ACS Code of Conduct

ETHICAL DILEMMA 1

ETHICAL DILEMMA 2

CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY

TOPICS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS

DOING ETHCIS TECHNIQUE

ITC 506 ASSIGNMENT 1

NAME: ALI ASGHER

ID: 11529571

INTRODUCTION

An ethical dilemma includes a set of circumstances where the typical guiding moral influences clash in a way that any conclusions made are perceived unfavorably (Quigley, 2008). The dilemma includes making a decision between two equally bad or good options, whose solution is not immediately apparent. The use of IT has spread with the help of emerging and developed computer technologies. Information is now exchanged through electronic networks, and this has led to the mushrooming of new challenges. With modern technology, the rights and responsibilities of how information is used have led to the emergence of ethical dilemmas. In this paper, we will analyze a specific ethical dilemma that has recently occurred in the IT industry. We will use the Doing Ethics Technique (DET), to analyze this ethical dilemma. Samsung was recently found guilty of infringing patent rights by copying key features of the iphone to create its line of Smartphones. Samsung was accused of infringing various patents relating to both software and hardware design. An ethical dilemma exists where the gain of Samsung for infringing the patent rights were greater than the penalty (Gallagher, 2013). Would this motivate an organization such as Samsung to make such ethical choices?

ANALYSIS OF THE ETHICAL DILEMMA

The 'Doing Ethics Technique,' involves answering eight questions to determine the issues in our case and the best solution for our dilemma (Simpson, Neville & Burmeister, 2003). The first question we ask is what is going on in our case.

Q1. WHAT IS GOING ON?

Samsung is a multinational conglomerate that has its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. The multi-million dollar corporation was recently in a fierce court battle with Apple for infringing the iphone patent rights. Apple accused Samsung of infringing several patents. Samsung violated the patents and used them to gain market share. Samsung was ordered to only pay 10 % of what Apple was requesting. The penalty slapped on Samsung does not reflect the gains Samsung achieved from the patent infringements.

Q2. WHAT ARE THE FACTS?

The next step in the technique involves determining the facts of the case. Samsung made a decision to copy iPad and iphone designs, products from Apple. Both tech giants are fighting for dominance in the Smartphone industry. Apple has accused Samsung of infringing on three utility patents and four design patents. The infringed design patents include one for the iOS, one for the iPad, and two for the iphone. Apple demanded 2.5 billion dollars in damages from Samsung. Samsung has been ordered by the court to compensate Apple with 10 % of what they demanded. This penalty did not reflect the benefits Samsung attained from these ethical issues. Samsung violated Apple's patents by using them to gain market share and gain competitive advantage in the Smartphone industry (Gallagher, 2013).

Q3. WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Next, we determine the various ethical and non-ethical issues in our case (Burmeister, 2000). Samsung set a negative precedent towards ethics and honesty. Samsung failed in their duty to practice honesty and integrity by stealing designs and innovations from Apple. Samsung was unprofessional for using Apple's innovations to gain market shares in the Smartphone market. The two tech giants are fighting for dominance in the Smartphone market. Samsung is just as huge as Apple and is capable of creating its innovative designs. It therefore showed a lack of competence by Samsung, who decided to harm their competitor's business to gain competitive advantage. In addition, Samsung will lose the trust of consumers as they provide them with products developed with stolen designs and innovations.

There were also other non-ethical issues in this case. The ethical choices demonstrated by Samsung developed legal issues for the company. Apple sued Samsung for $ 2.5 billion in damages from the infringed patents. Samsung was found guilty of infringing the patents and was ordered to pay 10% of what Apple had demanded. This penalty did not reflect the benefits that Samsung achieved from these ethical choices.

Q4. WHO IS AFFECTED?

Here, we determine all the affected entities in the case (McDermid, 2008). The main stakeholders in our case are Apple and Samsung. Apple is affected because Samsung is violating its patents to gain market shares in the Smartphone industry. This is harmful to Apple because Samsung is one of its major competitors in the industry. If Samsung did not steal its innovations, Apple would have dominated the Smartphone industry. Samsung is affected because, by stealing Apple's innovations, it was able to gain competitive advantage in the market. Samsung is also sued by Apple and found guilty of infringing seven patents. Samsung has to pay a penalty to compensate Apple for damages. However, the penalty does not reflect the benefits of Samsung's ethical choices.

The other stakeholders in the case are the end users and other organizations. The end users of the products are affected because they consume products manufactured in an ethically questionable way. The end users are in the middle of this fierce battle for dominance. Samsung paid a small penalty compared to the gains it achieved by infringing Apple patents. This will give a bad example to other organizations that might seek to engage in unethical practices. Other organizations that may want to gain competitive advantage will not mind the small penalties.

Q5. WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS?

Samsung did not act with honesty and integrity by infringing on the patent rights of apple. The ethical choices of Samsung led to the questioning of their competence and professionalism. They failed in their duty to practice professionalism when dealing with other organizations in the industry. An organization that lacks integrity in its business dealings ruins its reputation and public image. In addition, Samsung will lose the public trust of consumers. Consumers will not trust an organization that boasts of creative innovations but uses stolen designs to develop its products. This may represent a decrease in sales and profitability for Samsung in the future.

Q6. WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?

We will find out what can be done and the possible solutions to resolve the case (Burmeister, 2000). The Samsung products with the infringed patents are already circulating in the market. Samsung has already benefited from the patents infringements. Several options exist to resolve this case. One alternative is for Samsung to be sued for the full amount that reflects the damages it inflicted on Apple and the benefits it gained in the market. Another alternative is for Samsung products that contain the infringed patents to be banned from the market. In addition, policies should be established to properly protect intellectual property.

Q7. WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

The first option is for Samsung to be sued and penalized for an amount that reflects the benefits that Samsung gained. This will benefit Apple as they receive full compensation for the damages inflicted by Samsung. Samsung should pay for the innovations they stole from Apple.

Another option includes banning Samsung products that contain the infringed patents from the market. This ensures that Samsung does not continue benefiting from the designs and innovations copied from apple.

An alternative option is for policies to be established to effectively protect intellectual property of organizations. This will prevent future cases like this in the future.

Q8. WHICH OPTION IS BEST AND WHY?

The first option only benefits Apple as they are fully compensated for the damages inflicted by Samsung. This does not solve this issue as this may happen again in other organizations. The second option is only a moral of principle. Since it has been established that indeed Samsung infringed the patent rights of apple, they should not continue to benefit from this infringement.

The last option of establishing proper policies and procedures to protect the intellectual property of organizations is the best option to resolve this case. In our case, the damages have already occurred, and we should focus on eliminating such incidents in the future.

CONCLUSION

Ethical behavior is easy to design when using information technology. The difficulty arises when implementing standards of ethical behaviors with respect to using information technology. There is a need to develop standards to protect the rights of the public and company assets. These standards should include both legal codes and ethical codes that will control the legitimate opportunities that allow employees to engage in unethical behavior (Quigley, 2008).

REFERENCES

Burmeister, O. K. (2000). Applying the ACS code of ethics. Journal of Research and Practice in Information Technology, 32(2), 107-120.

Gallagher, c. (2013). Apple vs. Samsung and the Business Ethics of Patent Infringement. Chuck Gallagher. Retrieved 17 March 2015, from http://www.chuckgallagher.com/apple-vs-samsung-and-the- business- ethics-of-patent-infringement/

McDermid, D. (2008). Ethics in ICT: an Australian perspective. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Quigley, M. (2008). Encyclopedia of information ethics and security. Hershey [Pa.: Information Science Reference.

Simpson, C., Nevile, L., & Burmeister, O. (2003). Doing Ethics: a universal technique in an accessibility context. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 10(2).