Softlifting Music and Other Software Essay Example for Free

Softlifting Music and Other Software Essay Ethics are moral standards that arise form the freedom to choose between right and wrong. Major features of ethics are responsibility, accountability and liability. (Laudon and Laudon 2008) Being a free moral agent Allison faces an ethical dilemma: ‘duplicate her background music at negligible cost for use in her other restaurant or buying the same music again from the music company at full cost. ’ The conflict is occasioned by copyright law on one side and the temptation to just copy due to the ease to copy brought about by technology. Copying this proprietary piece of software will violate the legal rights of the owner. This is the nature of property rights-it is individualistic, exclusionary and selfish. The general direction pointed by Article 1 Section 8, of the US Constitution, with regard to copyright matters, implies that the composer of the background music owns exclusive rights to it and Allison cannot: reproduce the music or lyrics, distribute the music or lyrics either for free, for no profit, or for profit, perform the music or lyrics in public play a recording of the music or lyrics in public-even if she owns the CD, or make a derivative work or arrangement for public use in any form. If Allison goes ahead and uses the recorded music in her second joint, she will have committed ‘piracy’, which Bidgoli defines as â€Å"any copying of software in contravention of its license. † (pg. 297) or â€Å"the illegal act of copying software for any reason, other than backup, without explicit permission from and compensation to the copyright holder. † (Gopal and Sanders 1998) If law enforcement officers come calling, the recorded music would be destroyed and Allison would be penalized according to the law. Socially, softlifting is regarded as a lesser crime. Especially after considering the inconveniences and costs incurred by users when software companies decide to control how they software is to be used. Someone opined that knowledge is not knowledge until it is shared. With piracy on the rise musicians are looking at the internet as their gateway to a wider market. The only ethical option would be for Allison to buy a new copy or pay a royalty to the composer for permission to play the music in her restaurant. Alternatively she can schedule days in a way that each of her joints can play the music. The ethical ‘no free lunch’ rule encourages people to assume that â€Å"virtually all tangible objects are owned by some one else unless there is a specific declaration otherwise. †(Laudon and Laudon 2008) Scenario 2: Allison is still concerned about the costs of operating her business. She currently uses a computer based point of sales system to process orders and billing (when a customer places an order, the system prints the bill like a cash register, but also displays the order—and recipe if appropriate—on a monitor in the prep area). The system has proven extremely helpful over the years, especially for new employees. Allison wants to continue using the same system in her new location. Rather than paying the company to install the system in the new location, Allison has hired a local IS student. This student, Bill, has agreed to install the hardware and copy the software and data from the original location for her. It is clear in this case that there are no ownership or license issues. Once Allison bought the software, it became hers and she can use it as she pleases. Such a program would fall under the ‘free software’ category which as described by Madey, Freeh, and Tynan, users have access to the source code and is distributed at no cost. (Par. 2) The issue here has to do with paying the company to install the system in the new location. Having separated ‘copyright issues’ from ‘installation services’ it is now easy to identify her ethical dilemma: choose between the company and the local IS student. Assuming that they have no service contract, the company has no legal grounds to sue her if she decides not to use their services. Like any rational business person, high operation costs would constrain her to using the cheaper services of the local IS student. In any case, if the company, due to one reason or another was not in a position to offer installation services who would service her program? She would of course look for other knowledgeable sources to service the program. Actually those advocating for free software as opposed to proprietary software advance the point that it is possible to make money out of free software through services such as installing, upgrading, modifying and teaching about the software. If the program was still owned by the company, to install the hardware and copy the software and data from the original location to the new location would make Bill a hacker. This mild form of hacking is described as to â€Å"roughly force a program to work, generally inelegantly†. (Forester and Morison pr 77) Hacking is a crime. However for open source software Bill is free to even modify the program’s features to add further functionality. This is the future trend. To solve this ethical dilemma, Allison needs to assure her conscience that is not obligated to the company that first sold the software to her. If she has doubts she may seek for formal communication from the software company freeing her to do whatever she wants with her software. In any case technological advancement has created a legal grey area where the existing property law has been overtaken by events and can not clearly tell whether it is wrong to listen to music from an IPod. It has been the trend for companies in the IS industry to overlook petty issues especially at the individual level because the costs of litigation would be phenomenal not forgetting that in the technology world, what is illegal today may become legal tomorrow. Works Cited Bidgoli, H. , The Internet Encyclopedia Volume 3, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. USA 2004. Forester, T and Morrison P. , Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in computing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. 2001 Gopal, R. D. , and Sanders, G. L. , â€Å"International Software Piracy: Analysis on Key Issues and Impacts,† Information Systems Research Vol. 9, No. 2, December 1998. Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA, 2008. Maday, G. , Freeh, V. , Tynnan, R. , â€Å"The Open Source Software Development Phenomenon: An Analysis Based on Social Network Theory,† Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systems, University of Notre Dame (2002): 1807

James A. Michners: TEXAS :: essays research papers

In this magnificent historical novel, James A. Michner skillfully combines fact and fiction to present one of our most expansive and diversified states. Spanning nearly four and a half centuries, Michner begins with the first Spaniards to explore parts of present day Texas, Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and continues on to the emergence of Texas as one of our most powerful states. Michner’s use of historical fact is extremely accurate in his portrayal of events in Texas history. Particularly when he writes of the fight for Independence from Mexico. Michner only strays to fiction in an attempt to illustrate to the reader what the lives of early Texans must have been like. His characters interact with actual historical figures and create very believable scenarios of the events depicted in his novel. One Scenario in particular is the Battle of San Jacinto. This is a historical event which ended in a decisive victory for the Texas Army and Independence for Texas. Michner’s depiction of this battle is very accurate except for two important points. In his novel, Stephen F. Austin is sent to destroy a ferry owned by a former lover, Mattie Quimper. This was to prevent the Mexican Army, under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, from crossing the river and give more time to the Texans to prepare for the inevitable battle. This incident is fictional, but it is similar- to another factual event. At San Jacinto, General Sam Houston sent one of his men to destroy a bridge crossing the San Jacinto River. This was to prevent reinforcements from joining Santa Anna’s forces, which were already on the Island. The second point which was fictional ,but was based on an actual event, was the capture of General Santa Anna. In Michner’s novel, a bumbling Yancy Quimper, comes across a half naked Santa Anna, who was trying to evade capture by hiding in the trees. Quimper, being a coward, nearly shoots himself in the process. This alerts another fictional character, Otto MacNab. MacNab takes Santa Anna into custody and presents him to General Houston. In actuality, a Texas Army Sergeant captured Santo Anna the day following the battle. Michner includes these fictional characters as part of a sub-plot designed to keep the reader interested in what is a purely military campaign. He remains true to historical facts and only adds fiction to color his amazing storytelling abilities.

Bullying: America’s Worst School Issue Essay

Did you know that a massive amount of students in America are being bullied? What is bullying? According to Webster’s New World Pocket Dictionary, bullying â€Å"is the act of threatening weaker people.† There are many different types of bullying that we will be discussing too. This subject has a huge impact on students that are against bullying. Bullying is the most important issue in schools, because it can cause insecurity, suicidal thoughts and public embarrassment. Bullying can cause insecurity. To be insecure means not to be confident or think less of his or her self. This can cause an individual not to trust anyone, and feel as if they do not have any friends. The child has no choice, but to put up with it because they do not confide in anyone. Insecurity can affect his or her performance in school. According to huffingtonpost.com â€Å"The study shows that students who reported being bullied in the 10th grade saw a slight decrease in GPA by 12th grade — but the change is sharper for black and Latino students who tend to earn high grades. While the overall decrease in GPA for bullied students over the studied period was 0.049 points (on a GPA scale with 0 being the lowest and 4 being the highest), black students saw a 0.3-point decrease in 12th grade GPA from a 3.5 GPA in 9th grade — before they were bullied.† Without a doubt, insecurity can lead to depression; which is like the torrent of tears. Bullying can cause suicidal thoughts. What are suicidal thoughts? They are thoughts about killing oneself. The person being bullied thinks it is the only way out; by murdering themselves. For example; according to japantoday.com, on December 10, 2012 in Japan, a 13-year-old girl was hit by a train in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. She committed suicide as a result of bullying. Insecurity can also lead to the act of suicide. Again another suicidal thought can be caused by the child not being heard by anyone to speak to about the bullying. As a result many students do this because of stress, pressure, and a result of helplessness. They are crying out for help and don’t know how else to get it. Bullying can cause a great amount of public embarrassment. Being embarrassed publicly is the worst way to ever be embarrassed. People you know or do not know will see, and laugh at you. Bullying includes public embarrassment, because the bully may bring a crowd or have a entourage with them. Since technology has rapidly advanced, the bullying may be videotaped and put on YouTube or Facebook. Many instances of Cyber Bullying come from these websites. According to huffingtonpost.com â€Å"15-year-old Amanda Todd committed suicide October 25, 2012, many blamed cyber bullying as the cause.† Todd had posted a video to YouTube documenting instances of cyber bullying that included texts and Facebook posts; Todd also indicated she was bullied physically. Public embarrassment by a bully may leave you with injuries that will heal, but the memories last forever. Therefore, we need to stop this! Bullying is wrong and it affects a child’s future enormously. Although there are other problems students face in schools, like stealing or plagiarism, bullying can have the most severe and long-lasting effects for adolescents during the critical years. We as students should not let anyone else feel inferior. The bullies should be sent to psychologists to discuss why they chose to display their anger in such a format. According to bullyingstatistics.org 1 in 4 students are being bullied in the United States on a regular basis. We need to end this America! If you see someone being bullied, report to higher authority. As reported by bullyingstatistics.org 35% of teens have been bullied online; let’s end it! As stated on bullyingstatistics.com 77% are verbally abused; let’s that! Bullying is very serious, and we need stop it to create a better future for the children.

Ronald Wilson Reag The Leaders Of The Free World From...

Ronald Wilson Reagan, George H.W. Bush and William â€Å"Bill† Clinton were the leaders of the free world from 1981- 2001. Over the course of 2 decades these men had to solve several international and domestic issues while juggling personal issues, and the many other responsibilities of The President of the United States. Over the 20 years of reign by these Presidents, 8 years were ran under Democratic rule by Bill Clinton and 12 years were ran under Republican rule by George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. These Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected the 40th President of the United States. Ronald Wilson Reagan or simply â€Å"Dutch† began his term on a great note. Reagan came to the presidency with a extensive and specific set of policy goals. In†¦show more content†¦A political ideology that has beliefs in conservatism, individualism and capitalism. Neoconservatism arose in the 1970s among people who shared a disdain of communism. Neoconservatism played a role in helping Reagan win the election as the nation saw him as a dominant figure who was conservative and was strongly opposed to the idea of communism. The basis of Reagan’s political stance was based on an economic strategy called â€Å"Reaganomics†, this was a theory by Reagan, the main theory was significant reduction in all forms of taxes and an adequate cutback on governmental spending so there would be more money in the hands of the American citizens. The main goal was to boost to the United States economy , which would cause the economy to expand. With the idea of Reaganomics in mind, President Reagan persuaded Congress to pass the Economic Recovery Tax Act. This act lowered the federal income tax rate significantly. This Tax Act called for a 25 percent tax cut over a three-year period. On the first day of his presidency 66 American diplomats that were held hostage in Iran for 444 days were released. The 444 day period of captivity of is referred to as the â€Å"Iranian Hostage Crisis†. Due to how Jimmy Carter, the President at the time, stretched the boundaries set by the new Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini this situation ruined the relationship with a major gas and oil provider, Iran. While Reagan was in office he appointed Sandra Day O’Connor, a woman, to