Questions and Answers of Ethics Information Age

Debate the following proposition: “It is immoral for a corporation to pay its chief executive officer (CEO) 400 times as much as a production worker.”
In this role-playing exercise, students weigh the pros and cons of working for companies with different philosophies about work. Company A is a large, established hardware and software company.
A company runs a large technical support office. At any time, about 50 technical support specialists are on duty, answering phone calls from customers. The company is considering paying the technical
You lead a group of five software engineers involved in the testing of a new product. Your manager tells you that because of a company-wide layoff, you need to give notice to one member of your team.
A multinational corporation transfers a foreign employee to the United States on an L-1 visa. The foreign employee is a computer programmer, working alongside an American computer programmer doing
Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have approved plans to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next several years. Critics say such a large increase in the minimum wage will encourage
Do you agree with Martin Ford (interviewed at the end of this chapter) that countries need to introduce guaranteed income schemes to preserve the market for goods and services?
Should the federal government discourage companies from taking advantage of their salaried employees by requiring firms to pay overtime to any employee who works more than 40 hours in one week?
Would the music industry be healthier if winner-take-all effects were reduced? If so, which of the proposed solutions in Section 10.6.2 would make the most sense for the music industry?
Do you support the concept of tiered Internet service, providing higher bandwidth to those who pay for premium service?
A multinational corporation has an office in Palo Alto, California, and an office in Ban-galore, India. A 21-year-old American computer science graduate works as a software tester at the Palo Alto
The Grapes of Wrath, a novel written by John Steinbeck, vividly describes the conditions of migrant workers in California during the Great Depression. In the novel, farmers take advantage of the fact
You are a member of the information services team at a large corporation. The president has asked for a confidential meeting with your group to talk about ways to improve productivity. The president
It is possible to program responses into computers that simulate human emotions. For example, when a computer taking on the role of a nurse hears a parent say, “My child has diarrhea,” it can
Kant says that the rationality and autonomy of human beings must always be respected, and that is why people should always be treated as ends in themselves and never merely as the means to an end.
How will our ideas about privacy have to change if legions of super fast computers are analyzing the electronic records of our lives?
How will our notions of intellectual property change if computers become capable of creative work?
Is it morally acceptable to work on the development of an intelligent machine if it cannot be guaranteed the machine’s actions will be benevolent?
Will humans become demoralized by the presence of vastly more intelligent robots? If so, is it wrong to work on the development of such robots?
The Umpire Information System, produced by QuesTec, demonstrates that a computer can call balls and strikes more accurately than a human umpire. In fact, the system is being used by Major League
Is it wrong to create machines capable of making human labor obsolete?
If automation leads to chronic and widespread unemployment, should the government provide long-term unemployed adult citizens with the opportunity to do meaningful work at a wage that will keep them
Would you accept a salaried position (paying a fixed amount each month rather than paying by the hour) if you knew it would require you to work at least 50 hours per week in order to complete the
Would you accept a salaried position (paying a fixed amount each month rather than paying by the hour) if you knew it would require you to work at least 50 hours per week in order to complete the
The Department of Homeland Security is interested in using computers to identify suspected terrorists operating within the United States. It would like to mine databases containing information about
The members of the class are the employees of a small, privately held company that produces computer games. Everyone shares in the profits of the company. The company has been making electronic
Company X wants to open a dating service Web site. It hires Company Y to develop the software. Company Y hires Gina as a private contractor to provide a piece of instant messaging software for the
A college equips its large lecture halls with wireless networks, and it requires all of its students to purchase a laptop computer when they enroll. A computer science professor plans to streamline
Watch “Ethics in Computing: Real Ethics and Virtual Reality”. Discuss whether Sony should have received permission from Manchester Cathedral before featuring that site in Resistance: Fall of Man.
Would you characterize Edward Snowden, the person who leaked information about US surveillance programs to the British newspaper the Guardian, as a whistle-blower?
Connie interviews a candidate for a software engineering position. She feels the person has several holes in his technical background that could hinder his job performance. The next day Connie and
Five years ago Al graduated from college and began working for Superlative Software Corporation. His most recent promotion has made him the manager of a large group of software engineers and support
You are the manager of a software development group within a large corporation. Your group would be more productive if the PCs were upgraded, but you do not have any money left in your annual
You are a senior in college. You sent your resume to a half-dozen companies hoping to get a job. A month ago you interviewed at ABC Corporation and XYZ Corporation. Two weeks ago XYZ Corporation
You are a junior in college. You sent your resume to a half-dozen companies hoping to get a summer internship. Two weeks ago XYZ Corporation contacted you and offered you a paid summer internship.
Two weeks ago you started a new job as system administrator for a computer lab at a small college. Wanting to make a good impression, you immediately set out to learn more about the various
You are a manager in charge of a section of 30 employees in a large corporation. This morning one of your employees—Jane Lee—enters your office and tells you she thinks two members of your staff
Do you agree with Michael McFarland that a team of engineers has greater moral responsibility than any individual engineer on the team?
In the criminal proceedings resulting from the government’s investigation of fraud at the Microelectronic Circuit Division, the jury found Hughes Aircraft guilty, but it found supervisor Donald
The Challenger disaster led to the deaths of seven astronauts and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment. How much moral responsibility should each of the following groups
A start-up company called Medick has been developing an exciting new product for handheld computers that will revolutionize the way nurses keep track of their hospitalized patients. The device will
Identify people in the class who have been beta testers for new software products. Ask them to tell the rest of the class about their experiences. What did acting as a beta tester teach them about
The New York Transit Authority is transforming the L line into a partially automated subway line. A central computer system will control the speed and spacing of all trains on the line. However, each
California is working on an “intelligent highway” system that would allow computer-controlled automobiles to travel faster and closer together on freeways than today’s human-controlled cars.
Debate the moral responsibility of three agents associated with the two Therac-25 over-doses occurring in Tyler, Texas: the radiation technician, the hospital director, and the programmer who wrote
While waiting for an appointment with your physician, you see a brochure advertising a new surgical procedure that implants a tiny microprocessor inside your skull just behind your left ear. The
Read the entire end-user license agreement (EULA) from a piece of commercial soft-ware. Do any of the conditions seem shady or unreasonable? If so, which ones?
Perhaps programs used for business purposes ought to conform to higher standards of quality than games. With respect to software warranties, would it make sense to distinguish between software used
The chapter quotes NASA’s project manager for the Mars Pathfinder as saying software hasn’t improved in quality in the past 25 years. How could you determine whether software quality has improved
If a company sends a consumer an incorrect bill, should the company compensate the consumer for the time and effort the consumer takes to straighten out the mistake?
Over a period of seven years, about 500 residents of Freeport, Texas, were overbilled for their water usage. Each resident paid on average about $170 too much, making the total amount of the
Should the FBI be responsible for the accuracy of information about criminals and crime victims it enters into the National Crime Information Center database?
Should an e-commerce site be required to honor the prices at which it offers and sells goods and services?
Have you ever been the victim of a software error? Whom did you blame? Now that you know more about the reliability of computer systems, do you still feel the same way?
East Dakota has decided to allow its citizens to vote over the Web in the presidential election, if they so desire. Thirty percent of the eligible voters choose to cast their ballots over the Web.
Divide the class into two groups. One group should come up with arguments why the United States should work to create an international ban on cyber attacks, analogous to the Chemical Weapons
A distributed denial-of-service attack makes the Web site for a top electronic retailer inaccessible for an entire day. As a result of the attack, nearly a million customers were inconvenienced, and
Debate this proposition: It is wrong for a company to hire a former malicious hacker as a security consultant.
The University of Calgary offered a senior-level computer science course called “Com-puter Viruses and Malware.” The course taught students how to write viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. It also
Debate this proposition: Those who create nondestructive malware are doing the computer industry a favor because the patches created to block them make computers more secure. To use an analogy, each
Do you agree with the author that it is a bad idea for a government to allow online voting from home computers?
The United States and Israel cooperated to unleash the Stuxnet worm, which apparently slowed down Iran’s nuclear program by damaging centrifuges processing uranium. Was unleashing the Stuxnet worm
Do you support the actions of Anonymous? Would you consider becoming an Anon?
Some would argue that technological development is inevitable. If Butler had not created Firesheep, someone else would have. Every invention can be put to good or bad uses. Therefore, creators of new
Is it morally acceptable to use a denial-of-service attack to shut down a Web server that distributes child pornography?
Millions of American homes are equipped with wireless networks. If the network is not made secure, any nearby computer with a wireless card can use the network. The range of home wireless networks
Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology denied admission to more than 100 business school applicants because they took an online peek at the
Adam and Charlene are good friends. Both attend East Dakota State University. One day when Adam is off campus interviewing for a part-time job, someone asks him how many credit hours of computer
Kalamazoo College requires that all computers connected to the campus network be running up-to-date antivirus software. When a student’s computer is discovered to have a virus, its network
When his worm program did not perform as expected, Robert Morris Jr. contacted two old friends from Harvard to decide what to do next. One of them, Andy Sudduth, agreed to email an anonymous message
Are there conditions under which the release of a worm, virus, or Trojan horse would be morally justifiable?
Email viruses are typically launched by people who modify header information to hide their identity. Brightmail’s Enrique Salem says that in the future, your email reader will authenticate the
In a study done in London, people in subway stations were offered a cheap pen in return for disclosing their passwords. About 90 percent offered their passwords in return for the pen. What can be
Debate the following proposition: By creating the Threat and Local Observation Notices (TALON) database, which enabled citizens to report on each other’s activities, the US government effectively
Divide the class into two groups (pro and con) to debate the proposition that every adult resident of the United States ought to carry a national identification card.
A database containing the DNA information of every citizen of a country could be a valuable resource to medical researchers. It could also help police solve crimes. Divide the class into two groups
The Code of Fair Information Practices applies only to government databases. Divide the class into two groups to debate the advantages and disadvantages of extending the Code of Fair Information
What special responsibilities do computer professionals have with respect to understanding and protecting the privacy rights of their fellow citizens?
In order to combat the counterfeiting of currency, the US Secret Service convinced several color laser printer manufacturers to add a secret code to every printed page. The code is invisible to the
Was the US government’s $2 million settlement with Brandon Mayfield reasonable and just?
When asked about Google releasing personal information to law enforcement agencies, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt told CNBC: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you
Discuss the following responses to the revelation that telecommunications companies provided domestic phone call records to the National Security Agency. President George Bush: “Al-Qaeda is our
Think about what you do when you get up in the morning. How would you act differently if you knew you were being watched? Would you feel uncomfortable? Do you think you would get used to being
Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma have passed laws that require lifetime monitoring of some convicted sex offenders after they have been released from prison. The offenders must wear electronic
The US Department of Homeland Security is developing the Biometric Optical Surveillance System (BOSS). The purpose of the system, which consists of video cameras, computers, and a database of
Here is a summary of an argument presented by Canadian author Robert Sawyer in a promotion for one of his science fiction novels. (The argument includes a disclaimer that it is not necessarily
Research the case Google Spain v. AEPD and Mario Costeja Gonz´alez. This case pits a particular kind of privacy—the right for certain information not to show up in a search result—against the
Joe Herzenberg was a historian and politician, as well as the first openly gay elected official in North Carolina. After he died in 2007, his papers, including correspondence, photographs, diaries,
While the cost of automobile insurance varies from person to person, based on the driving record of each individual, health insurance premiums are typically uniform across groups of people, such as
When you purchase a product or service using a credit card, the merchant has information linking you to the transaction. Divide the class into two groups (pro and con) to debate the proposition that
Divide the class into two groups. The first group should come up with evidence sup-porting the proposition “We live in a global village.” The second group should come up with evidence supporting
Give an example of a piece of information that a person should not have to reveal to anyone else. Give an example of a piece of information that society should be able to demand that a person reveal.
What does your “ladder of privacy” look like? How does it compare to those of your classmates?
What special responsibilities do computer professionals have with respect to understanding and protecting the privacy rights of their fellow citizens?
Homer Gaines used Google Glass while making a marriage proposal to his girlfriend, Tami Still well. “I would not have been able to pull off that level of spontaneity with any other device and
Google Glass provides an information display in eyeglass frames, making it easier for people to view information while on the go. Instead of having to look at the screen of a tablet or smartphone,
Music files downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Store have the purchaser’s name and email address embedded in them. Conceivably, Apple could use this information to learn how much file sharing goes on
A company discovers that some of its proprietary information has been revealed in Internet chat rooms. The disclosure of this information results in a substantial drop in the price of the company’s
You are setting up an account at a local store that rents outdoor equipment (tents, backpacks, ski gear, etc.). The clerk asks you to fill out the application form completely. One of the fields asks
Before offering a job candidate a position, some potential employers do a criminal background check of the candidate. What are the pros and cons of this policy?

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