Computer scientists often have the thought of having an important place within the society. They will strive to show everyone in the world how their views have the most positive effects on the entire globe. The use of computers has been a major boost on the current world because many activities are made simple. Communication across the world and all the bulky activities that involved the human nature to carry out have been made simply by programming a computer to take instructions from a human (Agans, 2002). The computer is programmed to carry out a multitude of activities including accepting data, processing the data that is entered into the system via several centers and processing the entire information to give back a feedback that is in a language that an individual can understand well.
Computer scientists are faced with a variety of dilemmas that are generated on the basis of their creation. Due to the nature of computer technology, we realize that it is a dynamic factor that keeps changing. New technologies keep coming in with different formats ranging from the software part to the hardware systems. Due to the constant change, ethical issues are bound to challenge the computer scientists who are responsible for the ethical codes that are seen within the systems.
Computer scientists are responsible for dealing with the area of computer technology which is a challenging one to assign the overlying specific set of visible moral codes that must be adhered to and respected by all the computer users across the world. It is necessary that a specific code of ethics be set for people operating in this area to ensure that there are standard expectations within the system (Dorsey, 2004). The sector of computing gives the computer scientists and entire ethical problem to solve.
REAL CASE DILEMMA:
A situation of dilemma is faced by a computer scientist when he has to make a choice of developing an ethical stand that can manage the use of specific software within computing world. Developing software protection measures can result to the limitation of certain products on the internet by computer users. In the end, the computer scientist has to ensure that he has developed a system that can protect specific software in order to maintain the level of ethical standards that are required and must be adhered to by all the computer users. Coming up with software protection rules may be a limitation to the number of people who can access the products that can sell the computer specialist (Agans, 2002). In the end, the computer scientists are faced with an entire dilemma of either protecting their related systems or maintaining the users who are part of the growth of their development.
The range of ethical dilemmas is how to make the computer users familiar with various unethical moves that they may conduct when they are doing their normal operations within the area of technology. Some of the unethical moves are committed by the computer users without the knowledge of how illegal the activities they are conducting are to the area of technology.
Therefore, the specialists of the area have a huge task developing ethical standards that must be incorporated in the users of computers since they have already made the unethical actions part of them. They have developed a culture that is rigid and breaking by developing ethical standards towards the actions that they are used to and seem normal to them may be viewed a violation to their rights. Therefore, the computer scientists have an ethical task of ensuring that they protect the activities that do not agree with the standards of the computing world at the same time ensure that they do not create an image of violating the rights of people who are in the computing world. They have to ensure that they maintain peace at all costs at the same time protect their industry by setting up ethical standards that must be adhered to by all the users (Agans, 2002). In addition, they have to ensure that they create a peaceful environment with the people who interact with the world of technology. It is the people who make their creations relevant by performing various actions and impact on technology.
Some of the ethical issues and dilemmas that must be addressed by a computer scientist include the unauthorized use of hardware. Some people end up making use of hardware systems that are not administered by the relevant bodies are standard hardware for use. A clear followup may indicate that the specific hardware in question has been purchased and is legally owned by the users. In the event that there is lack of proper approval by the relevant bodies to use the given hardware, it may be difficult or there could be a dilemma in trying to explain to an individual who is the legal owner of the given computer that they are not authorized to use the specific hardware at their disposal. Another factor in addition to the hardware related issues is that there are no specific standards that are applied in order to protect the specific hardware parts that may bear important information of the people who are the legal owners. For instance, there are no specific ethical standards that govern the protection of important parts of computers such as the hard disks. In most cases, situations of law bring up dilemma issues where people take advantage of the lack of specific rules and regulations that may be applied to such theft cases. They hack into people’s hardware and steal the hard disk of computer systems leaving behind no traces of evidences that may be useful in a court of law (Flynn, 2009). Therefore, the lack of specific ethical standards within a court of law may jeopardize a judicial operation system and lead to the possibilities of criminals walking away with criminal activities instead of being prosecuted for the sake of justice.
Another source of the ethical dilemma for the computer scientists is the issue of software protection. Many people do not understand the level of software protection that must be applied in order to ensure that they do not access materials that are not meant for them. They do not have a clear view of the ethical standards that exist in order to ensure that they do not go beyond the boundaries that are not meant to be passed. Software protection is a very important factor in the world of technology. They extend to the ways in which intellectual property rights and regulations must be handled. Some of the software backgrounds are entirely individual creations that must be protected by the relevant bodies in order to ensure that an individual’s creation is respected.
Another aspect of software protection as an ethical dilemma is that what may be perceived as an invasion of privacy and piracy by one country might be a source of income generation for another small and developing country. Some countries use specific software to download TV shows and programs from other developed countries to sell them to their native people. They are committing a criminal activity in the sense that they are invading the privacy of software materials that should not be displayed to other countries but at the same time they are earning a living out of these activities (Jones, 2007). Therefore, the computer scientists are faced with a dilemma of convicting the people involved such actions as criminals because they have families to take care through making a living out of the activities.
CONCLUSION:
In general, computer scientists have a major duty of developing ethical standards that must be used in the computing world. They have to ensure that all the hardware and software protection rules are developed at the same time maintain peace with the people who are involved in computing activities.
Works Cited
Agans, David J. Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems. New York: American Management Association, 2002. Print.
Dorsey, Pat. The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing: Morningstar's Guide to Building Wealth and Winning in the Market. Hoboken: John Wiley, 2004. Print.
Flynn, Nancy. The E-Policy Handbook: Rules and Best Practices to Safely Manage Your Company's E-Mail, Blogs, Social Networking, and Other Electronic Communication Tools. New York: AMACOM, 2009. Print.
Jones, Capers. Estimating Software Costs: Bringing Realism to Estimating. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. Print.
