Legal Issues in IT
QN 1;
Technology in the modern world has risen to another level. The rise of technology has both positive and negative impacts on the human way of life. On the positive, technology has made it easy for the human to handle or solve complicated tasks which would otherwise be difficult to solve by dependence on the human knowledge (Yuan et al., n.d.). On the negative side, technology has brought with it challenges such as computer insecurity. This has brought about the need for establishing legal standards to regulate and govern computer systems.
There has been a proposal from different people about setting up legal standards and regulations to govern safety-critical computer-based systems. This suggestion has brought arguments from different people, supporting the suggestion while others were going against it. Some of the arguments supporting this include the fact that computer systems regulation helps ensure the appropriate use of computer systems. Similarly, regulating computer systems means reducing the access of systems by hackers, which is done by limiting access to one’s technological network (Yuan et al., n.d.). Some argue that regulating access to a computer system slows the rate at which personnel handles tasks. Individuals have to be granted access to specific networks or technological infrastructure.
A counterargument is a contradicting statement. Some counterarguments emerging from the above context on the advantages of regulating computer system are that despite control of cybercrime, there is still a high chance of creating difficulties in operating the systems due to encryptions done to protect data in the computers. On the side of the disadvantages of regulating computer systems, a counterargument emerges: despite the slow access to data by an individual, there is still a better chance of securing information that if not for the case of computer system regulation, the data would be vulnerable to many people.
Provisions for regulating computer systems are the tools for controlling access to technological infrastructures. These tools include general provisions, including the general controlling of the network to limit access by different individuals (Mcguire, 1961). Another provision is the supplementary provision. This provision looks at the implementation strategies used to make sure that the computer system regulation is sufficient.
QN 2:
In the case study described in question two, the company is trying to push its production and make its name go big and make high income from their newly implemented technology. The manager happens to have found a ready market for the sale of their newly invented technology and, therefore, pushes the employees to accomplish the project. This is otherwise unethical as the project needs a more extended period, but now the manager is pushing his employees to work within a short period.
There are three main stakeholders in this company. They include the employees, the company itself, and its customers immediately after it is introduced into the market. To accomplish this project within the speculated time, the employer can employ two different actions. These actions are either choosing to multitask or adding more employees to help in the project. The addition of employees is the role of the manager.
The actions affect the stakeholders. For example, an action such as multitasking means that the project may be filled with errors. To the company, overworking the employees would spoil the company’s image, not forgetting the effect of the low-quality product and the employees are tired due to overwork, which is unethical. Choosing to add employees will increase the production cost of the company. For this case, I would choose the action of additional employees as this does not subject the available employees to pressure. This action is critical because it considers the ethical conduct of professionals which is looked at in the ACM code or the SE code (Gotterbarn et al., 1999). This is considered in principle number 5 of the software engineering code of ethics. It states that software engineering managers should promote an ethical approach to the management of software development.
QN 3:
The new Denver International Airport baggage system was a system employed to make movement of luggage in the new international airport in the year 19995. The system consisted of an integrated automated baggage handling system. The system was faced with many challenges that made to its failures. The government also had a hand in the project as it was a mega project that would have boosted the economy of the country (de Neufville, 1994). The opening of Denver International Airport was delayed for 16 months due to technical difficulties experienced in Denver.
Some of the factors that led to the failure of the baggage system include the problem of the reliability of the delivery of the system. There was a question on whether the system was reliable and if it could serve the many customers expected after the opening of the airport. It was confirmed that the system was not reliable and therefore the system collapsed. Another problem experienced was that the management system of Denver Airport expected the system to work excellent and they failed to allow a chance for errors (Schloh & Stearns, 1996)(Gordon & Zimmerman, 2010). This technological misuse led to the failure of the system as it was overworked.
Politics in the country also played a greater part in the collapse of the system. The political state of the country made people lose trust and confidence in the system and therefore the collapse of the baggage system (Schloh & Stearns, 1996). This created chaos which led to the failure of the system. The management in the international airport of Denver did not schedule the system an act that made the system to fail. There was also a problem in the software used. The software was not reliable and made the baggage system to fail.
QN: 4
Off shoring is a process where an organization looks for resources from abroad. The process of off shoring will involve searching for employees in the market. During the process of outsourcing, a company has to put into considerations some ethical issues that will aid in a proper and unbiased sourcing. An important aspect of ethics that many companies put into consideration during the process of outsourcing includes the ethics of patriotism. This concept puts a business in a position to ask and consider if the local engineers are working or employed before sourcing from other countries (Gordon & Zimmerman, 2010). This ethical issue helps a company to remain competitive in that their consideration of the local engineers builds a proper image in the competitive market.
It is also important for any company to consider the ethical issues of wages and salary payments. Outsourcing involves making sure that you have a clear information or data on the payment structure in the outside market. Many companies feel that considering the wages in the outside market is crucial and helps in proper off shoring.
In the united states of America, off shoring me a great deal in ensuring the success of a company. Companies in this country choose to employ the next gen technology and therefore they choose to outsource from the low cost manufacturing countries such as Malaysia and china. In the United States of America, the government has been supportive and encourages the employment of this strategy (Levinson, 2009). They choose to site employees from low cost economies.
India is one of the fastest growing countries in the sector of outsourcing. In this country, outsourcing is basically on the employees with competence and skills to work in labor intensive firms. This means that the firms in this country are mostly labor intensive, and outsourcing is based on labor factor.
References
de Neufville, R. (1994). The baggage system at Denver: prospects and lessons. Journal of Air Transport Management, 1(4), 229–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/0969-6997(94)90014-0
Gordon, C., & Zimmerman, A. (2010). Fair shares: A preliminary framework and case analyzing the ethics of offshoring. Science and Engineering Ethics, 16(2), 325–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-009-9147-0
Gotterbarn, D., Miller, K., & Rogerson, S. (1999). The exhaustive efforts of the ACM and IEEE-CS has resulted in the adoption of a code of professional practices for software engineers to consider-and use. Software Engineering Code of Ethics is Approved. Communications of the Acm, 42(10).
Levinson, A. (2009). Offshoring pollution: Is the United States increasingly importing polluting goods? Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 4(1), 63–83. https://doi.org/10.1093/reep/rep017
Mcguire, W. J. (1961). Resistance to persuasion conferred by active and passive prior refutation of the same and alternative counterarguments 1. 63(2), 326–332.
Schloh & Stearns. (1996). Analysis of the Denver International Airport baggage system. California Polytechnic State University, 1(February 16, 1996), 1–29.
Yuan, T., Kelly, T., Xu, T., Wang, H., & Zhao, L. (n.d.). A Dialogue-based Safety Argument Review Tool. 1–14.