CONTROVERSIAL CONTENTS AND CONTROL..

2.6  Effect of controversial contents (PORNOGRAPHY and      SLANDER) on society :

Pornography
Pornography is any form of media or material (like books, video or photos) that show erotic behaviour and intended to cause sexual excitement. The effects of pornography on society are :

• Can lead to criminal acts such as exploitation of women.
• Can lead to sexual addiction.
• Can develop lower moral values towards other people.
• Can erode good religious, cultural, behaviours and beliefs.

        Slander
Slander is a false spoken statements about someone, intended to damage his or her reputation. The effects of slander on society are :

• Can develop society that disregards on honesty and truth
• Can lead to bad habits of spreading rumors and untruth
• Can cause people to have negative attitudes towards another person.

2.5 AUTHENTICATION TECHNOLOGIES..

Authentication is a process where user verifies their identity.Authentication deals with the problem of determining whether a user should be allowed access to a particular system. Four commonly authentication methods:

a. User identification (something you know - have to remember). User identification is a unique combination of 
character (letter, number or symbol) that identify specific user. Examples of user identification are pin number and password.

b. Possessed object (something you have - an object). A possessed object is any item that you must carry to gain access to computer or computer facility. Examples of possessed objects are ATM card, credit card, key,security token and smart card. The card you use in an automated teller machine (ATM) is a possessed object that allows access to your bank account. 

                              

c. Biometric device (something you are - part of user's body) is a devices that translates personal characteristic into digital code that is compared with the digital code stored in the database. E.g. of biometric devices are fingerprint reader, hand geometry reader, iris scanner, signature verification system. 

hand geometry reader

d. Callback system is a checking system that authenticates the user. The callback system is commonly used in the bank operation andbusiness transaction. For example, when you called a McDonald Delivery Services, the operator will ask you to hang up since he wants to link you with the other worker.

2.4 WAYS FOR MAKING PERSONAL DATA MORE PRIVATE

Below are list measures you can take to make your personal data more private.


1. Purchase goods with cash, rather than credit card.
2. Install personal firewall.
3. Clear your history file when you are finished browsing.
4. Have unlisted telephone number.
5. Fill in only necessary information on warranty and registration form.

2.3 INTELECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Intellectual Property laws cover ideas, inventions, literary creactions, unique names, business modals, industrials processes, computer program codes and many more.

Four types Intellectual property
a. Patents for inventions
b. Trademark for brand identity
c. Copyright for materials

COMPUTERISED AND NON-COMPUTERISED SYSTEMS

COMPUTER SYSTEM

A system is an arrangement of elements that when it is put together it becomes an organised and established procedure. A system typically consists of components connected together in order to facilitate the flow of information, matter or energy.

A computer system consists of a set of hardware and software which processes data in a meaningful way. 

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW

DEFINITION OF ETHICS

In general, ethics is a moral philosophy where a person makes a specific moral choice and sticks to it. On the other hand, ethics in computing means moral guidelines to refer to when using the computer and computer networks. This includes the Internet.

DEFINITION OF LAW

Law is a legal system comprising of rules and principles that govern the affairs of a community and controlled by a political authority. Law differs from one country to another. In the era of technology, computer law is needed to clarify goods or actions that fall under the computer law. Computer law refers to all areas in law that requires an understanding of computer technology such as hardware, software and Internet. Examples of laws of computing in Malaysia include the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Act, the Computer Crime Act 1997 and the Telemedicine Act 1997.

WHY DO WE NEED ETHICS AND LAW IN COMPUTING?

• Respecting Ownership

• Respecting Privacy

• Respecting Property

RESPECTING OWNERSHIP

We must respect ownership by not stealing other people’s work either by duplicating or distributing it. Duplicating and distributing copies of audio tapes, video tapes and computer programs without permission and authorization from the individual or company that created the program are immoral and illegal.

RESPECTING PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

We should respect other people's privacy and confidentiality by refraining ourselves from reading their mails or files without their permission. If we do so, it is considered as violating an individual’s rights to privacy and confidentiality.

RESPECTING PROPERTY

Property here means ownership. Since an individual data and information are considered as property, therefore, an act of tampering and changing electronic information is considered as vandalism and disrespect for other people’s property.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAW

Both ethics and law are complimentary to each other and are made:

• to guide user from misusing computers

• to create a healthy computer society, so that computers are used to contribute to a better life

• to prevent any crime

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHICS AND LAWS

ETHICS

GUIDELINE - As a guideline to computer users.

MORAL STANDARDS - Ethical behavior is judged by moral standards.

FREE TO FOLLOW - Computer users are free to follow or ignore the code of ethics.

NO PUNISHMENTS - No punishment for anyone who violates ethics.

UNIVERSALS - Universal, can be applied anywhere, all over the world.

PRODUCE ETHICAL COMPUTER USERS - To produce ethical computer users.

IMMORAL - Not honoring computer ethics means ignoring the moral elements (immoral).

LAW

CONTROL - As a rule to control computer users.

JUDICIAL STANDARDS - Law is judged by judicial standards.

MUST FOLLOW - Computer users must follow the regulations and law.

PENALTIES, IMPRISONMENTS AND OTHER PUNISHMENTS - Penalties, imprisonments and other punishments for those who break the law.

DEPENDS ON COUNTRY - Depends on country and state where the crime is committed.

PREVENT MISUSING OF COMPUTERS - To prevent misuse of computers.

CRIME - Not honoring the law means committing a crime.

UNETHICAL VS. LAW BREAKING CONDUCTS

Unethical:

• using the office computer to do personal things

• reading your friend’s e-mail without his or her permission

• plagiarising and using materials from the Internet for your class assignment without giving credit to the original author.

Law breaking:

• sending a computer virus via e-mail

• hacking into your school’s database to change your examination results.

• selling pirated software in a night market

THE IMPACT OF ICT ON SOCIETY

THE IMPACT OF ICT ON SOCIETY

FASTER COMMUNICATION SPEED

In the past, it took a long time for any news or messages to be send. Now with the Internet, news or messages are sent via e-mail to friends, business partners or to anyone efficiently. With the capability of bandwidth, broadband and connection speed on the Internet, any information can travel fast and at an instant. It saves time and is inexpensive.

LOWER COMMUNICATION COST

Using the Internet is cost-effective than the other modes of communication such as telephone, mailing or courier service. It allows people to have access to large amounts of data at a very low cost. With the Internet we do not have to pay for any basic services provided by the Internet. Furthermore, the cost of connection to the Internet is relatively cheap.

RELIABLE MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Computers are reliable. With the internet, information could be accessed and retrieved from anywhere and at anytime. This makes it a reliable mode of communication. However, the input to the computer is contributed by humans. If the data passed to the computer is faulty, the result will be faulty as well. This is related to the term GIGO.

GIGO is a short form for Garbage In Garbage Out. It refers to the quality of output produced according to the input. Normally bad input produces bad output.

EFFECTIVE SHARING OF INFORMATION

With the advancement of ICT, information can be shared by people all around the world. People can share and exchange opinions, news and information through discussion groups, mailing list and forums on the Internet. This enable knowledge sharing which will contribute to the development of knowledge based society.

PAPERLESS ENVIRONMENT

ICT technology has created the term paperless environment. This term means information can be stored and retrieved through the digital medium instead of paper. Online communication via emails, online chat and instant messaging also helps in creating the paperless environment.

BORDERLESS COMMUNICATION

Internet offers fast information retrieval, interactivity, accessibility and versatility. It has become a borderless sources for services and information. Through the Internet, information and communication can be borderless.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

There are some negative effects of ICT. It has created social problems in the society. Nowadays, people tend to choose online communication rather than having real time conversations. People tend to become more individualistic and introvert.

Another negative effect of ICT is :

• fraud

• identity theft

• Pornography

• Hacking

This will result a moral decedent and generate threads to the society.

HEALTH PROBLEMS

A computer may harm users if they use it for long hours frequently. Computer users are also exposed to bad posture, eyestrain, physical and mental stress. In order to solve the health problems, an ergonomic environment can be introduced. For example, an ergonomic chair can reduces back strain and a screen filter is used to minimize eye strain.