Thursday, May 17, 2012



Chapter 5 Vignette- Sexting
Questions to consider:

1.       Does sexting represent a form of expression that is protected by the First Amendment?

No, sexting does not represent a form of expression by the First Amendment, it stated that; Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

2.       What can be done to protect people from the dangers of sexting while still safeguarding our first amendment rights?

 The parents is responsible for their children, they must talk and give advices that taking nude photos is a very disrespectful for themselves.

Case # 3 The Electronic Frontier Foundation(EFF)

1.       Visit the EFF Web site at www.eff.org and develop a list of its “hot” issues. Research one EFF issue that interests you, and write a brief paper summarizing EFF’s position. Discuss whether you support this position and why.

2.       What reasons might a firm give for joining and supporting EFF?

 EFF is a non profit, international advocacy and legal organization based in the United States and their mission is to include educating the press, policy makers, and the general public about civil liberties.

3.       The vice president of public affairs for your midsized telecommunications equipment company has suggested that the firm donate $10,000 in equipment and services to EFF and become a corporate sponsor. The CFO has asked if you, the CIO, support this action. What would you say?

 I will support this action because it helps EFF to be more progressive. I want also to achieve their goals and this goal is to protect fundamental civil liberties relating to the use of technology, including free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights.

Chapter 6 Vignette- RIAA Fights Music Piracy
Questions to consider:

1.       Is the RIAA’s strong stand on copyright infringement helping or hurting the music recording industry?

Yes, it is. The RIAA justifies its strong antipiracy efforts as a means of both is protecting the ability of the recording industry to invest in new artist and new music and giving legitimate online music sharing services a chance to be successful. In addition, it claims that each year the recording industry loses about $5 billion and retailers lose about $1 billion worldwide from music piracy.

2.       Could an ISP’s implementation and enforcement of the RIAA’s multitier strategy have a negative impact on the ISP?

It gives a positive impact to the ISP because if they help each other it’s not possible to punish and locate whose make piracy music. 

Case # 3 Lotus v. Borland'

1.       Go to your school’s computer lab or a PC software store and experiment with current versions of any two of the Quattro, Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet programs. Write a brief paragraph summarizing the similarities and differences in the “look and feel” of these two programs.

Although Microsoft Excel is an amazing spreadsheet application, it is far from being the only available spreadsheet on the market available today. Another very popular electronic spreadsheet application in today's market is Lotus 1-2-3, which is known to be the first original spreadsheet application, believed to be the best selling spreadsheet application in the world. An obvious difference between Excel and the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet application is the way you enter a formula. In Excel, an equal sign (=) is typed before entering a formula. However, in Lotus 1-2-3, the formula is typed first and then the enter key is pressed. Also, cell ranges are separated by using a colon (C2:C4) in Excel, while two periods (C2..C4) are used in Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet application. Although there are many differences between Excel and the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet application, there are many functions that have the same equivalent such as the "ROUND or SUM" functions. However, you must prefix these functions with an at sign (@) in Lotus 1-2-3 (Patterson, 2008).

2.       The courts took several years to reverse their initial decision and rule in favour of Borland. What impact did this delay have on the software industry? How might things have been different if Borland had received an initial favourable ruling?

The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in January 1996, five years after the suit began, the court affirmed the appeals court ruling for Borland. The case was significant for the software industry  , which had been riddled with infringement lawsuits due to ambiguities in copyright law. The ruling made it clear that software copyrights could be successfully challenged, which further discouraged the use of copyright to protect innovations.  As a result, developers had to go through the more difficult and expensive patent process to protect their software products. These additional costs would be either absorbed by developers or passed on to users.

3.       Assume that you are the manager of Borland’s software development. With the benefit of hindsight, what different decisions would you have made about Quattro?

I would not sell Quattro spreadsheet software to Novell Inc. I would save and use Quattro to make another spreadsheet and i would not copy any of spreadsheet, I will make another spreadsheet of my own ability and knowledge.

Chapter 7 Vignette- Being Dream liner faces a Few bumps in the Road
Questions to consider:

1.  Is this example of software problems holding up the introduction of a major new product and impacting a firm’s customers and suppliers unusual, or is it a common occurrence?

The example of software problems is a common occurrence because we can’t assure that our work is made perfectly and the delayed of the products for the customers. But as long as the company did everything to do their job, they can avoid encounter problems.

2. What can organizations do to reduce the negative consequences of software development problems in the production of their products and the operation of their business processes and 
facilities?

In order to reduce the negative consequences they must have good performance and check properly the production of their product.

Case # 3 Patriot Missile Failure

1.       With the benefit of hindsight, what steps could have been taken during development of the Patriot software to avoid the problems that led to the loss of life? Do you think these steps would have improved the Patriot’s effectiveness enough to make it obvious that the missile was a strong deterrent against the Scud? Why or why not?

They must apply more steps to avoid the problems that led to the loss of life. Life of a person is more important than anything else.

2.       What ethical decisions do you think the U.S military made in choosing to deploy the Patriot missile to Israel and Saudi Arabia and in reporting the effectiveness of the Patriot system?

The Army did not have the luxury of collecting definitive performance data in Saudi Arabia and Israel. After all, they were operating in a war zone, not a test range. As a result, there was insufficient and sometimes conflicting data on effectiveness of the Patriot missile. At one extreme was an early report that claimed that the Patriot destroyed 29 percent of the Scuds engaged in Saudi Arabia and Israel. At the other extreme, observers only report seeing a Scud destroyed or disabled after a Patriot detonated nearby in about 9 percent of engagements. Of course, some kills could have been affected out of the observer’s range of vision.      

3.       What key lessons from this example of safety-critical software development could be applied to the development of business information system software?

They think properly and experiment safely. They test severally the software to that it will be successful and no one will loss lives.

Chapter 8 Vignette-Western Cape Striving to Eliminate the Digital Divide
Questions to consider:

1.       How important is access to ICT in children’s education?

It is important in primary education because it enables kids to search for the information they need and to organize what they have found. As children progress through the school system, they become increasingly responsible for their own learning. Many believe that ICT needs to be better integrated into curriculums so all schools produce computer literate, independent learners.

2.       What are the barriers that stand in the way of universal access to ICT for everyone who wants it?

The barriers that stand in the way of universal access to ICT are the poverty of the country especially in a rural area. Their need is more important than what they want. Although they have schools but they don’t have capability to access to ICT its enough for them. 

Case # 3 Social Networking Disaster for Domino’s

1.       Some observers believe that if an organization does not respond to an attack on its brand within the first 24 hours, then the damage has been done- lack of management response is judged as an admission of guilt. Others feel that some time is required to gather facts and figure out what happened before responding. With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, how might Domino’s have reacted more effectively?

Domino’s must solve the problem earlier so that the damage is not totally big.

2.       Do you find it unsual that Domino’s response as primarily through the online media rather than the usual printed press release? Does this seem an affective and appropriate way to respond under these circumstances? . Why or why not? Does Domino’s use of the online media set a precedent for others to follow in the future.

It is unusual nowadays because mostly of the people or company now if they encounter a problem they use online media. This is effective and appropriate way because it can be seen all over the world.

3.       Identify three lessons that other companies could learn from Domino’s experience.

 First, know better your employees. Second, employees must well trained and have a ethical behaviour and third, solve the problem as soon as possible.


Chapter 9- Twitter Emerges as News Source for Iran protesters
Questions to consider:

1.     Many people question the value of Twitter’s goal of helping people stay connected in real time. Do the events in Iran illustrate the potential value to society of social networking tools such as Twitter? Are there other ways that Twitter and other social networks could be used by people and organizations to add real value?

The event in Iran does not illustrate the potential value to society, the goal of the social networks is to serve people not make the problem huge.

2. How trustworthy is the information one gleans from social networks such as Twitter?
               
It’s trustworthy enough. It depends on how you used the social networks. If you used it in bad, then the result is also bad, that’s it.


Case # 3- Technological Advances Create Digital Divide in Health Care

  1. Can you provide examples that either refute or confirm the idea that a gap exists between the           kinds of healthcare services available to the wealthy and the poor in the United States?

2. Should healthcare organizations make major investments in telemedicine to provide improved services that only the wealthy can afford?

 Healthcare organization must make major investments in telemedicine  not only for the wealthy people but also for the poor.

3. What are the drawbacks of telemedicine? What situations might not lend themselves to telemedicine solutions?


Chapter 10 Vigenette-Problems with the suppliers
Questions to consider:

1. How can an organization ensure that all the members of its supply chain will behave ethically?

The bosses must act first ethical behaviour, so that employees will follow what they doing. They must implement rules and regulation for the organization in order to guide them of what they must to do and don’ts.

2. What responsibility does an organization have to ensure that its suppliers and business partners behave ethically?

Show respect, be honest, consistency, this are responsibilities does an organization have so that they ensure that their suppliers and business partners will behave ethically.

Case # 3 Manufactures Compete on Green Computing

1. How have green computing efforts lowered the total cost of computer ownership?

Desktop computer power supplies (PSUs) are in general 70–75% efficient dissipating the remaining energy as heat. An industry initiative called 80 PLUS certifies PSUs that are at least 80% efficient; typically these models are drop-in replacements for older, less efficient PSUs of the same form factor. As of July 20, 2007, all new Energy Star 4.0-certified desktop PSUs must be at least 80% efficient.

2. Which approach can yield greater benefits—building greener computers or implementing programs that change users behaviour so that they operate theirs computers in a more responsible manner? Explain your response.

 Building greener computer is the approach yield greater benefits.

3. Do research at the EPEAT Web Site and determine which computer manufacturer currently has the best green computing ratings.

As I research at the EPEAT Web site I discover that the best green computer is the Apple.

 



Thursday, May 3, 2012

CHAPTER 4 VIGNETTE “Privacy Concerns Abound with New IRS Systems”




Discussion Questions:

   1.    What information about you is being held, who is holding it, and what is this information being used for?

        Over 30 million individuals pay federal taxes and file private information with the IRS each year. The data collected by the IRS includes not only names and addresses, but also Social Security numbers and financial information. The federal government has issued stringent security requirements for storing, accessing and manipulating this data.



   2.    What measures are being taken to safeguard this information and what happens if it is inadvertently or deliberately stolen? 

        Personal information of the tax payers is the tempting target for identity thieves. The auditors found that the disaster recovery plan was deficient and that the systems were vulnerable in other ways.  Backup tapes stored at an offsite location were not being tested regularly to check that data had been retrieved correctly and should be used to restore the system if necessary. Many people object to the data collection policies of government and business on the basis that they strip individuals of the power to control their personal information.

Chapter 4- Case #3 Is Google Watching You?



Questions: 

    1.       How does Google’s business model use personal data?

        Google is firmly committed to the privacy of our advertisers and users. [ While Google does add a cookie to a user's computer when he/she clicks on an ad, this cookie expires in 30 days, and Google does not associate a user's search activity with his/her ad click history. Further, Google does not collect or track personally identifying information, and does not reveal individual information to third parties. Users who do not wish to participate in tracking activities can easily disable Google's conversion tracking cookie in their Internet browser's user preferences settings. These users will not be included in your conversion tracking statistics.
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    2.       What do you think are the major privacy concerns raised by Google’s business model and applications?

       I think the major privacy concerns raised by Google's business model and applications is there technology was very open to the public.


   3.       Do you think Google has taken adequate measures to protect its users’ privacy? Explain your answer.

        Yes, because they remain their own Privacy Policy that requires they handle information in a protected manner.


CHAPTER 3 VIGNETTE “Trading Scandal At Societe Generale”



Discussion Question:

1. Peter Gumble, European editor for Fortune magazine, comments, "Kerviel is a stunning example of a trader breaking the rules, but he's by no means alone. One of the dirty little secrets of trading floors around the world is that every so often, somebody is caught concealing a position and is quickly - and quietly - dismissed..This might be shocking for people unfamiliar with the macho, high-risk, high-reward culture of most trading floors, but consider this: the only way banks can tell who will turn into a good trader and who even the most junior traders to take aggressive positions. This leeway is supposed to be matched by careful controls, but clearly they aren't foolproof." What is your reaction to this statement by Mr. Gumble? 

    
        This is definitely true, Kerviel is an example of a trader that breaking a rules. It shows greediness mostly with the money. 



2. What explanation can there be for the failure of SocGen's internal control system to detect Kerviel's transactions while Eurex detected many suspicious transactions?
               
        Several internal and external investigators of the bank' operating procedures and internal controls have been completed. The Banking commission said that SocGen did not focus sufficiently on fraud weaknesses and that there were "significant weaknesses" in the banks IT security systems. Another report pointed out that Kerviel's direct supervisor was inexperienced and received insufficient
support to do his job properly.



Chapter 3- Case #3 Whistle-Blowing Divides IT Security Community



Questions:

    1.       Do you think that Mike Lynn acted in a responsible manner? Why or why not?
        
        Lynn’s discovery was momentous and he decided that he had to speak out and let IT security professionals and the public know about the danger. Lynn’s said: “ I feel I had to do what’s right for the country and the national infrastructure”.


    2.       Do you think that Cisco and ISS were right to pull the plug on Lynn’s presentation at the Black Hat conference? Why or why not?

        They have no right to plugged out Lynn’s presentation. They must listen first to Lynn’s statement because all he wants is to do the right thing and it could help for them.


   3.       Outline a more reasonable approach toward communicating the flaw in the Cisco routers that would have led to the problem being promptly addressed without stirring up animosity among the parties involved.

        Lynn’s discovered a network worms- A small, self-replicating application— most often created by a vandal rather than a corporate spy—that infects a host computer and then copies itself to every other computer attached to the host. Most network worms can saturate a network in hours or days because they grow logarithmically—every infected computer represents not one but an array of other possible victims, so that 10 infections become 100, which become 1,000, which become 10,000, and so on.
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