Ethics for IT Professionals
Part 2: Professional or Mere Expert?
Norman Creaney
Professionals have Privileged Position
Professional has knolledge
& skills and is in a position
of power.
Client lacks knowledge &
skills and is vulnerable to
exploitation.
A private clinic (client) that specialises in cosmetic
surgery employs a software developer (professional)
to implement a computer system to manage its
customer accounts. It is essential for the business
that customers details remain confidential.
Professional or Mere Expert?
It is important for a professional to be an expert.
A medical doctor must understand medicine.
A lawyer must know the law.
A computer professional must understand hardware and
software.
But it is also important that he accepts the ethical
responsibilities that accompany his privileged position.
Professional or Mere Expert?
The concept of ethical
responsibility goes to the very
heart of what it means to be a
professional.
It is the acceptance of this
responsibility that distinguishes
the professional from the mere
expert.
“Integrity without
knowledge is weak and
useless, and knowledge
without integrity is
dangerous and dreadful. ”
~ Samuel Johnson
Conceptual Muddles & Policy Vacuums
A conceptual muddle occurs
because the new possibilities
made possible by new
technology do not fit into
existing ways of thinking.
A policy vacuum occurs
because conceptual muddles
take time to resolve and
make it difficult for policy
makers to keep up with
technological change.
Player Pianos: part of a machine or
copy of music?
Today we would recognise a
piano roll as a kind of computer
program, containing a digital copy
of a piece of music.
In 1908, the US Supreme Court
(White-Smith Music v.
Apollo) found that piano rolls
were part of a machine - and so
were not subject to copyright.
In 1909, the United States Congress
revised the copyright law in a way that
enabled copyright protection without
resolving the conceptual muddle.
The US Copyright Act of 1976 fin