MCIS 623 Legal and Ethical Aspects of Computing (3 credits)

Winter 2004 (January 5 - March 26, 2004) /Online

Instructor

Dr. James Cannady
cannady@nova.edu
(954) 262-2085


Course Description

Building on a foundation in classical ethics, we examine the impact of the computer and the Internet on our society. Topics covered include ethical decision making; professional codes; whistle-blowing; computer crime; copyrights, patents and intellectual property; privacy; and risk management. Students will analyze case studies and write a research paper.



Course Materials

Required Textbooks:

 1. Richard A. Spinello. Cyberethics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace (2nd Edition).

2. Richard Spinello (Editor)& Herman T. Tavani (Editor). Readings in CyberEthics .



Exit Competencies

  • Get an overview of laws and procedures that apply to computing environments.
  • Develop a basic understanding of the ethical aspects of computing.
  • Develop the ability to identify legal and ethical issues related to information technology.
  • Enable the student to follow ethics literature with the ability to go on to independent work in the field.



Course Outline

The course material has been divided into five modules. The modules are designed to cover each of the major areas of IT legal and ethical issues by including readings from the text, problems from the text, and case reviews.

Date Assignment Deliverable
01/05-18/04 Module 1: The Ethics and Governance of the Internet Module 1 (due 01/18/04)
01/19-02/01/04 Module 2: Controlling Content in Cyberspace Module 2 (due 02/01/04)
02/02-15/04 Module 3: Intellectual Property Issues Module 3 (due 02/15/04)
02/16-29/04 Module 4: Internet Privacy Module 4 (due 02/29/04)
03/01-14/04 Module 5: Securing Cyberspace Module 5 (due 03/14/04)
03/15-26/04 Final Exam Final Exam (due 03/26/04)
03/26/04 Case Study Case Study (due 03/26/04)



Module 1: The Ethics and Governance of the Internet

Assignment Description Points
Text Reading Chapters 1-2 -
Text Problems 1:1-4 and 2:1-4 8
Article Summary None -
Forum Discussion Participate in the online forum discussion during the week of 01/11/04 2



Module 2: Controlling Content in Cyberspace

Assignment Description Points
Text Reading Chapter 3 -
Text Problems 1-4 (page 82) 5
Article Summary Review one of the cases at the end of chapter 3 in the text and answer the discussion questions at the end of the case. 3
Forum Discussion Participate in the online forum discussion during the week of 01/25/04 2



Module 3: Intellectual Property Issues

Assignment Description Points
Text Reading Chapter 4 -
Text Problems 1-4 (page 132) 5
Article Summary Review one of the cases at the end of chapter 4 in the text and answer the discussion questions at the end of the case. 3
Forum Discussion Participate in the online forum discussion during the week of 02/08/04 2



Module 4: Internet Privacy

Assignment Description Points
Text Reading Chapter 5 -
Text Problems 1-4 (page 177) 5
Article Summary Review one of the cases at the end of chapter 5 in the text and answer the discussion questions at the end of the case. 3
Forum Discussion Participate in the online forum discussion during the week of 02/22/04 2



Module 5: Securing Cyberspace

Assignment Description Points
Text Reading Chapter 6 -
Text Problems 1-3 (page 215) 5
Article Summary Review one of the cases at the end of chapter 6 in the text and answer the discussion questions at the end of the case. 3
Forum Discussion Participate in the online forum discussion during the week of 03/07/04 2



Case Study

The purpose of the case study is to give the student the opportunity to evaluate a "real-world" situation where legal and/or ethical issues were addressed in the design, implementation, or application of information technology. The student will conduct a case study of a business, government agency, or organization where IT personnel were faced with a legal or ethical issue that required resolution. The case study must include the interview of the individuals involved in the issue (i.e., a review of a published case study is insufficient for the assignment). You are required to submit a final report on the case study must be formatted as follows:

  1. Introduction
  2. Problem Statement
  3. Background
  4. Methodology
  5. Barriers
  6. Results
  7. Conclusions/Lessons Learned

An example of an approved and properly formatted Case Study is provided for use in completing this assignment. (Special thanks to Dedric Carter for the use of the example Case Study). 


Instruction Methods and Tools

  • Questions and comments for the instructor should be submitted via e-mail. Any questions that are relevant to the class as a whole may be forwarded to the other students in the class by the instructor unless the student specifically requests that the question or comment remain in confidence.
  • All class assignments must be submitted via ESET. The modules should be submitted as a single zip file (all assignments included in the single zip file). Other deliverables may be submitted in PDF, ZIP, ASCII text, postscript, and Microsoft Word. You must submit each assignment to the correct location within ESET.
  • Scheduled online class discussions may be conducted utilizing WebCT. While students are not required to participate in any discussions you are encouraged to attend any online discussions conducted in the course.


Examination

The student will complete a comprehensive final examination during the final two weeks of the semester. Students may use any available materials in completing the examination, but all sources must be properly cited in the text and correctly referenced in a bibliography at the end of the document.


Grading Criteria

Achievement of the course objectives by student will be assessed using the following:

Module 1 10%
Module 2 10%
Module 3 10%
Module 4 10%
Module 5 10%
Case Study 20%
Final Exam 20%
Discussion Participation 10%


A 94 - 100
A- 90 - 93
B+ 87 - 89
B 84 - 86
B- 80 - 83
C+ 77 - 79
C 74 - 76
C- 70 -73
F <70



Course Policies

  1. All GSCIS course policies will be strictly enforced.
  2. The student must notify the instructor of any circumstances that would interfere with the completion of an assignment prior to the due date ( NOTE: No late assignments will be accepted without the prior permission of the instructor).
  3. Students are encouraged to discuss and share information pertaining to this course. However, all submitted work must be original and must be your own.
  4. The final grade in this class will be based on all the material that is received by the last day of the term (March 26, 2004).


Copyright © 2004 James Cannady, Ph.D.