In: Accounting
What are the ethical issues related to ownership of property in the context of computer technology?
The ethical question regarding ownership is: What can an individual (or organization) own? Ideas? Media? Source code? Object code? A related question is whether or not owners and users should be constrained in their use or access to software. This includes making copies or placing software on a network to permit access by multiple users. Some believe that copyright laws can cause more harm than good. For example, the League for Programming Freedom argues that copyrights for software flies in the face of the original intent of the law. It feels that the best interest of computer users is served when industry standards emerge; copyright laws work to disallow this. Part of the problem arises out of the uniqueness of software, its ease of dissemi¬nation, and the possibility of exact replication. Does software fit with the current categories and conventions regarding ownership?
Ethical debate: What's ownable? Ideas, media, source/object code? Copyright debate: Restrictive or beneficial?