Chapter two

Creativity: employer and employee

rights in IT Matters

1 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Objectives
 To understand the principle of intellectual property
in the software development.
 Aware on the limitations of an employee
concerning intellectual property.
Gain knowledge on the nature of digital reliability
and failure.
Define software and hardware representation and
risk communication.
Conceptualize about the advancement of software
technology and the complexity in computer system.
Explain the reasons for consistency in the
development of a complex system.
To explain the purpose of “goofing off”.
2 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT
 Introduction
What is Intellectual property?
 Intellectual property (IP): Any tangible and intangible
asset that consists of human knowledge and ideas. Its
constitutional IP rights include
 patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks,
contracts
 intent: to encourage ingenuity and protect creative
ventures
 "value" of an intellectual asset:
 Most such assets cannot be recognized on a balance sheet when
internally generated, since it is very difficult to objectively value
intellectual property assets.
 They can be included in a balance sheet if acquired, which
allows more accurate valuation for the asset (the acquisition
cost).
Types of Intellectual property: Copyrights, Trademarks &
3 Service marks , &Trade
Social,professional Ethical Secrets
issues in ITand patents
 How to Identify Valuable IP?
Corporate culture
Awareness (e.g. “safety is everyone’s job”)
IP protection – as everyone’s job like copyrights,
patent , Trademarks etc.
Educate – expose to the law
Empower – to issue spot
This talk is the educate piece
Requiring Employees to Take Ethics Training
 Personal convictions improved through education
 Comprehensive ethics education program encourages
employees to act responsibly and ethically – Often
presented in small workshop formats
– Employees apply code of ethics to hypothetical but
realistic case studies
– Demonstration of recent company decisions based on
principles from the code of ethics
 Critical that training increase the percentage of
employees who report incidents of misconduct
 Employees must:
– Learn effective ways of reporting incidents
– Be reassured their feedback will be acted on without
retaliation
5 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT
 Cont’d…

 Including Ethical Criteria in Employee Appraisals/ assessments

• Only 43% of companies include ethical conduct in employee’s
performance evaluation
• Ethical criteria include:
– Treating others fairly and with respect
– Operating effectively in a multicultural environment
– Accepting personal accountability
– Continually developing themselves and others
– Operating openly and honestly with all
Creating an Ethical Work Environment
• Good employees may make bad ethical choices
• May be encouraged to do “whatever it takes” to get the job done
• Employees need a knowledgeable resource to discuss perceived
unethical practices
– A manager
– Legal or Internal Audit Department
– Business Unit’s legal counsel
Social,professional
6 – Anonymously & Ethical
through issues in Web
internal IT site
 IT Professionals
• Profession is a calling that requires:
– Specialized knowledge
– Long and intensive academic preparation
• Professionals:
– Require advanced training and experience
– Must exercise discretion and judgment in their work
– Their work cannot be standardized
– Contribute to society, participate in lifelong training, assist other professionals
– Carry special rights and responsibilities
• Professionalism:-
- It required the specific standard of the field ,standing practical, method of professional
distinguish.
-To meet standards set by a professional in terms of individual conduct, competence and
integrity.
Are IT Workers Professionals?
• Partial list of IT specialists
– Programmers
– Systems analysts
– Software engineers
– Database administrators
– Local area network (LAN) administrators
– Chief information officers&(CIOs)
Social,professional Ethicaletc.
issues in IT
7
Relationships between IT Workers and Employers

 IT workers agree on many aspects of work

relationship before workers accept job offer.
 Other aspects of work relationship defined in
company’s policy and procedure manual or code
of conduct
 Some aspects develop over time
 As steward/agent of organization’s IT resources,
IT workers must set an example and enforce
policies regarding the ethical use of IT

8 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

Relationships between IT Workers and Clients
 IT worker provides: – Hardware, software, or services at a certain cost
and within a given time frame
 Client provides: – Compensation – Access to key contacts for IT worker.
– Work space
 Relationship is usually documented in contractual terms
 Client makes decisions about a project based on information, alternatives,
and recommendations provided by the IT worker.
 Client trusts IT worker to act in client’s best interests
 IT worker trusts that client will provide relevant information, listen to and
understand what the IT worker says, ask questions to understand impact of
key decisions, and use the information to make wise choices
 Ethical problems arise if a company recommends its own products and
services to remedy problems they have detected
– Creates a conflict of interest
• Problems arise during a project if IT workers are unable to provide full
and accurate reporting of a project’s status.
– Finger pointing and heated discussions can ensue /arise
 Fraud – Crime of obtaining goods, services, or property through deception

9
or trickery
Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT
Relationships between IT Workers and Suppliers
• Develop good working relationships with suppliers:
– To encourage flow of useful information and ideas to develop
innovative and cost-effective ways of using the supplier in ways
that the IT worker may not have considered
– By dealing fairly with them
– By not making unreasonable demands.
• Bribery – Providing money, property, or favors to obtain a
business advantage
– U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA): crime to bribe a
foreign official, a foreign political party official, or a candidate
for foreign political office
– At what point does a gift become a bribe? – No gift should
be hidden
– Perceptions of donor and recipient can differ
– United Nations Convention Against Corruption is a global
treatySocial,professional
to fight bribery and corruption
& Ethical issues in IT
10
 Relationships between IT Workers and Other Professionals

Professionals feel a degree of loyalty to other

members of their profession
Professionals owe each other adherence to their
profession’s code of conduct
Ethical problems among the IT profession
– Résumé inflation on 30% of U.S. job applications
– Inappropriate sharing of corporate information
Information might be sold intentionally or shared
informally with those who have no need to know

11 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

Relationships Between IT Workers and Society
• Society expects members of a profession:
– To provide significant benefits
– To not cause harm through their actions
• Actions of an IT worker can affect society
• Professional organizations provide codes of
ethics to guide IT workers’ actions

12 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

Development of Software: Who owns the intellectual property (IP)?

 Intellectual property is an umbrella term for

various types of rights individuals or businesses
can have in their
 Names;
 Creative Works; and
 Inventions
Software developers need a solid
understanding of their rights to
 Develop and protect a brand;
 Ensure exclusive ownership of their creations;
and
 Keep their work confidential to create and
maintain
13
an advantage
Social,professional inIT this competitive market.
& Ethical issues in
 Patent -software
A patent is the right to exclude others
from making, using, selling, or offering to
sell the patented invention during the
term of the patent.
A patent is a set of exclusive rights
granted by a state to a person for a fixed
period of time in exchange for the
regulated, public disclosure of certain
details of a device, method, process or
composition of matter (substance) (known
as an invention) which is new, inventive,
and useful or industrially applicable.
14
 cont’d...
A patent entitles an Inventor to exclude others
from making, using or selling the claimed
invention for a period of 20 years.
To obtain a patent, your software or algorithm
must have a very high level of originality and
you must disclose the “recipe” for your invention
to the public.
 A Software Developer can get a patent on
software inventions much like a Mechanical
Engineer can get a patent on a new machine or
device. Eg. The figure

15 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Copyrights – Software
What is a Copyright?
 Copyright is a protection that covers published and
unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works,
whatever the form of expression, provided such
works are fixed in a tangible or material form.
 This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch
it - it may be protected.
 If it is an essay, if it is a play, if it is a song, if it is a
funky original dance move, if it is a photograph,
HTML coding or a computer graphic that can be set
on paper, recorded on tape or saved to a hard drive,
it may be protected.
 Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right
to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute,
perform and display the work publicly.
 Exclusive means only the creator of such work, not
anybody who has access to it and decides to grab it.
16 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT
 Cont’d...
 A copyright gives the Owner the exclusive
right to make copies of the work, distribute
copies of the work to the public, and create
derivative works based on the software.
Copyright protection also lasts much longer
than patent protection. However, you must
keep in mind that to invoke these
protections, your must file for and receive a
copyright registration

17 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Trademarking the Software & Company Name

A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or

device used to indicate the source of goods or
services.
Trademarks can be used to protect your
company name or product name, domain
names, images, symbols, logos, slogans, colors,
product designs and product packaging.
Registering your trademark will help you
prevent others from using your mark in a way
that might confuse customers or damage your
business reputation. Eg. The figure

19 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Software piracy
 Privacy:
– Claim of individuals to be left alone, free from
surveillance or interference from other individuals,
organizations, or state; claim to be able to control
information about yourself.
 Software piracy
– Act of illegally making copies of software or enabling
access to software to which they are not entitled.
– Area in which IT workers can be tempted to violate
laws and policies
– The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade
group representing the world’s largest software and
hardware manufacturers; mission is to stop the
unauthorized
20 copying
Social,professional of software
& Ethical issues in IT
Reasonable Limitations on IP Ownership by an Employee
 Patents
A couple applicable exceptions (limitation) to this general rule
under the common law:
 Employer – Specified Inventions – Inventions made by
employees at the employer’s request and expense, and which
are considered the property of employer.
 Shop Right Rule – An employer is not entitled to ownership of
the invention but retains a nonexclusive right, similar to a
license, to make use of the invention.
Note that:
 Normally accrues when the employee made use of employer
resources or property in making or perfecting the invention,
and the scope of the shop right will be a fact-dependent on the
extent of the employer’s resource contribution.
 Employers can avoid these defaults by requiring employees to
sign pre invention assignment agreements require the
21 employee to assign
Social,professional their
& Ethical patent
issues in IT rights to the employer.
Representing and communicating risk from software and
hardware– Who is responsible?
Providing appropriate software and hardware
utilization in the workplace contribute advantages
to both employee and employer.
 Inappropriate utilization of software and hardware
could compromise productivity of an employee and
employer or the company as a whole.
 The responsibility lies on both, the employee and
the employer.
There should be proper and appropriate
communication and usage of its technologies suited
to the workplace and field of expertise in the
productivity in the assigned task to its employees.

24 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

From Medical Software to “Star Wars” and the Complexity of Computer Systems

The implementation of software technology

advancement in the field of medical areas is vital on
its utilization in generating and providing reliable
information to its patience and the credibility of the
medical institution as a whole.
Workers in the medical areas are responsible in
providing accurate and informative information
based on specific findings through complete
analysis.
Continuous training to both medical workers and
owners are encourage for better implementation,
utilization and in providing of informative
information anchored with the complexity of its
25
system technology.
Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT
 Cont’d...
Eg. figure

26 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

Origins of the Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility(CPSR):
What is reasonable reliability in complex system?

Computer Professionals for Social

Responsibility (CPSR) was a global organization
promoting the responsible use of computer
technology.
Complicated system’s developers should have
narrow and complete knowledge in the
development process.
Obtaining consistency in generating accurate
information, designing centralize information,
accessing rapid information and capable in
updating new information is very much vital.
Address end-users with the proper and complete
training for better
Social,professional & Ethical
accessibility
issues in IT
and usability in
27
providing informative information.
 Cont’d...
Eg. Figure

28 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Goofing Off: Who owns the “Easter eggs”? And
why are they tolerated?
Company owners provide “goofing off” in the
purpose of strengthening camaraderie in the
workplace and escaping from exhausted working
environment through excursion activity.
off has been shown to improve work or study in
the right eGoofingnvironments, and can relieve
stress.
Most Easter Eggs are things people might stumble
upon.
Eg. Figure on its website

29 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Cont’d...
Goofing off is a slang term in the United State
for engaging in recreation or an idle pastime
while obligations of work or society are
neglected.
Common obligations neglected in the course of
goofing off include schoolwork, paid employment,
social courtesies and the expectations of
relations.
Goofing off at school is considered to be a
regular behavior, which is engaged in by all
students at one time or another.
When goofing off occurs within the classroom,
teachers can resolve the matter quickly by direct
30 confrontation
Social,professional &/clash ideas.
Ethical issues in IT
 Quiz 5%
1. list at least two the type of Intellectual
property ?
2. what are mean Professional?
3. Different between patent and Copyright
4. ______is any word, name, symbol, or device
used to indicate the source of goods or
services.

31 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT

 Ch2-Aassignment
1. Explain the purpose of goofing off,
advantage of it?
2. what are the main problems of Copyright and
patent?
3. Write the advantage of patents?
4. How do you keep intellectual property safe?

32 Social,professional & Ethical issues in IT