American University Legal and Ethical Issues in Computer Science Paper

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American University

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The following is exam in ethical and legal issues in computer science. My professional work if it would to be is a computer scientist, software engineer or a business developer, business man.

12 times new roman, must meet the requirement of the each question word limit,

there is 5 questions:

Question 1 800 words

Question 2 800 words

Question 3 400 words for this question pleases check out this: https://www.american.edu/policies/upload/Computer-Use-and-Copyright-Policy.pdf

Question 4 1200 words

Question 5 400 words

Cite references if used. This is for a legal computer science class.

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Running head: LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Legal and Ethical Issues in Computer Science
University Affiliation
Student Name
Date

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LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

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Question One
a) Legal but Unethical Issues
As a businessman and business developer professional, there are different instances that
arise where some activities and acts are legal but are never ethical in society. Labor practices
have for years been the leading area where ethical concerns have always been raised. The labor
laws are known to lag behind different sentiments creating room for many companies and
organizations to employ practices which their customers find them unethical. One of the many
examples is when companies or organizations pay minimum wage to their full-time staff.
Minimum wage is legal and is set by the employer and the employee who agree on one by setting
terms and conditions for its implementation (Hughes, 2018). However, those employees working
for minimum wage find it challenging to meet their daily expenses and to meet the basic needs of
their families. This leads them in debt and later become bitter with their employers. The
employers according to the law are act legally, but the employees do not look at the issue in legal
terms but, they see the issue as unethical. This is the leading cause of staff strikes in many
organizations where the staff demand for a pay rise. The employer is always likely to win the
case if the matter is taken to court.
Another common issue is on environmental concerns. Any government in the world has
put burdensome regulations on industries whose activities cause direct environmental impact.
These laws and regulations cannot all fulfill the communities that live around the industries or
beyond. A good example is the companies that are involved in oil drilling operations that started
from the beginning of the 21st century. The hydraulic fracturing process that they use was
legalized starting from April 2013 (Hughes, 2018). However, these companies always face calls
for legal actions and protests from the communities around them claiming that their activities

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

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have a direct environmental impact. They see the companies as unethical, but on the other hand,
the companies always operate legally following all legal laws and regulations (Hughes, 2018).
Finally, another area that is faced with a challenge of legal and ethical issues is in marketing.
Some companies take advantage of the uneducated people in the community and lure them into
buying a specific product at a high price. This is acceptable in the law, especially in a free market
economy where the price of a product depends on supply and demand. Ethically, this is taking
advantage of others.
b) Ethical but illegal issues
Companies are applying every means possible to make profits due to the high level of
competition in almost every industry. Some of the activities the companies involve themselves in
may be ethically correct but according to the law are considered as illegal. Some of the examples
include when a bank is lending money to its customers. Before giving the customer a loan, banks
have to carry out predatory lending. Mainly, banks give a loan if the customer has collateral like
a house or a piece of land. In an instance when the customer default to pay the loan, the bank will
never go at a loss but will still benefit by selling the collateral. Some deceive the customer of
giving them low interests rates on the loan, but in the real sense, it is always higher than what
they reveal to the customer who may end up having challenges to pay back. Most of them use
loans as an avenue through which they can own the customer's properties which they place as the
collateral for the loan.
Another area is where patients in the hospital are taken advantage of the doctors.
Whenever one visits a hospital, money has to change hands to receive services from a doctor or a
dentist. Some doctors recommend expensive procedures or medications to patients that may not
be necessary. Some actually ensure that the procedures are always expensive and never disclose

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

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to the patents of alternatives that are affordable but effective. Most of them do this to benefit
from huge payments that the patient's insurance companies will pay or from some government
agencies.
Vendors who deal with second-hand products such as cars also indulge themselves in
ethical activities which are usually illegal. For example, when one is purchasing a used car, the
dealer may not reveal instances where the car was damaged or involved in an accident at some
point. They do so to ensure they get more money from the deal. According to the law, someone
selling a product should disclose every information regarding the product (Tsikerdekis &
Zeadally, 2015). A fi...


Anonymous
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