Ethics in Software Engineering

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Ethics in Software Engineering

• The source of questions marked with Pfleeger is
  Software Engineering, by Shari Pfleeger, 1998.

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ethic - 1. A system of moral standards or values.
2. A particular moral standard or value. ethical
- 1. Having to do with ethics or morality of or
conforming to moral standards. 2. Conforming to
the standards of conduct of a given profession or
group. Synonym moral Source Websters New
World College Dictionary, 3rd edition
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Whos Responsible? (1)(Requirements)
Developers work together with customers and users
to define requirements and specify what the
proposed system will do. If, once it is built,
the system works according to specification but
harms someone physically or financially, who is
responsible? Pfleeger
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Whos Responsible? (2)
What are the legal and ethical implications of
using COTS software? For example, who is
responsible for fixing the problem when the major
system fails as a result of a fault in COTS
software? What checks and balances are needed to
ensure the quality of COTS software before it is
integrated into a larger system? Pfleeger
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Whos Responsible? (3)
What are the legal and ethical implications of
using a subcontractor? For example, who is
responsible for fixing the problem when the major
system fails as a result of a fault in the
subcontractors software? What checks and
balances are needed to ensure the quality of
subcontractor software before it is integrated
into a larger system? Pfleeger
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Whos Responsible? (4)
Suppose Amalgamated, Inc. requires you to use a
given process model when it contracts with you to
build a system. After the software is delivered
and installed, your system experiences a
catastrophic failure. When Amalgamated
investigates, you are accused of not having done
code reviews that would have found the source of
the problem before delivery. You respond that
code reviews were not in the required process.
What are the legal and ethical issues involved
in this dispute? Pfleeger
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Whos Responsible? (5)
If one person has written a component but others
have revised it, who is responsible if the
component fails? Pfleeger
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Whos Responsible? (6)(Testing)
If an independent test team does integration
testing and a critical fault remains in the code
after testing is complete, who is legally and
ethically responsible for the damage caused by
the fault? Pfleeger
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Whos Responsible? (7)(Testing)

• A safety-critical system fails and several lives
  are lost. When the cause of the failure is
  investigated, the inquiry commission discovers
  that the test plan neglected to consider the case
  that caused the system failure.
• Who is responsible?
• The testers for not noticing the missing case?
• The test planners for not writing a complete
  test plan?
• The managers for not having checked the test
  plan?
• The customer for not having done a thorough
  acceptance test?
• Pfleeger

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Whos Responsible? (8)(Maintenance)
Suppose you are maintaining a large,
safety-critical system. You use a model to
predict which components are most likely to fail.
Then you examine those identified components
carefully and perform perfective and preventive
maintenance on each one. Soon after, the system
undergoes a catastrophic failure. The source of
the failure turns out to be a component that was
not identified by your model. Are you at fault
for neglecting to look at the other
components? Pfleeger
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The Impossible Requirement
Sometimes a customer requests a requirement that
you know is impossible to implement. Should you
agree to put the requirement in the requirements
specification document anyway, thinking that you
might come up with a novel way of meeting it, or
thinking that you will ask that the requirement
be dropped later? What are the ethical
implications of promising what you know you
cannot deliver? Pfleeger
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The Impossible Test
If a systems ultrahigh reliability requirement
means that the reliability can never be verified,
should the system be used anyway? Pfleeger
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Is It Mine? (Version 1)
While developing software for a work project, you
get an idea for a product of your own. Although
your product will not directly compete with the
work product, it deals with the same domain. You
decide to develop your product on your own time,
but on your computer at work. Legal issues aside,
who should own your product? You? The company?
The customer?
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Is It Mine? (Version 2)
While developing software for a work project, you
get an idea for a product of your own. Although
your product will not directly compete with the
work product, it deals with the same domain. You
decide to develop your product on your own time
on your computer at home. Legal issues aside, who
should own your product? You? The company? The
customer?
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The Layoff
You and several co-workers are laid off from XYZ
Corporation where you were working on developing
a proprietary software product. As you are
programmers, you have access to the corporate
software repository. What procedures should the
company follow when you are told that you are
being laid off?
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Should I Fink? (1)
A project teammate misleads her (and your) boss
as to the status of the module she is working on.
Are you responsible for this persons unethical
behavior? If so, what do you do? What if the
person is a superior?
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Should I Fink? (2)
What do you do if one of your teammates is
clearly incompetent and the project manager
doesnt know it?
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Is It Deception?
What types of project information would be
morally permissible to keep from your
client? What types of project information would
be unethical to keep from your client? Are there
any types of information that are fuzzy?