The Ethical and PR issues the faculty is faced with Ethics is a system of acceptable beliefs that control behavior, especially such a system based on morals and PR stands for Intellectual Property Rights. Intellectual Property is separated in to Industrial Property and Copyright using pirated software has got high legal implications to an institution such as a University, by having pirated software in the computer labs constitute a violation of the copyright and Intellectual Property Rights. Installing pirated software on university computers compromises the integrity of the University.
The illegal use of software is sometimes misunderstood as some PC’s end up with illegal software at repair shops. The legal implications Of unauthorized software use should be clear to everyone who owns a computer. The Copyright Act deals with the illegal reproduction and use of the software and is subject to civil damages and criminal penalties. We as a faculty should be asking ourselves whether the concepts of honesty, righteousness, faithfulness, and integrity are consistent with the distribution of pirated software.
Installing pirated software deprives the publishers of required revenue to research and develop new products and software prices will remain high as a result. The institution forfeits the access to customer support, upgrades and technical training. They won’t be any warranty to protect the institution, and the software maybe be outdated. Pirated software may be infected with virus and might damage the university network without any technical support. If a legal suit was brought against the faculty it would tarnish the name of the University.
The steps the Faculty should take The faculty should begin by installing the pirated software from their computers and destroying any copies in their possession and replace it with legal software. The faculty should formulated policies to prevent such occurrences’ in the future. The University should appoint a systems administrator to control the use of hardware and software. The installation of software should be authorized by the system adman agitators.
The system administrator should audit the software on the system to get rid of any illegal software. To prevent plagiarism lecturers should use Turn IT In to see whether students have reproduced other people ‘ s works. If I was one of the students caught for plagiarism, I would expect the faculty to disqualify me and expect to be counseled. All students should be educated on the legal implications of plagiarism and the repercussion there after.
