University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Ethical, Professional and Legal IssuesIn Computing

Ethical, Professional and Legal IssuesIn Computing

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Professionals are expected to adhere to the ethical and moral principles appropriate to their sphere of operation. Also they must work within whatever legal frameworks apply to their discipline and the areas in which they work.

• Ethical, professional and legal issues are becoming more and more important in computing.

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• The State of the Software Industry (mid 1990s)• “80 to 90% of IT investments do not meet their performance

objectives, the reasons for this are rarely purely technical in origin” (Clegg 1996)

•  “It is vital that a high proportion of staff involved in software related projects are professionally qualified and that they place high regard to ethics, responsibility and the attainment of quality”  (Thompson 1996)

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Developments

• Since the mid 1990s a significant number of publications have appeared that address Ethical, Professional and Legal Issues in Computing

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Sources of Information: BOOKS:• Practical Computer Ethics, Duncan Langford, McGraw

Hill, 1995

• Professional Awareness in Software Engineering Or Should a Software Engineer Wear a Suit?, Edited by C. Myers, McGraw Hill, 1995

• Professional Issues In Software Engineering, Frank Bott, Allison Coleman, Jack Easton and Diane Rowland, 1st Edition, 1995, UCL Press, 3rd Edition, 2001, Taylor and Francis

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• The Case of the Killer Robot, Richard G Epstein, John Wiley and Sons, 1997.

•  Also available in abridged form on the Web

• Epstein presents a fictional case study intended to raise issues in computer ethics and in Software Engineering

• The case of the killer robot consists of seven newspaper articles, one journal article and one magazine interview.

•  Several of the characters can be seen to have acted in a less than ethical manner.

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Conferences: 

• Proceedings for PASE’96, The First Westminster Conference on Professional Awareness in Software Engineering, February 1996

•  Should find copies in the Resource Centre or Library•  In particular see the paper: Can a Software Engineer Afford

to be Ethical?, Duncan Langford pp 160 to 168• Langford’s paper presents a number of real scenarios that

highlight ethical and professional dilemmas. (only identities have been changed)

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• The papers presented at PASE were later reorganised and edited into book form:

• The Responsible Software Engineer, Selected readings in IT Professionalism, edited by Colin Myers, Tracy Hall and Dave Pitt, Springer, 1997

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• ETHICOMP Conferences • The ETHICOMP conference series is operated by the

Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR) at De Montfort University in the UK under the leadership of Prof. Simon Rogerson.

• The purpose of the series is to provide a European forum for discussing the ethical and social issues associated with the development and application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

• Although the conferences are based in Europe the papers presented represent a truly international dimension.

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• ETHICOMP Conferences 

• ETHICOMP series• ETHICOMP 95, Leicester, UK• ETHICOMP 96, Madrid, Spain• ETHICOMP 98, Rotterdam, Netherlands• ETHICOMP 99, Rome, Italy• ETHICOMP 2001, Gdansk, Poland• ETHICOMP 2002, Lisbon, Portugal

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Library/Resource centre should hold copies of the proceedings for:

•  ETHICOMP98, Third International Conference on Ethical Issues in Information Technology, March 25 to 27 1998, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

•  ETHICOMP2001, Fifth International Conference on Ethical Issues in Information Technology, June 18 to 20 2001, Technical University of Gdansk, Poland 

• Also ETHICOMP2002 once published.

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• The issues that are addressed at ETHICOMP conferences illustrate the scope of this area within the computing discipline. An analysis of these proceedings found papers dealing with each of the following topics:

• Internet and Computer Culture(s)• Professional Societies• Paradigms of Professionalism• Ethical Challenges within a Networked Society• Computing and Ethics• Legal Aspects of a Digital World• Software Quality, Ethics, and Professionalism. Are there Links?• Ethics of Delivering Incompletely Tested Code – The Software

Conspiracy• Gender Bias in the IT Industry

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Issues continued:• Teaching Computer Ethics and Professional Issues

• Pornography and the Internet

• Social Aspects of Computerisation

• Hackers and Other Miscreants

• The Value of Ethical Codes

• Computer Legislation

• Censorship and Freedom of Information in a Digital World

• Professional, Ethical, and Legal Issues in the field of Medical Informatics

• Privacy in a Digital World

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Issues continued:• Ethical and Stakeholder Issues in Software Development

• Ethical Risks and Software Failures

• Risks to Minors in Our Digital World

• Computer Crime

• Law Enforcement and Surveillance in a Networked Society

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• Other Information•  An excellent resource for information on Ethical,

Professional and Legal Issues in Computing is the web site maintained by the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR) at De Montfort University.

(www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk/)• You can also find an article concerned with Ethical

Issues on the web site for this module. This provides information on:

• ·     What is meant by ethics and morality• ·     The role of ethical committees• ·     The type of ethical problems that occur in the

computing industry

University of Sunderland COMM93 R.E.P.L.I. Unit 2A

Introduction and Introduction and OverviewOverview

• What is current?• In the field of Software Engineering it is clear that

professional issues (which encompass ethical and legal aspects) have come more and more to the fore. Several of these are examined in the paper:

• Three Steps Forward and Two Steps Back, J. B. Thompson, Software Journal, Software Engineering Australia, April 2002, 69-72.

• Also available in extended form at: http://www.seanational.com.au