Information Systems Ethics :: Technology Internet Papers

The area of Information Systems ethics has received a fair amount of attention in recent times. IS Professionals mostly agree that we take on adequate ground rules to govern the use of present day Information Technology. We have also recognized for many years the need to incorporate ethics into IS curricula. Current mechanisms which attempt to make IS professionals and students more sensitive to the ethical concerns within IT and IS may be too tightly focused in terms of both issues and audience, especially in the light of the rapid proliferation of meshwork use.To properly analyze the impact of the Internet on IS ethics, we would need to establish the enchant context. To this end, this paper explores several aspects of computer ethics that are relevant to todays users of IT. For example, who are the throng that need to be educated on these issues? What are the issues, and what has been the impact of the Internet on these issues? What are current attitudes, perceptions, and beha vior in situations involving computer ethics, and what is the effect of the Internet? Do we have guidelines and codes that offer up assistance for these ethical situations? What else needs to be done to help address some of the problems in this important area?The PeopleSolomon and OBrien found that software piracy didnt seem to be much of a problem until microcomputers made their first major corporate and al-Qaida appearance about 20 years ago. Rapid proliferation of inexpensive technology certainly does provide an ample arena for an increase in the unethical use of this technology. Today, the pervasiveness of microcomputer and technology use is not limited solely to IS professionals and students. As early as 1984, in his testimony before the US Congress, computer security expert Robert Campbell accused the computer industry of failing to develop the necessary ethical role model for IT use. He went on to say that the technology had already breached the boundaries of the profession al arena and proliferated into the public domain. Today, technology use spans the widest possible range of activities and often begins at home at an early age. The Internet promises to push this trend forward at a rapid pace. In spite of this growth in use, many people who use technology at home and at work still find it to be a new and rapidly changing phenomenon. As a result, for many users of IT today, just learning how to use this volatile technology is the most important, and often the only, consideration ethics and other related concerns are relegated to the distant background.