate the action? (8 marks) b) (i) Outline the main differences in ethos between the Internet Watch Foundation and the Internet Content Rating Association. (8 marks) (ii) Briefly state the reasons (historic and contemporary) for these differences? (2 marks) c) (i) What are the main differences between the features of the European Community Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications which relate to Spam and the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act 2003 (CAN SPAM Act) in the US? (10 marks) (ii) Explain how phishing violates the CAN-SPAM Act. (5 marks)

5. Errors, Failures and Risk and Computing in Society a) The Therac-25 was a radiation therapy machine produced by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) after the Therac-6 and Therac-20 units (the earlier units had been produced in partnership with CGR of France). It was involved with at least six accidents between 1985 and 1987, in which patients were given massive overdoses of radiation, approximately 100 times the intended dose. Two of the six patients died as a direct consequence. These accidents highlighted the dangers of software control of safety-critical systems, and they have become a standard case study in health informatics and software engineering. Therac-25 involved errors in software, overall design and management or operations. (i) What software engineering principles were violated in the original implementation of the Therac-25 system? (5 marks) (ii) To what degree was each of the following responsible for the injuries and deaths resulting from the machine: The programmers who developed the defective software; Atomic Energy of Canada (the manufacturer of Therac-25); The hospitals and clinics where the machine was deployed; The Food and Drug Administration who approves new medical devices. (12 marks) b) What can be done to reduce the chance of such problems occurring in the future? (5 marks) c) (i) What are TWO purposes of electronic monitoring of employees? (2 marks) (ii) Why is it difficult to determine the number of jobs created and eliminated by computers? (3 marks) (iii) In developed and less developed countries, computers and Internet access are available in schools. Do you think the global digital divide is likely to last more than one generation? Give your reasons. How does it differ from social divisions that occurred when other information and communication technologies were introduced? (4 marks)

6. Killer Robot Case Study Bart Matthews, a robot operator at Cybernetics, Inc., has been killed by an out-ofcontrol assembly robot named Robbie. The creator of the robot, Silicon Techtronics, is in a tight financial position and had hoped that the robot would put the company back on its feet. It has been determined that several situations contributed to the death of Matthews: Improper methodologies were used in designing and developing the software; Testing of the software was faked; The company pressured Robbies creators to by-pass testing; Part of the software used in the robot was stolen from another vendors application; The programmer did not understand and misinterpreted formulas in the code he wrote; Security measures used were illegal, and therefore all information gathered in regard to the case might not be permissible in court; The end-user interface was designed improperly.

a) Consider the arguments for considering software as a product or as a service. Apply these arguments to the Killer Robot Case Study. (13 marks) b) Provide FOUR characteristics of quality software. (4 marks) Provide TWO examples of particular contexts where some factors conflict and some are more important than others. (4 marks) c) (i) Give TWO advantages of end-user involvement in software design and development. (4 marks) (ii) Provide TWO examples of good user interface design. (4 marks) (iii) Explain the differences between black box and white box software testing (4 marks)