Question

You are a computer scientist. You are in a real financial dilemma. You have a family to care for and children to school. You have a son who is supposed to undergo a surgical operation but you cannot afford the operation expenses. Doctors say that delaying the operation may expose his life to a danger. You know that a friend of yours has recently developed a competitive computer program. You also know that he spent few months working on it and it cost him much. You can successfully, with no chance of being discovered, pirate this program and sell it at tens of thousands of dollars, and thus pay your son's operation expenses.

Read and answer the following questions:

1-Identify the main problem ?

2-Explain more about the problem?

3- Did you break the law?

4- Did you violate the ethical standards?

5- Seek help ?

6-Find any possible solutions( as many as possible)?

7- Find the consequences of each possible solution?

8-identify the best solution and why you chose it ?

Answer 1

1. The main problem is a mixture of my economic status and opportunity to make it better. It is characterised by my temptation to follow immoral means to make my condition better.

2. Here, I have an opportunity to make my condition better by resorting to unfair means. I am tempted to steal my friend's program which he has developed with a lot of efforts.

3. No I didn't break the law as such if he had not patented his Program. But if he had, then, yes, I did break the law.

4. Yes, I violated the ethical standards because I stole my friend'' hard earned work and used it for my benefit.