A few decades ago the world entered into the era of computer technologies and information flow that are available for the majority of the population. Those things that were considered unique and rare became common and are used by everyone. Therefore, this provoked high demand for workers of the information technology sector who are responsible for creation of novelty and further development. However, computer use is subject to ethical rules, violation of which is punished by the law of all the developed and developing countries.
Computer ethics is defined as “any research activity that touches on right and wrong, good or bad, or moral or immoral in relation to computing” (Stani, Eden, Jirotka, and Coeckelbergh, 2014). Computer use affects a number of ethical issues. According to Masum (2014), “the users should focus whether they are violating any ethical issues such as - use of time, honesty and integrity, privacy, security, intellectual property right, and etc.” (p. 6). Use of time generally means what kind of information the time is used for. Unfortunately, statistics shows that lots of people use computer to get prohibited or immoral information (such as sex-related sites). Honesty and integrity are closely related regarding the fact that no information can be changed without permission of its source or proper authorization. Privacy refers to the right of users not to share their personal information. Security, in its turn, is devoted to protect the shared information. Computer ethics also protects intellectual property rights of the computer users. Code of ethics represents a guideline for rendering whether a specific computer action is appropriate in terms of ethics or not. The respective computer law, therefore, is based on the code of ethics, making some of its rules obligatory to follow.
Consequently, there are a number of kinds of crimes that are gathered under “computer crime” umbrella. Violation of any of the abovementioned issues can be a reason for penalties or criminal responsibility.
References
Masum, A. (2014). Ethical Issues in Computer Use: A Study from Islamic Perspective. Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology, 13 (2), 5- 11. Retrieved from https://globaljournals.org/GJCST_Volume13/2-Ethical-Issues-in-Computer.pdf
Stani, B., Eden, G., Jirotka, M., and Coeckelbergh, M. (2014). From Computer ethics to responsible research and innovation in ICT: The Transition of Reference Discourses Informing Ethics-related Research in Information Systems. Information & Management, 51(6), 810 – 818. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037872061400007X
