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180 Part One Organizations, Management, and the Networked Enterprise

The major fault of Carmarthenshire College was certain sites (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, etc.), but a blan-
in not having a usage policy in place. Employers and ket blocking of such sites could cause problems if an
employees should have an agreed-upon policy as part employee has a legitimate need to access a site. In
of the contract of employment that clarifies what is addition, should sites be blocked during lunch hour? In
and is not acceptable computer usage in the work- any case, blocking such sites on the desktop computer
place. The employer can then follow normal disciplin- is becoming less of a guarantee of increased produc-
ary procedures if an employee is using workplace tivity nowadays (if it ever was), as more and more
equipment in a manner that is not permitted in the employees will just use their smartphones to access
contract of employment. these sites anyway.
Whatever the legal situation, it is clear where poten-
tial problems can occur in the workplace regarding Sources: Information Commissioners Office, “Employment
Practices Data Protection Code-Supplementary Guidance” (www.
information technology use. An e-mail, once sent, ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practi-
becomes a legally published document that can be cal_application/coi_html/english/supplementary_guidance/mon-
produced as evidence in court cases involving issues itoring_at_work_3.html, accessed October 25, 2010); “Spector 360
Helps Blackburn Rovers Show Red Card to PC and Internet Abuse,”
of libel, breach of contract, and so on. Most businesses
Snapguard (www.snapguard.co.uk/blackburn_fc.html, accessed
rely on their company data to keep ahead of the com- October 25, 2010); “Citizens Advice Bureau Advice Guide, Basic
petition. Therefore, the loss, theft, or sabotage of data Rights at Work,” Adviceguide (www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/
your_money/employment/basic_rights_at_work.htm, accessed
is potentially more dangerous than similar problems
October 25, 2010); “Employee Monitoring in the Workplace: What
with hardware. If a stick is lost in a bar parking lot, Constitutes ‘Personal Data’?” Crowell and Moring (www.crowell.
replacing the hardware will cost a few dollars, but if it com/NewsEvents/ Newsletter.aspx?id=654, accessed October 25,
contains the company’s confidential data, then its loss 2010).
could put the company out of business! Case contribued by Andy Jones, Staffordshire University.
Many companies place great focus on employee
productivity. It is relatively easy to block access to

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Do you consider the approach taken by Blackburn downloads unsuitable images, which he later sells
Rovers to be too strict on employees, too lenient, to his friends. He would not have been able to
or just right? download the images at home, because you have
2. Consider the five moral dimensions described in installed parental control software. Who is to
the text. Which are involved in the case of blame for his indiscretion?
Copeland v. the United Kingdom? 4. Why is the digital divide problem an ethical
3. Consider the following scenario. Your 14-year-old dilemma?
son attends a soccer academy. While there, he

Computer abuse is the commission of acts involving a computer that may
not be illegal but that are considered unethical. The popularity of the Internet
and e-mail has turned one form of computer abuse—spamming—into a serious
problem for both individuals and businesses. Spam is junk e-mail sent by an orga-
nization or individual to a mass audience of Internet users who have expressed no
interest in the product or service being marketed. Spammers tend to market por-
nography, fraudulent deals and services, outright scams, and other products not
widely approved in most civilized societies. Some countries have passed laws to
outlaw spamming or to restrict its use. In the United States, it is still legal if it does
not involve fraud and the sender and subject of the e-mail are properly identified.
Spamming has mushroomed because it costs only a few cents to send thousands
of messages advertising wares to Internet users. The percentage of all e-mail that
is spam is estimated at around 72 percent in 2012 (Symantec, 2012). Most spam
originates from bot networks, which consist of thousands of captured PCs that
can initiate and relay spam messages. Spam volume has declined somewhat since
authorities took down the Rustock botnet in 2011. Spam is seasonally cyclical,

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