Computer Ethics

Thou shalt not use or copy proprietary software for which you have not paid: Software is an intellectual product. In that way, it is like a book: Obtaining illegal copies of copyrighted software is as bad as photocopying a copyrighted book. There are laws against both. Information about the copyright owner can be embedded by a process called watermarking into pictures in the digital format.

    These days, downloading a pirated program is easier that a sip of water. However, people who are thinking of doing these kind of stuff should think twice before doing it. Because this act is considered as a crime in many countries. In 1974, the Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) was established. CONTU decided that "computer programs, to the extent that they embody an author's original creation are proper subject matter of copyright." (Lemley, Menell, Merges, and Samuelson, 2009). Using the world wide web to search for "hacked" or "cracked" softwares is so easy, but we have to think about the time and effort these programmers and companies spent to create such a unique software. It's like stealing someone's cooking recipe and using it to benefit their self illegally.

    In the mean time, the use of copyrighted softwares is at its highest. For instance, currently, the rate of software piracy in Thailand is at 76% (Asia News Monitor, 2010). So, companies and programmers should find a way to stop the spread of their hacked softwares. In addition, governments and companies should raise the awareness on this topic and clarify the consequences that may happen to the person doing these illegal acts.

    In addition to the legal consequences of this act, individuals who download these "pirated" or "cracked" softwares are more exposed to get malware and virus infections. For instance, one may land up on potentially dangerous websites, which can infect your PC with adware, bots and even a ransomware. When the device is infected or attacked, the malware sends out the sensitive credentials such as username, account number, password etc to the third party. Apart from all these, it can also completely disable your PC. So, is it worth it?

    The location of artificial intelligence under this topic in quite unclear. For example, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing new intellectual creations, distinguishing approaches based on knowledge representation and on machine learning may be considered as copyright. Because these methods may use a pre-existing copyrighted works. However, using “creativity” that is not based on pre-existing works, being directed by computer generated inputs, may not be considered as copyright. (Mirko, Lagioia, and Sartor, 2020)

References:

• Lemley, M.A., Menell, P.S., Merges, R.P. and Samuelson, P. (2009). Software and Internet Law", Aspen Publishers.
• Mirko, D. E., LAGIOIA, F., & SARTOR, G. (2020). The use of copyrighted works by AI systems: Art works in the data mill. European Journal of Risk Regulation : EJRR, 11(1), 51-69. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/err.2019.56
• Proquest.com (2021). Thailand: Software piracy rate to be reduced for country’s benefit. [online] Available at: <https://www.proquest.com/docview/1018420319?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=10472> [Accessed 30 November 2021].