ethicsincompsci (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ethicsincompsci) wrote2022-09-14 08:47 pm
ethicsincompsci) wrote2022-09-14 08:47 pm
My Answers to HWcase1, Q3
Q3. Write up your case on your blog with the following subheadings:
Facts of the case:
Google stole code from Oracle to build the Android system and were taken to court because of it. Oracle claimed Google infringed upon their copyright, while Google claimed they fell under fair use. The court sided with Oracle.
Analysis:
Virtue ethics: Google stole the code, no matter the intention or outcome, therefore virtue ethics would say it is unethical.
Utilitarian ethics: While Google stole the code, they were able to produce one of the biggest platforms for mobile devices in the world while offering it for free to developers to use on their devices. So while stealing it wasn't good, the outcome would maybe say it is ethical?
Deontological ethics: The outcome may have helped a lot of developers around the world, but it still hurt Oracle's company at the end of the day. Deontological ethics would say it is unethical.
My Conclusions:
I personally am torn between leaning toward Deontological and Utilitarian since I think the platform that came from it is a big deal for developers that need an OS on their devices but also for app developers in modern years that can't afford Apple's steep prices to put an app on their app store. On the flip side, Oracle doesn't deserve to have their hard work stolen and used like they didn't put in the long hours it took to write it. Its unethical one way or another, but I can't say exactly which way I would lean.
Future Environment:
I imagine in the future copyrights for code will be even more important since we are still in the age of the technology boom. Every six months the "newest", "greatest" tech is outdated and something better is already being announced or released. At the code for the software or the code to make the hardware perform is already more valuable than the hardware we pay $1200 for, so why would that change anytime soon? People need to know they won't just lose work they have spent years building when someone comes along and wants to break into the market.
Future Scenario:
Hopefully in the future this could be settled at a lower court and not need to make its way all the way to the supreme court since no laws are in place. In a better future, laws will be established for intellectual property to protect people from cases like these. While not so strict that companies can hold a monopoly on certain markets, there still needs to be something done so that Oracle would have had an open and shut case since it was copied verbatim.
- “The facts of the case.” Here is where you describe the case in your own words.
- “Analysis.” Examine the case in terms of the consequentialist and deontological approaches.
- “Conclusions.”
- “Future environment.” Describe your vision of a future in which technology is more advanced than today, or society has changed in some significant way.
- “Future scenario.” Describe how this ethical case (or an analogous one) would or should play out in the environment of the future, and give your opinions about it.
Facts of the case:
Google stole code from Oracle to build the Android system and were taken to court because of it. Oracle claimed Google infringed upon their copyright, while Google claimed they fell under fair use. The court sided with Oracle.
Analysis:
Virtue ethics: Google stole the code, no matter the intention or outcome, therefore virtue ethics would say it is unethical.
Utilitarian ethics: While Google stole the code, they were able to produce one of the biggest platforms for mobile devices in the world while offering it for free to developers to use on their devices. So while stealing it wasn't good, the outcome would maybe say it is ethical?
Deontological ethics: The outcome may have helped a lot of developers around the world, but it still hurt Oracle's company at the end of the day. Deontological ethics would say it is unethical.
My Conclusions:
I personally am torn between leaning toward Deontological and Utilitarian since I think the platform that came from it is a big deal for developers that need an OS on their devices but also for app developers in modern years that can't afford Apple's steep prices to put an app on their app store. On the flip side, Oracle doesn't deserve to have their hard work stolen and used like they didn't put in the long hours it took to write it. Its unethical one way or another, but I can't say exactly which way I would lean.
Future Environment:
I imagine in the future copyrights for code will be even more important since we are still in the age of the technology boom. Every six months the "newest", "greatest" tech is outdated and something better is already being announced or released. At the code for the software or the code to make the hardware perform is already more valuable than the hardware we pay $1200 for, so why would that change anytime soon? People need to know they won't just lose work they have spent years building when someone comes along and wants to break into the market.
Future Scenario:
Hopefully in the future this could be settled at a lower court and not need to make its way all the way to the supreme court since no laws are in place. In a better future, laws will be established for intellectual property to protect people from cases like these. While not so strict that companies can hold a monopoly on certain markets, there still needs to be something done so that Oracle would have had an open and shut case since it was copied verbatim.