THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR COMPUTER ETHICS from the Computer Ethics Institute 1. Thou shall not use a computer to harm other people. * Follow the Golden Rule * Do not be offensive. Follow the moral standards that guide your everyday life. 2. Thou shall not interfere with other people’s computer work. * Do not tamper with other people’s computer settings, folders, and files. * Generating and consciously spreading computer viruses is unethical. 3. Thou shall not snoop around in other people’s files. * Respect other people’s privacy. * Hacking, spyware * Obtaining other people’s non-public files (e.g. letters, documents) 4. Thou shall not use a computer to steal. * Using a computer to break into the accounts = robbery. * Use and respect the use of passwords * Cyber crimes, e.g. identify theft and illegal use of personal accounts (i.e. Internet access, email account, financial accounts) 5. Thou shall not use a computer to bear false witness. * Maligning or spreading untruths * Always check the reliability of your information 6. Thou shall not use or copy software for which you have not paid. * Observe Copyright Laws. Anti-Piracy. * Cracking registration codes. * Shareware vs. Freeware 7. Thou shall not use other people’s computer resources without authorization. * Common courtesy: get permission * Authorization system/hierarchy for multi-user systems 8. Thou shall not appropriate other people’s intellectual output. * Intellectual Property Rights – always acknowledge your sources. If permission to use the content is not obvious in the source material, ask for it and wait for the author’s or publisher’s response before using the content * Copy-and-paste practices as alternative to paraphrasing or summarizing = plagiarism and does not enhance your higher order thinking skills * Modern Language Association (MLA):
Author’s Last Name, First Name. (Date of Publication or last update notice.) “title of Work.” Title of the Complete Work. [URL/Address] (Date Accessed)
Examples:
* Harnack, A. and Kleppinger, E.(2003) “Using Other Styles to Cite Document Sources.” Online reference Guide to Using Internet Sources.” http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citeappxa.html (Accessed: July 1, 2005) * Lottor, Mark. (February 18, 1996) “Internet Domain Survey.” ftp.nw.com/zone/report.doc(Accessed: June 16, 1996) 9. Thou shall not think about the social consequences of the program you write. * Do not waste people’s time, effort, and resources. * Spam, hoaxes and unreliable message, flame 10. Thou shall use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect. * Respect queuing * Be generally nice to other people in the environment * Be sure not to change the settings of other users. * Observe Laboratory Rules and Regulations. * Respect other people’s time and resources. * Be considerate and patient with neophyte computer users. * Polish your forwarded emails.
NETIQUETTE
from Tan, Computing for Life Book A. FNB Publications, 2005. 1. Be responsible enough not to waste other people’s time or bandwidth by posting unnecessarily long messages or unimportant messages and sending large attachments * Keep your messages to the point – you may opt to use common abbreviations * Limit the size of attachments to 100 kb. 2. Be pleasant and polite. Although the Internet advocates freedom of speech, it does not give anyone the right to write anything he wants without minding how it will affect others. * Avoid using CAPS LOCK. * Minimize the use of exclamation points. * Use smileys or emoticons when appropriate * Do not use offensive language. 3. Use descriptive subject lines for your messages as a courtesy to your – to help people organize and priopritize their messages. 4. Let the recipient know who is sending the message. * From: or end your messages with your name * Signature 5. Check the reliability of the source of a forwarded message or story before passing it on. * Do not unnecessarily alarm people, waste their precious time, and clog the network. * Clean up your messages before you forwarded them. * Take out unnecessary header information and forwarding symbols (usually the > sign). * Retain only those that are important to your recipient. * Choose the recipients of your forwarded message. 6. When replying to a mass email, avoid hitting Reply to All. 7. When sending mass email, it would be better to use BCCs (Blind Carbon Copies) * Respect your recipients’ privacy