[ale] OT: Well it is going to hit the list sooner or later.

[Dow Hurst]

No, I wasn't really saying that the job description should be your code 
of ethics, but you couldn't tell that from what I specifically said.  In 
fact, Geoffrey has a point too about computer use in a job situation not 
being private.  What I think people should have as a code of ethics 
would really get the list going! ;-)

In fact we ought to have an OT-ethics: tag on our emails now. :-)
Dow


Courtney Thomas wrote:

> Dow,
>
> Surely you're not saying your job description should be your code of 
> ethics   :-)
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Courtney
>
>
>
> Dow Hurst wrote:
>
>> Mike,
>> Jenn is right because a sysadmin has extreme access to others privacy 
>> without true authorization to actually invade that privacy.  It's 
>> like having video camera's on people bedrooms all the time but you 
>> know you ethically should never look in the viewfinder.  It's not 
>> your job, since you just run the server.  If a proper authority 
>> authorizes you to look then your okay, but only then.
>> Dow
>>
>>
>> Mike Panetta wrote:
>>
>>> The only problem with that I can see is your boss will never sign a 
>>> letter saying that
>>> you can spy on him.  So in effect this means its ok for higher ups 
>>> to spy on and fire
>>> lower down people for slacking off (or doing whatever) and its not 
>>> ok for lower down
>>> people to spy on and get higher up people fired for doing the same.  
>>> This is illogical
>>> and can create a bad climate (one that already exists, how many 
>>> people do you know
>>> would be willing to rat out someone important in their company for 
>>> doing something harmful to said company?) where stagnation and 
>>> immoral and unhealty acts can be
>>> done by higher ups (and are) and cannot be stopped or watched by 
>>> anyone else.
>>>
>>> Who watches the watchers?
>>>
>>> Oh, and why is what he did unethical?  Why is trying to save 
>>> taxpayers (or
>>> in the case of a private company, shareholders) money by checking that
>>> someone is doing the job they are payed (and payed very highly in 
>>> the case of CEO's and such) to do, and not wasting money by slacking 
>>> off.  Why is it unethical for someone lower down in the company to use
>>> the means he has at hands (his knowledge) to check up on someone,
>>> while its not unethical for someone higher up in the company to use the
>>> means he has (someone elses knowledge) to check up on someone?
>>>
>>> Basicly your saying its ok for the CEO's and other corperate 
>>> bastards of
>>> the world to get rich by slacking off and telling us what to do, but 
>>> its not
>>> ok for us to protect the company by turning them in when they waste the
>>> companys money by slacking off and doing no real work.  I think your
>>> sense of ethics is a bit off.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: "J.M. Taylor" <jtaylor at onlinea.com>
>>> Sent: Aug 1, 2004 10:24 AM
>>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [ale] OT: Well  it is going to hit the list sooner or 
>>> later.
>>>
>>>
>>> My interpretation of the SAGE code of ethics is the following: I do not
>>> read people's emails, even tho it is within my power.  I do not spy on
>>> people, even tho it is within my power and in many cases may prove 
>>> their
>>> misdeeds.  I do not collect data on people's misdeeds even tho these
>>> people may be harming me on the job.  I do not make these decisions.  I
>>> just run the server.
>>>
>>> If it is required of me that I do these things, I ask for a signed 
>>> letter
>>> from a higher-up, or the law enforcement agency or whatever, to 
>>> prove that
>>> I was not acting on my own.  It is never right for a systems 
>>> administrator
>>> to give in to his or her baser nature and use their technical 
>>> knowlege to
>>> further a complaint against a coworker, unless s/he has been asked 
>>> to do
>>> this by a superior for legally and ethically correct reasons.
>>>
>>> And yes, if my boss told me to gather data about someone that I knew 
>>> was goofing off all day but wouldn't give me the signed letter, I 
>>> would refuse to do it even if it meant my job.  That's how strongly 
>>> I feel about the importance of my integrity in what I do.  It's also 
>>> just CYA -- when the fit hits the shan and it's my word against my 
>>> boss's about who ordered collecting the data....no way am I going to 
>>> get involved in that.  I'm not completely stupid.
>>>
>>> IMNSHO this guy isn't a saint or a martyr.  He did something
>>> unethical, and unethical acts are unethical regardless of the 
>>> motivating
>>> reasons.  If you steal from your company and give the money to starving
>>> people, it's still stealing.  If all he did was send emails about the
>>> boss, maybe he should've taken the time to actually go speak to someone
>>> face-to-face.  If he had gotten the go-ahead from a higher-up to do 
>>> this,
>>> then it would've been fine.  It sucks that the boss didn't get 
>>> fired, but
>>> ALDOT was entirely correct in firing the admin.
>>>
>>> Jenn
>>> </end>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>>  
>>>
>>
>>
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