The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
Introduction
Computer ethics is a field of ethics that is undergoing a lot of changes as computer technology advances and develops (Alavudeen, Rahman & Jayakumaran, 2008). It can be viewed as the efforts of professional philosophers to apply traditional ethical theories to the issues on the use of computer technology where such theories include virtue ethics, Kantian ethics, and utilitarian ethics. On the other hand, computer ethics can also be viewed as encompassing a wider spectrum by including things such as corporate ethics, public policy, aspects of computer law, codes of conduct, and standards of professional practice.
This field of ethics has become more important with the emergence of the information revolution, which introduced significant changes in various aspects of life, such as entertainment, transportation, national defense, medical care, work and employment, and commerce and banking. In turn, these changes had both positive and negative effects on democracy, freedom, education, human relationships, family life, and community life among others. In essence, ethics is concerned with the study and analysis of the ethical and social impacts of information technology.
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics was first discussed and presented by Ramon C. Barquin in his paper, In Pursuit of a 'Ten Commandments' for Computer Ethics (Thompson, 2012). They were created for the reinforcement of acceptable online behavior (“Ten Commandments of Cyber Ethics,” n.d.). According to Barquin (as cited in Thompson, 2012), the ten commandments of ethics are as follows:
1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people’s computer resources without authorization or
proper compensation.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing
or the system you are designing.
10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consideration and
respect for your fellow humans.
(as cited in Thompson, 2012)
Why the Commandments were Created
The emergence and growth of the Internet has led not only to the increased amount of available knowledge but also to the increased problems that are inherent to its distribution and usage (Alavudeen et al., 2008). With traditional rules not always applicable to the virtual world, new ethics needed to be developed. With computers and technology becoming more and more integrated into our daily lives, it is important for us to gain an understanding that the problems that are experienced with businesses and conduct will always remain. In fact, the presence of this new technology provides more difficulty as ethical questions would now involve a lot of personal judgment.
With the introduction and increasing growth of the World Wide Web, computer ethics has become concerned with the creation of standards of conduct as they pertain to computers. In particular, these standards are necessary as the growth of the World Wide Web has brought up a number of novel legal issues. It has led to new questions that cannot be answered by older laws. In addition, traditional laws are considered outdated in the cyber world; and thus, a more coherent set of laws for governing computers and the Internet is required (Alavudeen et al., 2008).
An example of a violation of computer ethics is software piracy (Aziz, Lokman & Yusof, 2011). In particular, software piracy violates the fourth commandment, Thou shalt not use a computer to steal (Thompson, 2012), as computers and the internet can be used to illegally download software. It also violates the sixth commandment, Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid (Thompson, 2012) as by illegally downloading software from the Internet, the developer of the said software does not get paid for their work.
Another example of a violation of computer ethics is the presence of spyware, which is a malicious software being spread over the Internet and which is capable of obtaining private and personal information from the computers of users (Microsoft, 2012). In particular, spywares violate the first commandment, Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people (Thompson, 2012),, in that spywares are used to steal personal information which is used for identity theft and other fraudulent acts that harm the user. Spywares also violate the third commandment, Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files, in that obtaining users’ personal information without their knowledge is a form of snooping. Similarly, it violates the fourth commandment, Thou shalt not use a computer to steal (Thompson, 2012), in that spywares are created for the purpose of stealing users’ personal and financial information. As well, it violates the ninth commandment, Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing (Thompson, 2012) and the tenth commandment, Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consideration and
respect for your fellow humans (Thompson, 2012), as spywares are created with malicious intentions and with neither consideration nor respect for the user.
Compliance to Computer Ethics
While there are many who violate the ten commandments of computer ethics there are also many who comply with it, such as the users who abide by the laws pertaining to software use and licenses. Companies also ensure the privacy of their users’ personal information by providing them with secure connections and passwords. There are also many software application companies that take the social consequences of their creations seriously and that ensure consideration and respect for their users. Examples of such companies include Facebook and Twitter, which ensure their users’ privacy even while they come up with new features and which are quick to remediate any problems that their applications may pose on their users’ well-being.
Conclusion.
The field of computer ethics has become a necessity in this day and age. While computers enable people to do so many positive things, they also enable people to further exacerbate their malicious deeds. With traditional laws being highly inapplicable in the virtual world, computer ethics, particularly the Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics, at least provides a starting point from which to start evaluating people’s conduct on the World Web. Although there’s still much ambiguity with regards to the application of computer ethics and although cyber laws are not well-established either, the presence and continued growth of the computer ethics field still gives us the consolation and the reassurance that there are many people who still care about doing what’s right.
References
Alavadeen, A., Rahman, R. K. & Jayakumaran, M. (2008). Professional ethics and
human values. New Delhi, India: Laxmi Publications, Ltd..
Aziz, A. A., Lokman, A. M. & Yusof, Z. M. (2011, June). Information technology ethics:
The conceptual model of constructs, actions and control measure. International
Journal on Computer Science and Engineering, 3 (6), 2580-2588.
Microsoft. (2012). What is spyware? Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/
security/pc-security/spyware-whatis.aspx.
Ten commandments of cyber ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://cybercitizenship.org/
ethics/commandments.html.
Thompson, A. (2012, August 29). Ten commandments of computer ethics. Retrieved
from http://blogs.msdn.com/b/alfredth/archive/2012/08/29/ten-commandments-
of-computer-ethics.aspx
