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Ethical Problems

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Submitted By kingmerlo609
Words 1381
Pages 6
January 25, 2015
IFSM 304 5125: Ethics in Information Technology
Paper A-Application of a decision-making framework to an IT-related ethical issue

IT Related Ethical Issue The computer is a great invention that is used in every field including corporate offices and private homes. Computers have made our day to day tasks easier to do and made a great impact in our society that is still evolving and changing each day. Workers are able to do their jobs more efficiently and allow interconnectivity between computer users all around the world through the Internet. Computers has made it very easy for people to copy and steal intellectual property like music, movies and computer software programs like Photoshop and Microsoft office. The scenario I will present below shows the effects of software piracy and explain why it is unethical to download and use anything you do not have the rights to especially if it was obtained by breaking the law.
Software Piracy Scenario
Emanuel is a freshman college student at the University of Maryland. He lives on campus and lives on a fixed income. One of his classes requires a lot research and time to complete his assignments. Emanuel has his own laptop and is able to do the research on his computer but unfortunately he does not have Microsoft Office Suite installed on his laptop so he can use Microsoft Word to type up his documents. Instead, he has to go to the college campus library and use their computers that do have Microsoft Word installed because the price of Microsoft Office is too expensive to purchase for Emanuel. Unfortunately, the college library has a limited amount of computers and sometimes there is a waiting list with a time limit to use them. Because of this, Emanuel is not able to complete his assignments efficiently. He has to wait until a computer is free in order for him to work on his assignments but after

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