Scenario 5.1 Obtaining Pirated Software Abroad

Carol works as a computer consultant for a large consulting company. She loves her job because it allows her to continuously learn about new IT applications and she uses many of these applications in her work. When Carol goes on vacation in Southeast Asia, she decides to check out the computer stores to see what sort of soft-ware and hardware is available. While rummaging in one store, Carol finds an office suite package. It includes a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation applications, and more. Indeed, it looks identical to a package made by a well-known American company, a package that she has been thinking about buying. The price in the United States is around $1,200, which is why she has been reluctant to buy it, but here the package costs the equivalent of $50. She has heard that countries like the one she is in do not honor U.S. copyrights. She notices that the written documentation looks like a duplicated copy; it doesn't look like it has been professionally printed. The deal is just too good to resist; she buys the software.

Provide an Ethical analysis of Carols action (buying the software). Identify the Stakeholders, the Facts about the case, the ethical problems, the choices Carol had to avoid the unethical action and use Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Virtue Ethics, and the Theory of Rights to analyze the case. Draw your conclusion based on your analysis. Make your explanations clear and link your analysis to the concepts explained in the Intellectual Property Rights lecture and other lectures you have attended in this course.

• Identify the Stakeholders:
• Identify the Facts about the case:
• Identify the ethical problems:
• Identify the choices Carol had to avoid:
• Identify the unethical action and use of Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Virtue Ethics, and the Theory of Rights to analyze the case:
• your conclusion based on your analysis:
• link your analysis to the concepts explained in the Intellectual Property Rights lecture and other lectures you have attended in this course: