The information age is the age we live in today, and with the information age comes an age of ethics. When we deal with the new technologies introduced every day, we need to decide what we must consider ethical and unethical. We must consider all factors so that the use of the information readily available to many persons is not abused. "Information technology will be the most fundamental area of ethical concern for business in the next decade." (Ermann) The most widely used tool of the information age is the computer, whether it is a PC or a network of computer systems. As we enter the information age, the newness and power of information technology's tests the ethics of the average person, not just the criminal and cause thousands of computer crimes to be committed daily. Problems associated with the information age Invasion of privacy Computer virus Internet scamming Junk E-mails Minors viewing pornography Fraud Accounts Illegal Downloading Hacking Cyber chat The most common computer crime committed daily, some aware and many not, is theillegal sharing of computer software. Software is any of the programs used in operating a digitalcomputer, as input and output programs, as defined by Funk and Wagnalls Standard DeskDictionary. When we purchase computer software, we purchase it with the understanding that itwill be for use on a single computer, once installed on that system, it is not to be loaded on anyother computer. However many people are not aware of this understanding, and many load aprogram on a couple of computers or on a whole network of computer systems not aware thatthey are committing a crime. Even though you probably will not be pro...
