Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computers and the Internet (2nd ed.)
by Sara Baase
Presentation assignments for Chap. 10: Professional Ethics
Comments to instructors
Chapter 10 is the last topic in the course, so we do these scenarios in the last two weeks. If there are still many students who have not satisfied the oral presentation requirement, I select several scenarios and assign small groups to prepare presentations, with the students who must present assigned to different groups. If only one or two students still need to do presentations, I let them choose a scenario and prepare on their own. (I assign one group for each scenario used.) We discuss several others in class.
Almost all of these scenarios are real incidents.
Most of the General Exercises in the text on pages 431-434 are suitable for student presentation assignments. Almost all the scenarios I have used in class are now in the exercises.
General instructions given to students
Here are some things to consider. What are the issues, problems, risks entailed in this scenario? Who are the stakeholders? What obligations does the professional have to the various stakeholders? How do the guidelines in the text (Sec. 10.2.2) apply? Use analogies and similar cases where appropriate. Include some discussion of how the new technology changes the situation. List a variety of actions that might be taken. Which are ethically acceptable? Whch are not? Why? Which are ethically obligatory? What sections of the SE Code or the ACM Code relate to this case? What do they suggest or require?
Asmt. 1: Exercise 10.8
Comments to instructors
This is an easy one because it is clear the professor is wrong to give
the assignment. However, this is a good warm up, and a good opportunity
to discuss how the students would really respond to such a situation.
Many start out saying they would probably just do the assignment to
protect their grade in the class. They are glad to acquire both
ethical arguments for refusing to do it and ideas about actual steps
they can take (such as talking to the professor about their concerns or
getting together with other students to talk to the professor).
Asmt. 2: Exercise 10.16
Asmt. 3: Exercise 10.17
Comments to instructors
Students see the risk of losing their job no matter what choice they
make. After a full discussion in class, I tell students that in the
actual case, the programmer said no with an explanation, and the
investment manager dropped his request.
Asmt. 4: Exercise 10.18
Comments to instructors
This exercise was prompted by the Sklyarov case (Sec. 6.4.2). It
provides an opportunity to discuss not only the ethical issues in the
scenario, but also the point that it is not inconsistent to criticize a law
for being too broad (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
and also criticize, from an ethical basis, some actions the law prohibits.
Asmt. 5: Exercise 10.21
Comments to instructors
Generates lively discussion about when discrimination based on
national origin (and other factors) is acceptable.
Asmt. 6: Exercise 10.22
Comments to instructors
When students know that one statement is in the ACM Code, they
often argue that it should be, and the other shouldn't be. When they
don't know in advance that one statement is in the Code, they are more
likely to consider the two statements equally appropriate or inappropriate
for a professional code of ethics. They are swayed by what the
"experts" have done.
(The endnotes on the exercise indicate the sources.)
Asmt. 7: Exercise 10.23
Comments to instructors
The company, exercising more restraint than most students expect, decided not
to release the game. (My students told me
copies eventually were available on the Web.)
Asmt. 8: Exercise 10.29
Comments to instructors
The students almost always see no problem with accepting the contract
from the company, because the computer system
is owned by the employer and intended for work purposes. The contract
with the foreign government generates
a lot of discussion about imposing our values on other countries and whether
or not declining to do something one disapproves of is "forcing" one's views
on others. We have many foreign students. Those from countries that
do not have free societies are more likely to argue against working
for the foreign government.
Asmt. 9: Exercise 10.31
Comments to instructors
A surprisingly rich and varied set of issues to consider.
Asmt. 10: Release of imperfect software (Not in the text.)
You are the managing team for a software company that produces software for filling out income tax forms. The rules for taxation of certain kinds of small businesses have recently been changed, and you're not certain your company's new program has been correctly modified to follow to follow the new rules. But it is now the time when people are starting to do their tax forms, and if the program is not released now, the company will lose all the sales for this year. The number of businesses affected by the new rules is small. You are deciding whether or not to release the program.
Asmt. 11: The impact of a prank (Not in the text.)
A company that produces computer games had to recall at least 100,000 units of a game it had shipped, because someone added a file to the master disk that contained a very offensive song. Analyze the action of the person who put the file on the master disk. Is it reasonable to assume the person did it intentionally? If the person is identified, what action should the company take against him or her? What management procedures should be implemented to reduce the chances of a similar event in the future?
Comments to instructors
The student who worked at the company commented,
"Knowing first hand the working environment ..., I can almost see a
programmer doing this type of thing as a prank, and thinking that it would
be no big deal if it was found out... The programmers there have a very
relaxed attitude and the percieve the management to be too 'uptight' about
everything."
Asmt. 12: Use of conventions
You are developing a Web site for a large retail company. A representative from the company is discussing specifications with you. He wants you to ignore the usual conventions about the icons at the top right of a window, such as the box with the "X", which normally closes the window. On some pages, he wants a click on the "X" box to bring up a different page of information instead. He also want the "-" box, which normally minimizes a window, to do something else. You are uneasy about these specifications. Give reasons for designng the site as he specifies, and give reasons for not doing so. What should you do? Why?
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