Evoldahc on Computer Ethics

1. If you are to choose your top 3 difficult-to-follow computer ethics commandments, what are these? Explain why.

If I were to choose my top 3 difficult-to-follow computer ethics commandments, I'd pick the following:

Commandment #3: Thou shalt not snoop around other people's files.

Personally, I find this commandment hard but not impossible to follow. I think so because I am a curious person, at times almost too curious, and I find it hard to resist the temptation of opening or exploring files and folders with enticing names, especially those which says "Don't Touch," or "Don't Delete" or, "Secret."

Commandment #6: Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid

This commandment is really really really difficult to follow because with the current economic status of our country, licenses for software are way too expensive. It's really hard to pay for a licensed software that costs as much as a brand new personal computer, and what makes it even harder is the rampant sale of pirated software all over the country.

Commandment #7: Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization.

I find this commandment difficult to follow because as a Computer Science student here in the university, there are times, a lot in fact, when we have nothing to do and it gets so boring that the only way we ease our boredom is by logging on unauthorized to the computers in our classrooms to surf the net or just play or do our assignments.

2. Suppose you are to add 2 more commandments to the existing 10 commandments of computer ethics, what are these? Are these 2 new commandments of equal importance to the existing ones? Discuss.

If I were to add 2 more commandments to the existing 10 commandments of computer ethics, it would be:

Commandment #11: Thou shalt use any computer resource in a productive and responsible manner.

Commandment #12: Thou shalt obey all these commandments with utmost sincerity and diligence.

I believe the above additional commandments are of equal importance to the existing ones because the above commandments guide us and prompt us in being true and honest in obeying the other commandments. These two commandments will measure our sincerity in being ethical.

3. What is ransomware? Which of the 10 computer ethics commandments is/are violated by ransomware?

Ransomware is a computer malware which holds a computer system, or the data it contains, hostage against its user by demanding a ransom for its restoration. Ransomware violates commandments 1, 9, 10, which reads as follows: 

Commandment #1: Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

Commandment #9: Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write.

Commandment #10: Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.