Ethical and Legal Dilemma in It
Ethical and Legal Dilemma in IT
Nanette E. Armstrong
Capella University
TS5536 Ethical and Legal Considerations in Information Technology
17 March 2012
Ethical and Legal Dilemma in IT Based on the definition of cyberethics as given by Tavani, “the study of moral, legal, and social issues involving cybertechnology” (2010, pg. 3), law is usually/always a part of cyberethics to one degree or another. Being right or wrong based on society’s value builds the fundamentals of ethics. Moral principles make up ethics. Values are maintained based on the law, which in turn encourages us to uphold the laws based on those principles. There are at times when something may be unethical but may still uphold the law and the values are not being taken into account. Values impact the way in which we live and conduct ourselves. Values impact corporate culture indirectly. “If something is illegal and determined to be so, it will probably not be done but if it is unethical but legal, values will only impact the corporate culture enough to keep it away from breaking certain laws” (Ricci, 2008, Para. 3). When one breaks a law, usually set by a governing body, there is a punishment of sort, but when one does something unethically it is not always followed by legal implications. Depending on the unethical act that has been committed is where law would come into play. “Violations of the Law is reinforced by the police and carried out through the court system” (Battle, 2010, Para. 2). When laws are broken there is usually a fine set to pay for the act, however when a person is unethical or violates an ethical code the law is not always involved, therefore, there may or may not be any consequences to the violation. We live in an information technology world. How we act effects our everyday living ethically and morally. Our children, as well as a good portion of the parents in today’s society, attend school or deal with a school in some way, as a parent of a student
Nanette E. Armstrong
Capella University
TS5536 Ethical and Legal Considerations in Information Technology
17 March 2012
Ethical and Legal Dilemma in IT Based on the definition of cyberethics as given by Tavani, “the study of moral, legal, and social issues involving cybertechnology” (2010, pg. 3), law is usually/always a part of cyberethics to one degree or another. Being right or wrong based on society’s value builds the fundamentals of ethics. Moral principles make up ethics. Values are maintained based on the law, which in turn encourages us to uphold the laws based on those principles. There are at times when something may be unethical but may still uphold the law and the values are not being taken into account. Values impact the way in which we live and conduct ourselves. Values impact corporate culture indirectly. “If something is illegal and determined to be so, it will probably not be done but if it is unethical but legal, values will only impact the corporate culture enough to keep it away from breaking certain laws” (Ricci, 2008, Para. 3). When one breaks a law, usually set by a governing body, there is a punishment of sort, but when one does something unethically it is not always followed by legal implications. Depending on the unethical act that has been committed is where law would come into play. “Violations of the Law is reinforced by the police and carried out through the court system” (Battle, 2010, Para. 2). When laws are broken there is usually a fine set to pay for the act, however when a person is unethical or violates an ethical code the law is not always involved, therefore, there may or may not be any consequences to the violation. We live in an information technology world. How we act effects our everyday living ethically and morally. Our children, as well as a good portion of the parents in today’s society, attend school or deal with a school in some way, as a parent of a student
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