Chapter Two

Creativity: Employer and Employee rights in

IT Matters

By Mezgebu A.

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 Before we start…

§ What was the most creative thing you did in the

last one day? Week? … ever?
§ Why do you think it was “creative”?
§ How do you define “creative”?

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 Introduction

§ Creativity and innovation need to be appreciated in the

area of Information Technology.

§ Areas of computer ethics concerns the intellectual

property (IP) rights connected with software ownership.

§ IP refers to the creations of the intellect for which

monopoly is assigned to the designated owner by law.

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 What is Creativity?

₻ The state or quality of being creative.

₻ The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns,

relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new
ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.

₻ Originality, progressiveness, or imagination.

₻ The process by which one utilizes creative ability.

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 So, What is Creative?

₻ Having the quality or power of creating.

₻ Resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.;

imaginative: creative writing.

₻ Originative; productive.

₻ Facetious- using or creating exaggerated or skewed

data, information, etc.: creative bookkeeping.

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When something is “Creative”?

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 What Creativity is not?

₻ Creativity is NOT offensive.

₻ Creativity is NOT abrasive.

₻ Creativity is NOT complicated.

₻ Creativity is NOT easy.

₻ Creativity is NOT meaningless.

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 What is Intellectual Property?
₻ Intellectual property (IP) refers to creation of the mind, such as:
- Inventions;
- Literary and artistic works;
- Designs; and
- Symbols, names, and images used in commerce.
₻ IP generally characterized as non-physical property that is the
product of cognitive processes and whose value is based upon
some idea or collection.
₻ Eg. Program: “written in Programming language, and Algorithms..”
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 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ IPRs are the protections granted to the creators of IP.
₻ A right that is had by a person or by a company to have exclusive
rights to use its own plans, ideas, or other intangible assets without
he worry of competition, at least for a specific period of time.
þ Example: Artistic works including:
- Music and literature, as well as inventions, words, phrases, symbols,
and designs can all be protected as intellectual property.

₻ Owns a patent on a computer algorithm.

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 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Types of intellectual property rights
þ Copyright,
þ Patents,
þ Trademarks,
þ Trade secrets, and
þ Industrial Design.

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 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Copyright ©
þ Gives the creator of an original work, exclusive rights to it
usually for a limited time (70 years after creator’s death).
þ Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or
artistic or literary "works".
þ E.g. a paper, on film, via sound recording, electronic record on the
internet,

þ The advantages of ©
þ no official registration required.
þ No cost to marking something as copy right 11
 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Patent
þ Patent is granted by the gov’t, gives the holder the right to
prevent anyone from making, using or selling the patented
invention for a fixed time period (usually 20 years from filing date)
without permission.
þ A patent provides an exclusive/private monopoly/trust on the use
of the patented item.
þ As the owner of an algorithm can deny others use of the
mathematical formulas that are part of the algorithm. 12
 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Patent
þ As a result, only very large companies with big budgets can afford to run such
a search.
• Large Software's , Ex. SIMS
þ It gives the legal right to stop others using your invention.
þ Three main requirements:
• It has to be noble, not obvious & there needs to be industrial applicability.
þ Draw back:
þ Takes time and money to establish a patent.
þ All patents have to be ‘researched’ to ensure there are no existing patents
of a similar nature 13
 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Trademarks
þ A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which
distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the
similar products or services of other traders.
- Might include Name, words, logos, pictures or a combination of these

þ It is legally prevents others taking advantage of customer good

will generated by your business by trading under your name.
þ NB: Almost every brand logo you can think as a TM.

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 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Trade Secret
þ Are aspects of the company that, if discovered by a competitor,
could significantly impact the bottom line or ability to compete in
marketplace.
þ In some jurisdictions, such secrets are referred to as “confidential
information” or “classified information”.
þ No protected by federal law – can only be protected through
employment contacts, and/or maintaining tight security.
þ Generally, trade secret is not known to others (i.e. secret),
economically valuable, reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy.15
 Intellectual Property rights(IPRs)
₻ Trade Secret
þ A trade secret consists of
þ a formula, practice, idea, process, design, legal instrument,
pattern or compilation of information which is not generally
known, that gives the owner an economic advantage over
competitors or customers.
þ A novel idea that is not common knowledge and is kept in a
confidential state.
þ Example: chemical processes, formula, manufacturing methods,
business and marketing plans, customer lists. 16
Objectives of IP Law

₻ Protecting the ownership and originality of the creation.

₻ Provides recognition to the concerned person or authority.

₻ Allows owners of IP to have financial benefits.

₻ To promote progress.

₻ Helps in absolute protection.

₻ Encourages innovation, they reason, more is better

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 Morality of Intellectual property
₻ Moral justifications for private property can be used to argue in favor
of the morality of intellectual property, such as:

1. Natural Rights/Justice Argument

þ Is based on Locke's idea that a person has a natural right over
the labor and/or products which is produced by his/her body.
þ Locke's argument for intellectual property is based upon the idea
that laborers have the right to control that which they create.
þ Argue that we own our bodies which are the laborers; this right
of ownership extends to what we create.
þ Thus, intellectual property ensures this right.
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Morality of Intellectual property
2. Utilitarian-Pragmatic Argument

þ Justifies, a society that protects private property is more

effective and successful than societies that do not.

þ Utilitarian’s argue without IP there would be a lack of incentive

to produce new ideas.
 Research paper

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Morality of Intellectual property
3. Personality Argument

þ "Every man has the right to turn his will upon a thing or make the
thing an object of his will, that is to say, to set aside the mere thing
and recreate it as his own.

þ Argues that by being a creator of something one is inherently at

risk and vulnerable for having their ideas and designs stolen
and/or altered.

þ Intellectual property protects these moral claims that have to do

with personality.
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 Nature of Digital Reliability and Failure
₻ Reliability is an attribute of any computer-related component
(software, hardware, a network) that consistently performs
according to its specifications.

₻ The three related attributes that must be considered when

making, buying, or using a computer product/component are:

þ Reliability,

þ Availability, and

þ Serviceability

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 Nature of Digital Reliability and Failure

₻ The following wrong may exist with a computer system:

- Hardware failure, Ex. a hard drive stops working
- Software can contain bugs/virus and errors
- Human error, Ex. someone shuts something down by accident
- Malicious, deliberate damage to a system
- Natural disasters and accidents, Ex. fires, power cuts,
flooding or earthquakes

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 Nature of Digital Reliability and Failure
₻ Computer systems are coming up against new threats all the
time.
₻ Companies & gov't take the threat of cyber-attacks very seriously
₻ One way of making systems reliable is by backing up data.
þ A backup is a copy of data or files.
þ Backing up is important for everyone using computers as files and data
can become corrupted, be accidentally overwritten or deleted.
þ Backups are often made on separate storage drives or on a different
server.

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 Backups
₻ Backups should be made regularly using a backup schedule.

₻ Backup disks or tapes can be kept in a locked, fireproof safe at a

different location, called an off-site backup.

₻ Backing up data over the internet to the cloud.

₻ Two types of backup

1. Full backup: makes a copy of everything or the whole data on the system,
even if it has not changed since the last backup. Example: RAID

2. Incremental backup: makes a copy of only the new files or any files that
have changed since the last full backup and is much quicker to make than
a full backup in a team,. 24
 Backups
₻ Redundancy:
þ is a backup or reserve system that can step in if the primary system fails.
þ The reserve resources are redundant most of the time as they are not being
used if everything is working properly.
þ Is important in critical systems like an airplane. If hardware or software fails
during a flight, planes have redundant systems that can step in.
þ The three main types of redundancy are:

- Hardware, Ex. reserve storage drives and servers

- Software, Ex. a backup operating system

- Data, Ex. storing copies of duplicate data

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Software and hardware risks
₻ Organizations be economic, legal, and has ethical obligations to
provide useful information about the risks and benefits of their
products, policies, and services.

What is risk?
₻ Risk is the possibility of loss.
₻ The impact establishes itself in terms of financial loss, time delay,
and loss of performance.
₻ A risk is the precursor to a problem: the probability that, at any
given point in the software life cycle, the predicted goals cannot
be achieved.
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 Software and hardware risks

₻ Hardware risk/ HWR

þ Are more prone to physical damage or crashes;

þ An old hard drive.

þ Some pieces of hardware are incompatible with security

software, forcing the user to disable that protection to use it and
making the computer vulnerable.

þ Comes from a specific or outdated piece of hardware, while a

software risk comes from a specific piece of software.
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 Software and hardware risks

₻ Factors of Risks
þ Attack from the internet Virus infection
þ Earthquake
þ Fire
þ Flooding
þ Employees giving out information

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 Risk Management
₻ Risk management is the process of understanding and responding
to factors that may lead to a failure in the confidentiality, integrity or
availability of an information system.
₻ Risk management is the process of identifying vulnerabilities in an
organization’s information systems.
₻ IRM Consists of three steps
þ Risk Identification.
þ Risk Assessment.
þ Risk Control.
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 The role of Risk Management
₻ A formal RM process requires corporate acceptance of risk as a
major consideration for software management.
₻ Senior management must support project RM activities by:
1) Providing adequate personnel, budget, schedules, and other resources
(e.g., tools and equipment);

2) Ensuring and receives the required training in identifying, managing,

and communicating software risks; and

3) Ensuring and conducting risk management tasks. Senior management

reviews risk management activities on a periodic and event-driven basis.

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Risk Management Process
₻ Identify: Search for and locate risks before they become problems adversely
affecting the target

₻ Analyze: Process risk data into decision-making information

₻ Plan: Translate risk information into decisions and actions (both present and
future) and implement those actions

₻ Track: Monitor the risk indicators and actions taken against risks

₻ Control: Correct for deviations from planned risk actions

₻ Communicate: Provide visibility and feedback data internal and external to

your program on current and emerging risk activities 31
Continuous set of activities to identify and resolve
technical risks

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Easter Egg
₻ An Easter egg is an hidden message, or feature in an
interactive work such as a computer program, video game or
DVD menu screen.
₻ In computer software, Easter eggs are secret responses that
occur as a result of an undocumented set of commands.
₻ The results can vary from a simple printed message or image,
to a page of programmer credits or a small videogame hidden
inside and otherwise serious piece of software.

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Easter Egg(Cont..)

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Easter Egg(Cont..)

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