3ethicscases.pdf

Three
 Case
 Studies
 of
 Ethics
 in
 Technical
 Communication
 
Directions:
 Read
 all
 three
 cases,
 then
 work
 with
 your
 group
 to
 determine
 the
 ethical
 course
 of
 
action
 to
 take
 in
 each
 scenario.
 Be
 prepared
 to
 defend
 your
 position
 to
 the
 rest
 of
 the
 class.
 
 

Case
 #1
 
You
 work
 in
 the
 document
 design
 department
 of
 a
 large
 corporation.
 Traditionally,
 your
 
department
 has
 made
 it
 a
 point
 of
 pride
 to
 produce
 dramatic
 covers
 for
 the
 company’s
 annual
 
report.
 One
 of
 your
 coworkers
 finds
 a
 reproduction
 of
 a
 famous
 photograph
 in
 a
 popular
 magazine
 
and
 the
 image
 would
 be
 perfect
 for
 the
 theme
 of
 this
 year’s
 annual
 report
 with
 some
 cutting,
 
pasting,
 and
 a
 few
 other
 modifications.
 

Since
 the
 photograph
 is
 famous,
 since
 you’re
 going
 to
 use
 only
 part
 of
 the
 image,
 and
 since
 you’re
 
going
 to
 modify
 the
 image
 in
 
 to
 produce
 something
 which
 is
 essentially
 a
 new
 image,
 should
 
you
 go
 ahead
 and
 scan
 it?
 Or
 do
 you
 first
 need
 to
 seek
 permission
 to
 use
 it?
 If
 you
 need
 permission,
 
who
 do
 you
 ask:
 the
 magazine?
 the
 publishing
 house
 that
 sells
 the
 reproduction?
 the
 photographer
 
who
 originally
 took
 the
 picture?
 
 

Case
 #2
 
You’ve
 been
 hired
 to
 do
 some
 desktop
 publishing
 work
 for
 a
 large
 consulting
 firm.
 The
 office
 
manager
 bought
 you
 a
 new
 computer
 system
 to
 use,
 but
 the
 system
 came
 with
 a
 new
 software
 
package
 that
 is
 incompatible
 with
 the
 old
 version
 of
 the
 software
 used
 by
 the
 rest
 of
 the
 office.
 As
 a
 
result,
 you
 can’t
 share
 files
 with
 coworkers
 and
 do
 your
 job
 effectively.
 Fortunately,
 however,
 the
 
office
 still
 has
 the
 installation
 disks
 for
 the
 old
 version
 of
 the
 software,
 and
 the
 office
 manager
 tells
 
you
 that,
 since
 these
 disks
 were
 purchased
 by
 the
 company,
 you
 can
 install
 the
 old
 software
 on
 your
 
system.
 
 

Should
 you
 go
 ahead
 and
 copy
 the
 software
 since
 the
 office
 has
 already
 paid
 for
 it?
 

Case
 #3
 
You’re
 doing
 research
 on
 an
 article
 about
 usability
 testing.
 As
 part
 of
 your
 research,
 you
 join
 an
 
electronic
 discussion
 group
 on
 the
 Internet
 where
 people
 doing
 human
 factors
 research
 exchange
 
email
 messages
 about
 their
 works-­‐in-­‐progress.
 As
 you’re
 writing
 your
 article,
 someone
 posts
 an
 
email
 message
 to
 the
 group
 describing
 the
 results
 of
 her
 unpublished
 research
 project.
 These
 
results
 are
 central
 to
 your
 article’s
 thesis
 and
 force
 you
 to
 completely
 revise
 your
 thinking
 about
 
the
 subject.
 Since
 these
 results
 haven’t
 been
 published
 elsewhere,
 you
 wish
 to
 quote
 the
 email
 
message
 in
 your
 article.
 

Can
 you
 legally
 and
 ethically
 quote
 from
 an
 email
 message?
 Indeed,
 are
 you
 obligated
 to
 cite
 the
 
message
 since
 it
 had
 such
 a
 profound
 impact
 on
 your
 own
 thinking?
 If
 so,
 does
 anyone
 own
 the
 
copyright
 on
 the
 message?
 Do
 you
 need
 to
 seek
 the
 author’s
 permission?
 Or,
 since
 the
 message
 was
 
electronically
 “published”
 by
 the
 discussion
 group,
 do
 you
 need
 to
 have
 the
 permission
 of
 the
 
person(s)
 who
 created
 and
 operated
 the
 discussion
 group
 or
 the
 university
 or
 company
 which
 
owns
 the
 computer
 that
 hosts
 the
 group?
 

(Note:
 All
 cases
 adapted
 from
 Tharon
 W.
 Howard,
 “Who
 ‘Owns’
 Electronic
 Texts,”
 1996.)