Week1 InClassActivity

ICT521
IT Professional Practice
Week 1 In-class Activity
Ethical Dilemma: determining a position
Why is Ethics so important in IT? We will explore this via various

scenarios that create ethical dilemmas.
1st Ethical Test Case (from the lecture slides)
The Lifeboat
• We are on a cruise to Antarctica
• We strike an iceberg and the ship sinks
• We are the only survivors in a lifeboat
• The lifeboat is built for 10 people
• There are 11 people in the lifeboat and it is sinking
• The water is freezing and there is no hope of rescue
• What should we do?
Consider the following moral theories from the Lecture:

- Authority
- Egoism
- Utilitarianism
- Deontology
- Contracts
- Character
Work in groups of 5 or 6. Choose individual moral stances (i.e., 1 per group

member) by adopting one of the moral theories from page 20 of the lecture slides
[e.g., a deontologist would look at the act itself and how the individual is treated.
A utilitarian would consider the long and short term consequences of an act and
would choose the act that would create the greatest good for the greatest number
of people. You are to base your decision on these ideas]
You need to consider the moral theories/stances from the point of view of one of
the 11 people.
Develop an argument for the scenario based on the chosen stance.
Discuss your position within your group.
Develop a conclusion, which may or may not identify one stance as your group’s
position.
2nd Ethical Test Case- Short Assignment 1
Choose one of the 3 scenarios below for your group. Your work will be
similar to that of the 1st Ethical Test Case above.
Work in the same group of 5 or 6 you formed for the 1st Ethical Test Case.
Choose individual moral stances (i.e., 1 per group member) by adopting one of
the moral theories above. It is not necessary for each group member to pick the
same moral stance they picked in the 1st Ethical Test Case.
Develop an argument for the scenario based on the chosen stance
Discuss your position within your group
Develop a conclusion, which may or may not identify one stance as your group’s
position.
For this 2nd Ethical test case, you need to submit a (maximum) 2-page
document to the “Short Assignment 1” link on LMS.
Although you worked in a group, each student needs to submit this
assignment individually, as it will contain the student’s point of view
based on the moral stance that the student chose in the scenario.
This document should contain the summary of the discussion of your
group, including the main points made by each student depending on the
moral stance they chose and the conclusion of the group discussion. A
further discussion by the student on whether he/she agrees with the
conclusion made by the group and why is required.
You will be marked on the accuracy of the points made in your discussion, as
well as on spelling, grammar and referencing.
You can find recommended readings in Topic 1 on LMS but you can use
other sources as well.
For the sources you will utilise in your assignment you need to provide
references via the APA or the IEEE referencing style (use one style, be
consistent):
http://library.murdoch.edu.au/Students/Referencing
Scenario 1
You are working as a software developer for a service-based organisation with a
large web presence. Their site receives a large number of hits each week,
especially from people wanting to access the large number of links hosted on the
site.
You are asked to develop a system that tracks users of your employer's web site
and work out, using a variety of really clever tricks, the email address of the
person looking at a particular page, and create a file which records this, attempts
to identify the person, and looks up a variety of public information via search
engines and government registries.
The result is to compile a profile of the person, their interests and activities, so
you can tailor individual messages to them which you can then send. Your
employer suggests the person will benefit from such targeted information.
You are also asked whether this software that can be turned into a bot which is
loaded onto the visitors computer, to save your server from having to do all the
work, and extract relevant information from their machine.
You need to consider the moral theories/stances from the software developer’s
point of view.
Hypothetical Scenario adapted from:
David Vaile
http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/2005/ethics/
Scenario 2
A software development company has just produced a new software package that
incorporates new tax laws and calculates taxes for both individuals and small
businesses.
The president of the company knows that the program has a number of bugs. He
also believes the first firm to put this kind of software on the market is likely to
capture the largest market share.
The company widely advertises the program. When the company actually ships a
CD, it includes a disclaimer of responsibility for errors resulting from the use of
the software. The company expects it will receive a number of complaints,
queries, and suggestions for modification. The company plans to use these to
make changes and eventually issue updated, improved, and debugged versions.
The president argues that this is general industry policy and that anyone who
buys version 1.0 of a software knows this and will take proper precautions.
Because of bugs, a number of users may file incorrect tax returns and be
penalised by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
You need to consider the moral theories/stances from the company’s Board of
Directors’ point of view.

ACS case studies (2004)
http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=list&groID=casestudy
Scenario 3
A small software company is working on an integrated inventory control system
for a very large national shoe manufacturer. The system will gather sales
information daily from shoe stores nationwide. This information will be used by
the accounting, shipping, and ordering departments to control all of the functions
of this large corporation. The inventory functions are critical to the smooth
operation of the system.
Jane, a quality assurance engineer with the software company, suspects that the
inventory functions of the system are not sufficiently tested, although they have
passed all their contracted tests. She is pressured by her employers to sign off on
the software. Legally she is only required to perform those tests which have been
agreed to in the original contract. However, her considerable experience in
software testing has led her to be concerned over risks of the system.
Her employers say that they will go out of business if they do not deliver the
software on time. Jane believes that if the Inventory sub-system fails, it will
significantly harm their client and its employees. If the potential failure were to
threaten lives, it would be clear to Jane that she should refuse to sign off. But
since the degree of threatened harm is less, Jane is faced with a difficult moral
decision.
You need to consider the moral theories/stances from Jane’s point of view.

ACS case studies (2004)
http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=list&groID=casestudy

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ICT521

Week 1 In-class Activity

Ethical Dilemma: determining a position

Why is Ethics so important in IT? We will explore this via various

1st Ethical Test Case (from the lecture slides)

Consider the following moral theories from the Lecture:

Work in groups of 5 or 6. Choose individual moral stances (i.e., 1 per group

Hypothetical Scenario adapted from:

Hypothetical Scenario adapted from:

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