COSC3325
Final Examination Review
Deontology, Utilitarianism,
Relativism, Consequentialism
Characteristics
Codes of Ethics: ACM, SE, IEEE, BCS
Factors affecting
professional ethical decision making
a.
Deep understanding/knowledge
of ethics.
b.
Upholding a coherent views
on Ethics.
c.
Ability for Fair Resolution
of Conflicts of interest.
d.
Refuse to accept task
assignments in certain situation.
e.
Good ability to analyze
real-life situations in grasping ke elements
affecting ethical decision
making.
Scientific computation ->
Business application -> Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems ->
Networking and WWW -> Future???
Faster and easier
information access
Information
globalization
E-commerce,
E-education
Telecommuting and new job
creation
New
Crimes
Health
Hazards
Dehumanization
Too much dependence on
computers
WWW
Pornography
Job
loss
Public key systems: RSA,
Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange Scheme, Digital Signature, mathematical number
theory, a pair of two keys (private, public), simple algorithms, slow
execution.
Symmetric systems: DES, AES,
substitutions and permutations, multiple rounds of the same sequence of
operations, the same private key(s) in both encryption and
decryption.
Purposes
1.Form a more perfect
Union
2.Establish
justice
3.Insure domestic
tranquility
4.Provide for common
defense.
5.Promote general
Welfare
6.Secure the blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity
Structure
Article-I: Congress,
Section-8 (Legislative Power of Congress)
Section-10 (State Prohibitions)
Article-II: Executive
Branch
Article-III: Judicial
Branch
Article-IV: Fair and Equal Treatments of citizens by
all States.
Hierarchy of US
Laws:
Constitution
Federal
Statutes by Congress
Executive
Orders by President
Rules and
Regulations by federal administrative agencies
State
Constitutions
State
Statutes
Rules and
Regulations by state administrative agencies
Local
Ordinances (city, county)on matters of local concerns such
as zoning, traffic and public
health
8. Some Federal Computer
laws:
A.
Copyright
Protection
What is
protected:
Form of
expressions of ideas rather than ideas themselves in original works of
authorship
including:
1.
Literary work
2.
Dramatic work
3.
Musical work
4.
Artistic work
such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and
architecture.
What is NOT
protected includes:
1.
Facts, Ideas, Systems, Methods of Operations, Concepts or Principles ,as
distinguished from a description, explanation or
illustration.
2.
Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (like
improvisational
speeches or performances that have not been written or
recorded)
3.
Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs;
mere listings of ingredients or contents.
4.
Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and
containing no original authorship such tape measures and rulers and standard
calendars.
Fair Use: An exception to copyright protection by allowing people to
reproduce
Copyrighted work
without proper authorization for such purposes
As:
a.
Teaching
b.
Research/Scholarship
c.
News
Reporting
d.
Criticism/comment
B. Patent
What is protected:
A patent for an invention is a property right to the inventor, issued by the United
States Patent and trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new
patent is 20 years (except 14 years for Design Patent) from the date
on which an application for the patent was filed in the United States or
in special cases from the date an earlier related application was filed.
US patent grants are only effective in the US, US Territories, and US
Possessions. Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or
adjustments are available.
The right conferred by a patent grant is "the rights to exclude others from
making, using, offering for sale, or selling" the invention in the United States or
"importing" the invention into the United States. What is granted is not
the right to make, use, offer for sale or import, but the right to exclude
others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing.
Once a grant is issued, the patentee must enforce the patent without the
aid of the USPTO.
Types
There are three types of patents:
Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and
useful process, machine, article of manufacture or compositions of matters
or any new useful improvement thereof. (Primary patent)
Design patent may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design
for an article of manufacture.
Plant patent may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any
distinct and new variety of plants.
Subject matter
The patent law specifies the general field of subject matter that can be patented
and the conditions under which a patent may be obtained.
Any person who invents or discovers
any new and useful process
any new and useful machine
any new and useful manufacture
any new and useful composition of matter, or
any new and useful improvement thereof
can obtain a patent, subject to the conditions and requirements of the law
The word "process" is defined by law as a process, act, or method,
and primarily includes industrial or technical processes.
The word "manufacture" refers to articles that are made, and includes all
manufactured articles.
The term "composition of matter" relates to chemical compositions and may
Include mixtures of ingredients as well as new chemical compounds.
These classes of subject matter taken together include practically everything
that is made by man and processes for making the products.
Exceptions:
a. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 excludes the patenting of inventions useful
solely in the utilization of special nuclear material or atomic energy for atomic weapons.
b. Limits of subject matter that cannot be patented:
mathematical formulas
laws of nature
physical phenomena
abstract ideas, All for lack of usefulness.
Required conditions:
Useful
Novel
Non-obvious
C. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of
1986 (Title-18)
Protection against (a)
obtaining information about national defense or foreign relation (b) obtaining
information in a financial records of financial institutions (c) unauthorized
access to Federal Interests
Computers (government agencies) (d) defrauding Access to Federal Interests Computers obtaining
anything of value, (e) hacking federal
interest computers by altering, damaging and destroying information or
preventing normal authorized use resulting in loss of aggregating $1000 or more
per year or modifying/impairing medical examination/diagnosis/treatment/care and
(f) Defrauding trafficking of government agency computers or involving
interstate or foreign commerce.
Federal Interest Computers
are:
(a) exclusively for the use of a financial institution or exclusively for the use of the
United States Government, or those used by or for a financial institution or the
United United States Government and the conduct constituting the offense affects
the use of the financial institution's operation of such computer; or
(b)
which
is one of two or more computers used in committing the offense, not all of which
are located in the same state.
D. The National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996: Amendment of Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act
1. "Protected Computers" replaced "Federal Interest Computers" which now include:
a. a computer
exclusively for the use of a financial institution
or the
United States Government, or in the case of a computer
not
exclusively for such use, used by
or for a financial
institution or the United States Government and
the
conduct constituting the offense affects that use by or
for
the financial institution or the Government, or
b. a computer which
is used in interstate or foreign commerce or
communications.
2. Provision of an additional offense: 1030(a)7
Protection against the
interstate or international transmission of threats to cause damage to
Protected
Computer(s) with intent to extort any money or anything of value from any body
or any
organization.
3. Narrowing the definition of the offense of illegally obtaining
national security information.
1030(a)1
It now requires:
"willfully communicates, delivers, transmits, or caused to be communicated,
delivered, or transmitted, or
attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to
be
communicated,
delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it or
willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or an
employee of the United
States entitled to receive it."
4. Extension of
protection from unauthorized information access. 1030(a)2
Now the
protection is provided not just for
the financial institutions' information
But also for
that from "Any United States
Government department or agency and
Also for that
from any Protected computers if the conduct involved an interstate
or
Foreign
communications.
5. Narrowing the definition of Defrauding Protected computers. 1030(a)4
Unauthorized use
of a Protected computer must total at least $5,000 for a year.
E. Freedom of Information Act of 1966.
(Title-5, Government Organization and Employees)
Goal: Insure the free
flow of information between Government and people
1.
Guaranteed
the right of people to know about the business of their government, and
allowed everyone
to obtain reasonably identifiable information from federal agencies
2.
The Government has to disclose required info upon request.
3. The Government has 10 days to either
disclose the info or inform the person requesting it
that it does not intend to comply with the request.
The agency must tell the person the reasons for such
refusal.
4. Nine
Exemptions.
a. Matters established by an Executive Order
to be kept secret
in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. (Matters of
National Security)
b. Matters solely related to the
internal personnel procedures of a government agency
(Internal Personnel Procedure)
c. Matters exempted from
disclosure by statutes. (Statutory Exemptions)
d. Trade secrets and privileged
financial information.
(Trade Secret)
e. Inter- or
intra-agency "memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to
a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency"
(Inter-/intra-agency
memorandum)
f. Personnel or medical
files.(Medical Files)
g. Investigation records
compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent
that the disclosure would interfere with the enforcement proceedings or a
fair trial, or
constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy, or disclose the identity
of a confidential
source or investigative techniques, or threaten the physical safety of
law enforcement
personnel.
(Investigation Record)
h. Matters contained in or
related to examination, operation, or condition reports prepared
by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the
regulation or supervision
of financial institutions.
(Financial Institution Reports)
i.
Geological
and Geophysical information.
F. Electronic Freedom of Information
Act Amendments of 1996 –
Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to define "record" to mean
information
maintained by an agency, as
a required agency record, in any format, including an electronic
format.
Major
changes include:
1.
broadening the definition of government records to include those maintained in
electronic format.
2.
extending the legal response period from ten days to twenty
days.
3.
establishing procedures for a government agency to discuss with requesters ways
of
tailoring large requests to improve responsiveness,
and
4.
broadening public access to government information by placing more material
on-line.
G.
Privacy Act of 1974 (Section 552a
of Title 5, United States Code)
1.
Protects individual privacy interest from government
misuse
of federal records containing personal information.
2. Applies
to federal agencies and their contractors who hold info traceable to
individuals.
3.
Provides that:
a. agencies are allowed to collect and maintain only data that required
and relevant.
b. each agency has to specify what routine uses of info will be made by
other agencies.
c. an individual has the right to scrutinize data
referring
to the individual and
request deletions or corrections following a formal
process.
d. any use of info other than the specified routine use requires the
consent of the involved
individual.
e. every use of the info has
to be accounted.
f. an individual may sue to
force an amendment to a record.
g. an agency or an
individual who willfully disclose personally identifiable info, or
maintain a system of records in violation of this Act, may be
fined.
h. law enforcement, investigatory, and national security files are
exempted from this Act.
i. individuals may refuse to
reveal their SSN unless required by
statute or unless they were
used in the file system before 1975.
4. Makes it
unlawful for any federal, state, or local government agency to deny to any
individual
any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of the
individual's refusal to disclose
her/his SSN.
H. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(1998)
1.
Primarily implemented two international treaties negotiated through
(WIPO)
WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonogram
treaty
2.
Extended term of copyright by 20 years
So, (a) now 70 years plus author’s life for works created after
1/1/1978
(b) for works for hire, protection is extended from 75 years to 95 years,
(c) for
unpublished
works and works in their renewed terms,
protection extended for
additional 20 years and (d) no copyrights will enter the
public domain until
2019.
3.
Anti-Circumvention.
Prohibiting the making, distributing or using of
tools
(devices, software or services) to circumvent technological copyright
protection systems used by copyright holders.