A case study on copyright Law Although computers provide many significant benefits to humanity, they also cause many ethical dilemmas (problems). For example, illegal copying of software is a major problem for soft softwa ware re publ publish ishers ers.. A stud study y by the the Softwa Software re Publis Publisher hers s Associ Associati ation on (SPA) (SPA) illustrates just how wide spread the problem is: “Thieves last year stoles as mush business software as McDonalds sold hamburgers,” says Ken Wasch, executive director of SPA in Washington D.C. Software revenue lost of Thieves around the world totaled $7.4 billion last year, he says. In recent years the number of lawsuits against software vendors has risen experts believe that this trend is likely to continue. The SPA, on behalf of Lotus, Microsoft and WordPerfect, conducted a surprise raid on two branches of a property management company on the west coast for alleged violations of softwa software re copyri copyright ght laws. laws. Althou Although gh the com compan pany y had a policy policy agains againstt softwa software re copyin copying, g, employees of the company were violating software copyright laws and hence the company is likely to face criminal charges. In a separate case, Lotus and Novell files criminal charges against a married couple in Sing Singapo apore re afte afterr the the pair pair was foun found d guil guilty ty of trade tradema mark rk and and copy copyrig right ht infri infring ngem emen entt (violation) in a civil suit. The software companies obtained a court order freezing $900,000 in personal assets belonging to the couple, who reportedly sold thousand of illegal copies of software throughout Southeast Asia.
a. If a company has a well publicized written document outlining its policies against software piracy, that company should be protected from infringement liabilities. In such a case, if an employee is caught violating software piracy policies, the employee should be sue (charges or take a legal action), not the company. Discuss?
b. What is considered illegal in this country may or may not be considered illegal in other parts of the world. The U.S. should not impose its ethical standards on other countries. Comment?
Case study (Information system in restaurant) A waiter takes an order at a table, and then enters it online via one of the six terminals located in the restaurant dining room. The order is routed to a printer in the appropriate preparation area: the cold item printer if it is a salad , the hot-item printer if it is a hot sandwich or the bar printer if it is a drink . A customer’s meal check-listing (bill) the items ordered and the respective prices are automatically generated. This ordering system eliminates the old three-carbon-copy guest check system as well as any problems caused by a waiter’s handwriting. When the kitchen runs out of a food item, the cooks send out an ‘out of stock’ message, which will be displayed on the dining room terminals when waiters try to order that item. This gives the waiters faster feedback, enabling them to give better service to the customers. Other system features aid management in the planning and control of their restaurant business. The system provides up-to-the-minute information on the food items ordered and breaks out percentages showing sales of each item versus total sales. This helps management plan menus according to customers’ tastes. The system also compares the weekly sales totals versus food costs, allowing planning for tighter cost controls. In addition, whenever an order is voided, the reasons for the void are keyed in. This may help later in management decisions, especially if the voids consistently related to food or service. Acceptance of the system by the users is exceptionally high since the waiters and waitresses were involved in the selection and design process. All potential users were asked to give their impressions and ideas about the various systems available before one was chosen. Questions: a. In the light of the system, describe the decisions to be made in the area of strategic planning, managerial control and operational control? What information would you require to make such decisions? b. What would make the system a more complete MIS rather than just doing transaction Processing? c. Explain the probable effects that making the system more formal would have on the Customers and the management.
Case study : 2 (System Loopholes) Utpal had just joined SystemX as Systems Manager. But he was a worried man looking at the current state of affairs at SystemX. As a part of assessing hardware and software requirements, it was found that out of the 364 desktops at the corporate office; more than half did not have their antivirus software updated with recent virus signature files. Three fourths had not changed the default e-mail password (it was the user name) and no one had installed OS patches. And one of its local mail servers seemed to be an open relay! For a fleeting moment, he wondered about the situation at the seven branch offices across the country. SystemX used the Net extensively in dealing with its branches, customers and suppliers. Information like contract documents, marketing plans, Cheque and Draft numbers, bank account details and collection details were regularly transmitted by e-mail. Utpal’s first thought was that he would recommend that SystemX bring in a security consultant. But the budget constraints meant that his recommendation was unlikely to find favour. He was beginning to feel a bit out of depth and was wondering what he should do to ensure that SystemX’s data remained safe and secure. Questions: a. What security loopholes come to the fore in the situation described? How can these be plugged? b. What is the importance of a “security budget” in the context of the given situation?
Case study : 3 (System Failure) Read the following news snippets: • On 20 November, 1985, the Bank of New York lost over $ 5 million as a result of an error in the software of the digital system that registered all the bank’s financial transactions. • In 1992, a software problem created total chaos in the communication system of ambulance services in London. The delay in communications caused the death of 30 people. • On 7 August, 1996, the computer system of Internet-provider America Online (AOL) failed for 19 hours when new software had been installed. Over 16 million subscribers were affected. Before this took place, the AOL experts had strongly suggested that the system was immune to this kind of disaster. Questions: a. Is it justified to say that digital systems are unreliable and carries enormous risks? b. What countermeasures should be put in place to minimize damages due to failure of digital systems? Give your answer for each of the above three situations.
Case 2: unit -5 telephone monitoring: privacy breach or security measure During 1980s, hackers Lenny and Kevin were convinced for breaking into DEC’s internal network. They did it by controlling about 50 telephone switches, including some in Chicago and Manhattan and were able to shut down all telephone services. There are many telephone hackers who can easily penetrate corporate phone networks and cause serious damage by accessing and /or destroying valuable corporate data and incurring thousands of dollars worth of phone charges. The telephone system is the weakest link in network security. Some measures that company taking to prevent telephone breakings are full time monitoring of the telephone system, obtaining insurance to line security breaches, and end-to-end data encryption.
Ques : If the network administrator monitored your telephone calls, would you consider that a breach (violate) of privacy or would you support it in the interest of security?
Case 3: unit -5 Hold that data, please The information superhighway has made is easy for marketers so compile detailed information on how consumers uses online services- on their hobbies, their music preferences, their favorite movices, their vacation spots, their dream automobiles an son on. Such detailed data on an individual’s consumption patterns are invaluable to marketers, who often spend large sums on promotions and advertising directed at special audiences. But privacy advocates warn that this is a quick route to trouble; it can often cause customers to abandon (discard) companies that sell data about them to other companies without their express permission. Companies may even find themselves in court for such violations of consumers privacy. For example, America online was chastised recently by Representative Edward J. Markey for trying to sell its subscriber data in the direct marketing industry and earn huge profits. Today, in order to avoid the privacy trap, many companies are hiring consumer advocates and consulting legal experts before selling data. Consumers are insisting the they should be notified in advance that data are being collected on them. They are also demanding a voice in the decision as to how the data will be sued and they want to review and correct the data whenever necessary. On the other hand, some marketers say, “ If you give them a big enough discount to divulge (disclose) their life story and a say in how that information will be used, they will go along.” QN. 1. What role, if any should consumers play in monitoring and controlling the sale of consumer-related data? QN. 2. Do you believe that consumers would be more willing to share data about themselves if companies paid them for the data? Discuss
