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Ethical, Legal And Professional Issues In It Question Paper
Ethical, Legal And Professional Issues In It
Course:Bachelor Of Science In Information Technology
Institution: Kca University question papers
Exam Year:2011
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2010/2011
YEAR EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT 2101: ETHICAL, LEGAL AND PROFFESIONAL ISSUES IN IT
DATE: APRIL 2011 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer question ONE and any other TWO questions
QUESTION ONE (Compulsory)
a) Using relevant examples describe the three types of morally permissible action (3 Marks)
b) Define the term ethics and identify its three areas (4 Marks)
c) “Codes [such as the ACS, ACM and British Computing Society] can be developed to protect the
profession and the organization, ignoring personal and societal issues. Legal and organizational
requirements as stated by the codes may be in ethical conflict, and both may conflict with the needs
of society as a whole.” (Wood-Harper, Corder, Wood and Watson,1999) Do you agree or disagree
with the above quote? Support your answer by discussing the development of Ethical codes of
conduct. (6 Marks)
d) Discuss the steps for changing the ethical culture of an organization (6 Marks)
e) Discuss the moral, ethical and legal issues associated with Censorship of the Internet. (6 Marks)
f) “Advances in computer and data communications technology have resulted in the need to reevaluate
the application of ethical principles and establish new agreements on ethical practices.” Discuss
this statement drawing upon current ethical practice (5 Marks)
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QUESTION TWO
a) “The Internet is a planetary party line and a medium for the free exchange ofknowledge, a chaotic
electronic freeway that now girdles the Earth. It is a global world, on which people debate, publish,
play games, do business and fall in love.” Discuss the ethical and legal considerations of Internet use,
referencing one of the areas suggested in the above statement. (10 Marks)
b) Several companies are developing devices to help parents track and locate their children. One
device is built into an ordinary pair of athletic shoes. The parents get a password to check their own
child''s location on the company''s Web site.
i) Describe some potential benefits of such a system. (5 Marks)
ii) Describe some potential risks or problems with such a system (5 Marks)
QUESTION THREE
a) Through the use of currently available on-line tools and techniques, such as search engines,
ordinary users can easily acquire personal information about others. In fact, anyone who has
Internet access can find information about us that we ourselves have no idea is publicly available
there. Is it true that individual privacy is threatened by the use of search engines? Explain.
(6 Marks)
b) A software service company, Service Consultants, copied a software vendor''s program as part of its
business of providing software maintenance service to customers of the vendor. Service
Consultants did not make the copy to resell the software; it needed it to provide service. The
vendor sued, and the service company argued that the copying was fair use. Which side do you
think should win? Explain your answer bases on the fair use doctrine (8 Marks)
c) A programmer is working on a medical records system for a large hospital. After the system is
installed, he will be maintaining and upgrading it. He decides to write in a trap-door (that is not in
the program specifications) to make it easier to get into the system from home when necessary to
make changes. He will not tell anyone else about this. He has no intention of doing any harm to
the system. Resolve this issues using the steps to ethical analysis (6 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR
Maxi Ltd is a floricultural undertaking dealing with flowers for export. It has a workforce of 535
employees on permanent employment and seasonal staff. One hot rainy afternoon, a bird was
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electrocuted next to the offices when it landed on a surging electric cable which came into contact with
another line. The impact of the two electric lines getting into contact caused an explosion sparking a
fire which in turn started to burn the nearby chemical store. The explosion caused panic and employees
run helter-skelter screaming “FIRE, FIRE!” as confusion reigned. Nobody seemed to know what to do
next as everybody run for dear lives.
Use the above scenario to answer the following questions
i) What are the fact and issues of the scenario (6 Marks)
ii) Assume you are in-charge of health and safety, which action would you have taken at that point
in time? (6 Marks)
iii) Give suggestions on how you would prevent/extinguish fires in the future? (8 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE
a) A business maintains a database containing the names of shoplifters. It distributes the list to stores
that subscribe.
i) Should such a service be illegal in order to protect privacy? Give reasons for your answer
(8 Marks)
ii)Would your answer to part (a) differ if the question were about a database of tenant histories
available to landlords? Why or why not (6 Marks)
b) Discuss at least six of the ten commandments of computer ethics (6 Marks)
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