Chapter 6

1. You have been asked by the manager of software development to lead a small group of software developers in an attempt to reengineer the latest release of the software by your leading competitor. The goal of the group is to identify features that could be implemented into the next few releases of your firm software. You are told that the group would relocate from the United States to the island of Antigua, in the Caribbean Sea, to “reduce the risk the group being destructed by the daily pressures associated with developing fixes and enhancements with the current software release.” What sort of legal and/or ethical questions might be raised by the reengineering effort? Would you consider taking this position?

ANSWER: In this scenario, the legal and/or ethical questions that might be raised were “How much effort and money to invest to ensure high-quality software and whether products could cause damage and what the legal exposure would be if they did? These are the ethical questions concerned in developing software with high quality. As an employee being asked by my manager to lead a small group of software developers, I would consider this position only if certain conditions would be met. First, the manager must give us the guarantee that there are adequate equipment and functional facilities needed in developing the software. Aside from that, there should also be the important things needed to support us as developers like food, water and etc. Second and the most important, they must make sure that we are secure in the place where we are to be destined. And lastly, they should take liable on what might happen to our team while we are making the software. If these were not granted, of course I will not take the said position because it could put me and the developers’ team in risks.

2. You have procrastinated to long and now your final paper for your English course is due in just 5 days- right in the middle of the final exam week! The paper counts for half your grade for the term and would probably take you at least 20hrs. Of research and write. Your roommate, an English major with a 3.8GPA, has suggested 2 options. (1) He will write an original paper for you for $100, or (2) he will show you 2 of 3 “paper mill” websites, from which you can download a paper for less than $35. You wanted to do the right thing, but writing the paper will take away from the time you have available to study for your final exam in 3 other courses. What would you do?

ANSWER: This is a hard situation for me because as a student it is certain that we will do whatever it takes for the sake of having good grades. In this case that I have to make a final paper for my English course in a very limited length of time while studying for the final exam, it is somewhat enticing to choose the easiest way just to finish my final paper. But I still have to consider what is right and just, therefore I might refuse what my roommate has suggested. The best alternative that I must do is to manage my time well for studying and making my final paper. I could also use some references for my research and get ideas on it that I will be using as I begin to write my final paper then recognize the author afterwards. In this way, I could have my final paper done in a right way. It shows a different feeling of success and fulfillment when you know that you have done your work at your own.

3. You are beginning to feel very uncomfortable in your new position as a computer hardware salesperson for a firm that is the major competitor of your previous employer. Today for the second time, someone has mentioned to you how valuable it would be to know what the marketing a new product development plans whereof your ex-employer. You stated that you are unable to discuss such information under the non disclosure contract signed with your former employer, but you know your response did not satisfy your new co-workers. You fear that the pressure to reveal information about the plans of your former company is only going to increase over the next few weeks. What do you do?

ANSWER: Following the most ethical way is the thing that I should do in this kind of situation. I have to keep confidential what my previous employer and I have been contracted. It is not just concealing the information from my previous employer’s firm but also preventing me from the possible cases that my previous employer might file against me if I discuss to them such information. I have to be firm on my decision because I know that it is the best thing to do. If it will cause for working uncomfortably, I think it’s time to find another employer and job for me because it will degrade my performance in the workplace if it will continue to upset me. 

4. You have been asked to lead your company’s new competitive intelligence organization. What would you do to ensure that members of the new organization obey applicable law and the company’s’ own ethical policies.

ANSWER:  Competitive Intelligence is gathering of legally obtainable information to help a company gain an advantage over rivals. It is often integrated into a company’s strategic plans and decision making. To lead the company’s competitive intelligence organization, I would make guidelines checking if certain competitive intelligence operation is ethical. The following are some examples of these guidelines:

ü  The competitive intelligence organization must develop a mission statement, objectives, goals, and a code of ethics.

ü  The company’s legal department must approve a mission statement, objectives, goals, and a code of ethics.

ü  The analysts and members must understand all applicable laws.

ü  The analysts and members must understand that everything in the firm learns about the competition must be obtain legally.

ü  The analysts and members must respect all requests for anonymity and confidentiality of information.

ü  The company’s legal department must first approve the processes for gathering data.

ü  The use of third parties to gather competitive intelligence must review and manage carefully.

5. You are the vice president for software development at a small, private firm. Sales of your firm’s products have been strong, but you recently detected a patent infringement by one of your larger competitors. Your in-house legal stuff has identified 3 options: (1) ignore the infringement out of fear that your larger competitor will file numerous countersuits; (2) threaten to file suite, but try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement of an amount of money. 

ANSWER: As a Vice President, I would follow the 2^nd option suggested by my in-house legal stuff which is to threaten to file suite, but try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement of an amount of money. The reason behind my decision is that I wanted to be more practical and I don’t want to waste so much time, effort and money going to court every time there will be a hearing for filing a case against them.  

Chapter 7

1. Apple Guidelines for App Approval

Apple’s App Store has been a huge success ever since it was launched in 2008. As of the end of 2010, the app store offered more than 250, 000 applications available for sale to owners of apple, iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, with more than 6.5 Billion downloads since it opened.

Before software applications can be solved through the App Store, they must go through a review process. Apple has been accused by some of using clandestine and capricious rules to reject some programs and thus blocking them from reaching the very large and growing market of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users. One application developer complained: “ if you submit an app, you have no idea whats going to happen. You have no idea it’s going to be approved or if it’s going to be disapproved.” The developers of an app called “South Park” complained that their app was rejected because the content was deemed “potentially offensive ,” even though episodes of the award-winning animated sitcom are available at the Apple iTunes  Store. In September 2010, after more than two years of complains, apple finally provided applications developers the guidelines it uses to review software.

Most guidelines seem to be aimed at ensuring that Apple users can only access high quality and non-controversials Apps from its Apps Store. Some of the Apple guidelines are clear and their rationale is easy to understand, such as “ apps that rapidly drain the device’s battery or generate excessive eat will be rejected.” However, other guidelines are unclear and highly subjective, such as “ we will reject apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line.” What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said ,“ I’ll know it when i see it. ‘ and we think that you will also know it when you cross it. (“ I know it when I see it” was the phrase used by U.S Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart to describe his ability to recognize rather than to provide a precise definition of hard core pornography and his opinion in the cae Jacobellis v. Ohio in 1964.)

The electronic frontier foundation believes that while the guidelines are helpful, in some cases apple is defining the content of third-party software and placing limits on what is available to customers of Apple’s App Store.

By way of comparison, Google places few restrictions and developers of software for its competing Android Marketplace. However, there have been many low-quality applications offered to Android Marketplace customers, including some that include unwanted malware. Indeed by early 2011, google had pulled 21 Android applications from its Android Marketplace because, once downloaded, the applications not only stole users’ information and device data but also created a back door for even more harmful attacks. Apple’s decision to finally share applications guidelines may have been an attempt to combat the rapidly increasing popularity the android. It may also have been a response to a U.S Federal Trade Commissions investigations of a complaint for Adobe concerning Apples banning of the flash software from devices that run using Apple’s iOS operating system (Adobe Flash player is a browser-based applications that runs in many computer hardware/ operating system combination and support the viewing of called “rich, expressive applications,” content, the videos across screens and browsers .)

Discussion Questions:

1. Should Apple conduct extensive screening of Apps before they are allowed to be sold on the App Store? Why or why not?

ANSWER: Yes, I agree that Apple should conduct extensive screening of Apps before they are allowed to be sold on the App Store because it means that they are making sure if certain Apps were safety to customers and if it possesses high quality. It is somehow giving an assurance that the Apps sold on the App Store could not harm its users and the devices/gadgets being used by them.

2. Do research to determine the current status of the FCC investigation of Apple for banning use of the Adobe Flash software and devices that use the iOS operating system.

ANSWER: The Apple and Adobe Flash controversy refers to an ongoing controversy between Apple Inc. and Adobe Systems over the Adobe Flash technology, and specifically the Adobe Flash Player and its usage on Apple iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. In April 2010, Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. published an open letter explaining why Apple wouldn't allow Flash on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. In the letter he cited the rapid energy consumption, poor performance on mobile devices, abysmal security, lack of touch support, and desire to avoid "a third party layer of software coming between the platform and the developer". He also touched on the idea of Flash being "Open", claiming that "By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system".

Jobs also tried to dismiss the idea that Apple customers are missing out by being sold devices without Flash compatibility. He quoted a number of statistics and concluded with "Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content." The "Thoughts on Flash" post drew immediate and harsh criticism with Steve Jobs being accused of hypocrisy or of deliberately misleading. Jobs' assertion that Flash is not open, or closed and proprietary, attracted a great deal of attention with references to open source projects that take advantage of Adobe making the Flash specification open for developers to build on.

Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen responded by saying, "If Flash is the number one reason that Macs crash, which I'm not aware of, it has as much to do with the Apple operating system."

Some members of the industry claimed that Steve Jobs rejected Flash on the iPhone for business reasons, rather than the technical reasons he mentions in his letter:

3. What do you think of Apple’s guidelines that say it will reject an App for any content or behavior that they believe is over the line? Could such statement be construed as a violation of the developer’s freedom of speech? Why or why not?

ANSWER:  For me, I think that Apple’s guidelines are right and just because of its good intention. I don’t see it as a violation of the developer’s freedom of speech because what Apple has done is also their right as an organization. It is their willpower on how they will carry their company including their policies and guidelines.