Computer Ethics on Computer Crime

1. What is computer crime?

              According to http://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/242/Computer-Crime.html site computer crime are those crimes which includes illegal internet activities and these activities include internet-related forgery, embezzlement, fraud, vandalism and the disposal of stolen goods.

             computer crime also refers to the violation of the law that involves the use of the knowledge on computer technology for the sake of selfish concepts.

2. Give an example of a computer crime not stated in the Computer Ethics blog 

            one example of a computer crime is the Distributed denial of service(DDS) attacks, which means that the attacker or the perpetrator posts goods and services or tools online but does not give the service when the attacker is being paid for the said service.

3. Visit this site. http://www.crime-research.org/news/09.07.2008/3443/
This is the site that features the first Hacking crime being filed in the Philippines.
Question: 
What is stated in section 33a of Republic Act 8792

           Section 33a of Republic Act 8792 states that, Hacking or crackling with refers to unauthorized access into or interference in a computer system/server or information and communication system; or any access in order to corrupt, alter, steal, or destroy using a computer or other similar information and communication devices, without the knowledge and consent of the owner of the computer or information and communications system, including the introduction of computer viruses and the like, resulting in the corruption, destruction, alteration, theft or loss of electronic data messages or electronic documents shall be punished by a minimum fine of One Hundred Thousand pesos (P 100,000.00) and a maximum commensurate to the damage incurred and a mandatory imprisonment of six (6) months to three (3) years;

4. In Visayas State University, there is an office that deals with protecting the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of those who publish their intellectual output works. What is this office that caters with IPR concerns? Who is the head of this office?

          I believe that the Office of the Director for Research and Extension(ODREx) deals with protecting the Intellectual Property rights(IPR) of those who publish their intellectual output works and the head of office is Dr. Othello Capuno.

Midterm Exam

"Mail order bride" and "female escorts" are very emotional phrases that automatically comes with a negative connotation. Well, as we see its effects in our modern world, we could say that they have almost same impacts on the so called prostitution, namely in cyber industries. Thus, we can say that they are unethical.But for "Mail order bride" do we really know why and when did such phrase came to pop-up beyond our naked mind? Is it ethical or not?

As a quick visit from the past during the 16th century men from a certain town in Virginia happened to outnumber their women. At that time marriage was so important to them. So, a wise man came up to an idea of shipping single women from London in return for payment in tobacco for the women's passage to America. Those women were not forced. So, that's how "Mail order bride" started.

Well, if we look at the state of "Mail order bride" at that time we can not really say that it is unethical because we can see that everything happened fairly to fullfill men from Virginia and women from London's demands for having fulltime partners in life. It is really in the mere fact that ethics change with time.

So, to get to the point, here are ethical questions that I am going to clear out in my own perspective.

What are the ethical issues that seem to enslave this growing industry?

Is there much of a difference between the mail order brides industry or companies that provide escort services versus meeting someone over the Internet in a chat room?

Does this industry differ much from arranged marriages that take place in some cultures?

Or in the case of "female escorts", does this differ from prostitution?

The MORAL LAW

           There are 4 types of non-jural law. Divine, natural, moral and physical. If  you are to practice just one type of the non-jural law for the entire existence of your life, what would it be and why?
            The Moral Law is based on the premise that there is such a thing as right and wrong, and there are some things that you "ought" to do, and some things that you "ought not" to do.  I think that everyone believes in a moral law.  Even those who say they don’t, still get upset when their house is burgled.  The question really becomes how to definitively tell that something is right or wrong.  When I have discussed this with non-Christian friends, they normally use their own feelings as their measuring stick.  When I point out that, for example, an serial killer might feel that what he was doing was right, the next standard put forward is society, or the law.  But can society really define what is right?  What if two different societies disagree?  By a simple logic, it is obvious that they can’t both be right.
            Once it can be established that there is a moral law, it follows that there must be a moral law-giver.  Without this standard, then when two people disagree about a moral judgement, all you can have is two conflicting opinions, with no way to decide the issue.  Yet in reality, two contradicting things cannot both be right.  It seems the only way to resolve the dilemma is for there to be a real, objective standard, which the Christian calls "God".
And when you take away, or ignore, this standard, what you get is a relativistic or morally subjective society, which is what we are moving towards now.  I think it is obvious that our society is becoming more and more violent, dishonest, crude, selfish and superficial.

Why Ethics that important?

           According to the definition of ethics, it can be connected to the norms or custom of the society. What could be ethical to one, could be unethical to another. If this is the case, in which ethics seem to be subjective in nature, why is there a need to study computer ethics at all?


           There are several reasons to study ethics. All of us use ethics on a daily basis. “Ethics” is not some term grabbed out of thin air by philosophers trying to build castles in the air. Many individuals do not know what ethical behavior is. This course is not aimed at any one group or agency; anyone who lives or works on the reservation could benefit from this course. You will find yourself challenged to think about ethical decisions, you will have an opportunity to study the ethical decisions made and behaviors modeled by our ancestors. 

No matter what your past experiences or educational level, you are never too old to learn. We have all heard the old sayings, you can’t teach an old dogs new tricks, and a leopard doesn’t change his spots. Indeed, I often hear tribal members saying something to the effect, it doesn’t matter who is elected they will (fill in the blank). It is true that important changes never come easily, but change is possible. 

Policies for the University Handbook

1. Hacking
        - Students in our university are fond of stealing accounts or browsing contents on some networks such as the moodle in an illegal way. They crack some contents of the said network and use them for their own sake. I know a person who does things like that. It is very unpleasant and annoying because he use his ability for his selfish reason. The worst case here is that he may know the questions and answers of some exams especially in the moodle's case because it is used mostly by our teachers for giving exams or quizzes. It's his advantage but, it ruins the reputation of the students especially CS students because it is very unethical and stains the our name.

       Sanction : If a student if caught doing this activity, the administrator should impose the highest penalty of expulsion from the university.

2. Stealing computer hardwares
      - In the case of the Department of Computer Science and Technology there has been an unsolved case of stolen RAM from one of the rooms and the suspect is a co-computer science student, though this is not proved, this is a big issue for us because it ruined the name not only of the computer science student but the university as well. This would create a misinterpretation that the university tolerates students to steal things inside and out of the classroom.

      Sanction: If a student is proven to be guilty of having done this activity, he/she will be given a fine 10x the price of the hardware(s) he/she has taken or be expelled from the university.

Living in History

To reminisce the past is a good thing a suppose? My belief is that "to live with the past will help you work through the present and the future" but I guess that was just an understatement of what I don't want to forget. Things that are irrevocable and unthinkably foolish. This proves me wrong, I have dwell with my past and give me no good. Things of the past become a nightmare, and  a sad song to my ears. It gave me so much pain that even I myself don't know how to handle.

Now, what happened? I am now in the midst of a battle between me and my shadow. My shadow keeps on pulling me back to the very thing that is destroying me. I want to fight back. But how? If I fight back, it may bring me to the very destruction that I am afraid to happen. Can anyone help me?

Answers to the questions

1. What would you like to be 5 years from now? (hopes, aspirations, wishes...)

• Five years from now, I imagine myself as a successful person in  any profession that I might have. Having enough salary that will satisfy my needs and wants. Wishing to travel the globe and meet different people together with my wife-to-be.

2. If you will be a full-pledged computer programmer 5 years from now, what program would you do? and why?

• If I will be a full-pledged computer programmer five years from now, I would like to create a program that will solve not all but some NP Problems. An example of that is the Halting Problem of a computer. Because it is very important for a system to work efficiently, a computer programmer must think of a way to know how to deal and solve this types of problem so that in the near future there'll be no flaw in any computer system that will be invented in time.

3. If you are a machine, what would you be and why?

• If I am a machine I would love to be a computer so that I can trully understand how it manages its processing in its core and know the limitations that a computer  has.