Computer Ethics.

                        Computer Ethics  refers to a set of principle to regulate the use of computer.
Ethics has become an important consideration due to the spread of computerized system and electronics communications.
Computer ethics can be broken down into the following main areas of consideration:

Intellectual Property Rights

•  Copyright & Plagiarism 
•  Cracking
•  Software licenses

Privacy Issues

•       Data protection 
•      Anonymity
•      Security (hacking, malware) 

Effect on Society

• Jobs 
• Environmental Impact
• Social Impact

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 was created to close a loophole in UK law regarding the intentional malicious use of computers.

It is designed to protect computer users against deliberate attacks and theft of information.

The need for new legislation was established after Robert Schifrin and Stephen Gold used their home computers to access (hack) Prince Philip’s personal email account in 1985.

Although charged with illegally accessing a computer system, they were later acquitted because a law didn’t exist to cover such an offence at the time.

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 created three new offences:

• Unauthorized access to computer material
• Unauthorized access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences
• Unauthorized modification of computer material

The act makes it an offence to even attempt to access a computer system without authorization.
This means someone can be prosecuted for just trying to hack into a system. The penalties of breaking the The Computer Misuse Act range from fines to imprisonment

Copyright and Plagiarism

            When looking at intellectual property rights we need to consider two key areas, Copyright and Plagiarism.

Plagiarism

            Plagiarism occurs when a person takes another person’s ideas/work and claims it as their own. Although in itself not a criminal offence, such actions are certainly not ethical.
To avoid accusations of plagiarism it is important to acknowledge the originator in any work, e.g. as footnotes or as references.
In certain situations, people or organization's guilty of plagiarism may find they face prosecution under copyright laws.

Copyright

                        Copyright laws were created to protect the interests of the authors of original work.

Without protection, it wouldn’t be in the financial interest of people to invest so much of their time creating original content or work.

It is only right (ethical) that people receive fair compensation (pay) for their efforts.

Copyright can apply to a wide range of media, including music, software, images, books etc.

Unlike plagiarism, breaking copyright is a criminal offence.

It is important to remember that just because something is online, or because you’re unlikely to get caught, doesn’t make it free to use or okay.