Volume VIII, No. 2, 2007 207 Issues in Information Systems
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ETHICS: ISSUES
AND ANALYSIS
Alan R. Peslak, Ph.D., Penn State University, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Unethical information technology behavior is
estimated to cost billions of dollars of losses for
businesses and corporations. This includes issues
associated with information technology property. As
an example, software piracy is resulting in extremely
large costs for IT (information technology) firms.
This paper examines current views of information
technology property as measured by a series of six
current information technology related property
ethical issues. The study surveys a cross-section of
students, faculty, and professionals and analyzes
recognition of an ethical issue for each individual
topic. First, the study confirms that all the studied
information technology property issues are generally
recognized as important ethical topics. Age and
gender are studied to determine demographic
influences. Significant differences were found by age
and gender for some but not all property issues. A
discussion and implications of this research are also
presented.
Keywords: information technology (IT), property, IT
ethics, business ethics, intellectual property
INTRODUCTION
Intellectual Property
This paper deals with the ethical issues associated
with information technology property. A common
legal definition of property “includes both real and
personal property or any interest therein and means
anything that may be the subject of ownership”.
(Dorchester County, 2005) Property generally takes
two forms – physical and intellectual. Physical
property includes all tangible items such as land,
housing, or possessions. “Intellectual property
represents the property of your mind or intellect. It
can be an invention, trademark, original design or the
practical application of a good idea. In business
terms, this means your proprietary knowledge – a key
component of success in business today. It is often
the edge that sets successful companies apart and as
world markets become increasingly competitive,
protecting your intellectual property becomes
essential.” (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005)
Though many studies have examined ethical
positions on intellectual property, little work has been
performed on the overall concept of property
associated with the information age including
hardware, software, data, and communications
infrastructure. Kini, H.V. Ramakrishna, B.S.
Vijayaraman (2004) and Gupta, Gould, and Pola
(2004) deal almost exclusively with software piracy.
One of the few studies to examine the importance of
more information technology property issues was
Calluzzo and Cante (2004), who included in their
information ethics survey other aspects of
information property. This, then, is a broad study of
information technology property including
intellectual as well as physical information
technology property.
Property rights
Traditionally, property rights, both physical and
intellectual, have been guaranteed in the US and
many other countries’ constitutions. Even the United
Nations in Article 17 of its Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948) states:
“(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as
well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
property.”
Due to the fundamental nature of these rights, the
ethical views of individuals on information
technology property issues hold important
significance. Property in the Information Age is a
complex concept involving many diverse topics.
Ethical issues that affect information technology
property abound. Protecting property rights has
become difficult with the rise of intellectual property
and the increase in violations of electronic physical
property through electronic invaders such as viruses
and worms. This report reviews six current
information technology property issues and surveys a
sample of the population to see if they recognize the
importance of ethics related to these issues and/or
technologies.
Recognition of an ethical issue
The recognition of the importance of ethical issues is
based on Rest’s (1986) multi-step model in ethical
decision making. The first step in this process is
recognition of an ethical issue. Yuthas and Dillard
https://doi.org/10.48009/1_iis_2007_207-213
Information technology intellectual property ethics: issues and analysis
Volume VIII, No. 2, 2007 208 Issues in Information Systems
(1999) suggest that the complexity of issues dealing
with advanced technology has resulted in unique
challenges for ethics development. According to the
authors, moral issues are not issues until we
“recognize them as such.” This work is an attempt to
determine the level of recognition and importance of
specific property topics as ethical issues, and
addresses this first step in the ethical decision making
process.
This paper deals exclusively with the first component
in Rest’s (1986) ethical decision making model,
recognizing moral issues. This model is supported by
many researchers including Jones (1991) and
Harrington (1997) who refined this recognition into
“interpretation of the situation or recognition of a
moral issue”. Recognition of ethical issues is a
necessary first step in moral development (Rest,
Thoma, and Edwards, 1997) and has been shown to
correlate to higher levels of moral development
(Sweeney and Roberts, 1997).
MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY
The importance of ethical behavior in the use of
information technology holds high relevance for both
businesses and researchers. Numerous research
studies have been performed to assess the influences
of various factors on information technology ethical
decisions. Peterson (2002, p.346) notes that
“identifying factors that contribute to unethical
behavior and developing methods of controlling
inappropriate behavior in organizations is an area of
increasing interest to academicians and
practitioners.” Laudon (1995) noted the “ethical
vacuum” in information technology. Smith and
Hasnas (1999) suggest that corporations are
instituting many new technologies and information
systems initiatives without addressing the ambiguous
ethical environment and dangerous behaviors that can
result.
The economic impact of unethical IT behavior is
staggering. Caluzzo and Cante (2004) note many
instances of IT ethics shortcomings. They note
surveys that have shown that 45% of IT professionals
acknowledge engaging in unethical behavior.
Another study recorded a 69% acknowledgment rate.
They note a 1995 study that suggested worldwide
software piracy losses were estimated at $8 to 12
billion and a 1999 study that reported that 50% of all
software in use in 1996 was illegally copied. In 1998,
they note that 98% of software in China was illegally
copied. Dean (2005) discusses the impact and
importance of software piracy and intellectual
property violations suggesting a $64 billion negative
impact on taxes and reduction of 1.5 million jobs due
to piracy. Kini, Rominger, and Vijayaraman (2000)
demonstrated the pervasive nature of software piracy
in the US today.
Understanding the influences on unethical IT
behavior can have major returns if addressed.
Peterson (2002) notes the importance of improving
computer ethics citing many of the recent problems
with unethical behavior including software piracy,
virus development and illegal access estimated at
costing corporations losses of billions of dollars per
year. Bass, Barnett, and Brown support the
importance of business ethics study suggesting that
unethical behavior “costs billions of dollars each
year, damages the image of corporate America, and
has implications for the legitimacy of our social
institutions and the well-being of our society”.
Banerjee, Cronan, and Jones (1998) note the
importance of understanding information technology
ethical issues due to their potential in the corporate
arena for significant security and productivity losses.
They suggest that computer misuse has cost the US
billions of dollars per year and note that nearly half
of clients surveyed suffered security related losses in
the last year. They also note that security measures
can have some impact in reducing losses but suggest
that individual ethical behavior can be improved. If
ethical behavior can be improved, then these losses
and crimes can be reduced saving corporations
millions if not billions of dollars. They suggest that in
order to improve IT ethics, “an overlooked and
potentially effective deterrent is the identification of
unique and situational characteristics of IS personnel
who act ethically/unethically. Identification of unique
characteristics could lead to the formulation of more
effective ways of solving the problem of unethical
use or inappropriate use of computers.” They suggest
that methods to improve behavior after identification
include education and organizational environment.
HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
There has been considerable research that has found
that information technology ethical issues are being
recognized by students and professionals alike. Hay,
Larres, Oyere, and Fisher (2001) found ethical
perceptions of undergraduate students in “computerrelated situations.” Oz (2001) found ethical
recognition of IT situations among IT professionals.
In the specific area of information technology
property, little comprehensive study has been
performed. As a result, we propose hypothesis one to
confirm the likely scenario that as with other ethical
issues, there will be strong recognition of IT property
ethical issues among the surveyed population. As
Information technology intellectual property ethics: issues and analysis
Volume VIII, No. 2, 2007 209 Issues in Information Systems
noted, this paper deals exclusively with the first
component in Rest’s (1986) ethical decision making
model, recognizing moral issues.
Hypothesis 1: Information technology property
ethical issues will viewed as important ethical issues.
The exploration of the influences on IT ethical
decision making has been shown to be an important
goal for this study. Many researchers have studied
the impact of age on ethical decision making. Two
demographic factors have been shown to sometimes
affect ethical decision making – age and gender. Age
has often been shown to affect ethical decision
making. Vitell (2003) found that older individuals
more readily follow ethical norms. As a result, we
propose that age will significantly affect views on
information technology property issues. To test the
effect of age, hypothesis two was developed.
Hypothesis 2: Age will significantly affect
recognition of the importance of property ethics
issues.
A large body of research has investigated the impact
of gender on ethical decision making. Loch and
Conger (1996) note “evidence of gender differences
in ethical intention formation”. Krete and Cronan
(1998) found in all their information technology
ethical scenarios that men were “less likely to
consider a behavior as unethical”. Hay, Larres,
Oyelere, and Fisher (2001) studied the computer
related situations and undergraduate students ethical
perceptions. The authors noted the significant body
of literature that has suggested gender difference in
business and IT ethics decisions. Sigma-Mugan,
Daly, Onkal, and Kavut (2005) studied the gender
influence of ethical sensitivity. We propose that
gender will have an impact on property ethics
recognition.
Hypothesis 3: Gender will significantly affect
recognition of the importance of property ethics
issues.
METHODOLOGY
Questionnaire
As a part of a broader study, six items were included
in a questionnaire to explore recognition of current
information technology privacy topics as ethical
issues. The specific items were prepared after review
of the literature. The first item is Use by others of
software or other intellectual property you have
created without your consent. This is found in
Calluzzo and Cante (2004) who ask a similar
question in their survey “Copying software from the
job or school for personal use”. Their question is also
similar to the last topic in this survey but this first
question personalizes the intellectual property
violation to ascertain if individuals are more
concerned about use of their intellectual property
versus others’ intellectual property. Peterson (2002)
includes a similar question. Nefarious attacks on
network and computer personal property are explored
in the next survey items. Development of viruses,
worms, and Trojan horses is included as well as
Distribution of viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.
The remaining factor is Cracking into computers and
networks with evil intent. Smith (2004) suggests that
“Perhaps the most malicious and dangerous form of
hacking has to do with the building and distribution
of viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.” Webopedia
(2004) notes: “Cracking is seen as breaking into a
computer system. The term was coined in the mid-
80s by hackers who wanted to differentiate
themselves from individuals whose sole purpose is to
sneak through security systems. Whereas crackers
sole aim is to break into secure systems, hackers are
more interested in gaining knowledge about
computer systems and possibly using this knowledge
for playful pranks.” Piscatello (2004) notes “For our
purposes, we’ll expand the definition of cracker found
in the Jargon Dictionary to “one who breaks security
on a system or network or application”. Cracking
typically involves writing software specifically
designed to discover and exploit flaws in someone
else’s software.
This survey utilized short statements similar to
Calluzzo and Cante (2002) and Kini, Ramakrishna,
and Vijayaraman (2004). The length of scenarios
only allows for a few ethical situations. And the
specific content endemic to ethical scenarios limit the
generalizations that can be made. According to Rest,
Edwards, and Thoma (1997) short statements tend to
have less bias than “longer orations”.
The six item survey is presented in Table 1
Table 1. Property ethics issues

An online questionnaire was developed and tested to
explore recognition of these current information
Information technology intellectual property ethics: issues and analysis
Volume VIII, No. 2, 2007 210 Issues in Information Systems
technology topics as ethical issues. Included in the
survey were the six items previously noted as
property topics. Similar to Loch and Conger (1996),
ethical statements were generally personalized for the
study. The anonymous responses to the statements
relate directly to how the individual views the ethical
statement.
The questionnaire was developed as an online survey
and sent to several listservs including
ƒ Information Resources Management Association
(IRMA)
ƒ Two Major University Faculty/staff listserv
The survey was also conducted in the author’s
undergraduate classes. Response rates ranged from
100% in the author’s classes to approximately 10-
30% of the respective faculty/staff listservs, and less
than 5% from the IRMA listserv. All surveys had
high response rates except the IRMA listserv.
Caution is thus appropriate in the results relating to
this subsegment. All analyses were performed using
SPSS 10.0.5.
Respondents
Overall 224 responses were received with 219 valid.
Some survey questions had slightly less participation
due to non-response on specific questions. A broad
cross section of age groups was included, from 40 at
18-24 all the way to 67 at 41-50. Overall, the average
age is approximately 41. The gender mix was about 2
to 1 male to female but this mirrors the IT
professional and student mix of male majority. Only
27 % of the sample was students with the largest
group being faculty and staff. This reflects the
response rate of the survey based on the listservs.
RESULTS
Hypothesis 1: Information technology property
ethical issues will viewed as important ethical issues.
Table 2 present the overall results of the “property”
statement survey and the relative importance placed
on each topic with regard to whether or not it was
recognized as an ethical issue. The issue that received
the highest importance was Distribution of viruses,
worms, and Trojan horses. With a 3.89 rating nearly
everyone recognized how important this issue is to
property ethics. This issue was closely followed by
its companion issue, Development of viruses etc.
Cracking with evil intent was noted as a key ethical
issue with a rating of 3.78. The fourth item, Use of
software or other intellectual property you have
created without your consent was seen as very
important ethical issue at 3.6. Finally, Hacking and
Use of others’ software were seen as lower on the list
but still somewhat important at 3.33 and 3.17
respectively.
The first hypothesis was that currently information
technology property issues are viewed as important
ethical issues. A review of each of the questions
exploring current information technology property
issues resulted in averages above somewhat
important. Dispersion was also somewhat limited
around the mean as noted by the standard deviations.
As a result, hypothesis one was supported.
Information technology property ethics issues are
currently viewed as important ethical issues.
Table 2. Overall Survey Descriptive Statistics

Hypothesis 2: Age will significantly affect
recognition of the importance of property ethics
issues.
A series of hypotheses were tested to determine
demographic variances in the IT property ethics
issues. A preliminary review of the distributions of
the responses suggested that the distributions were
non-normal. As a result, the non-parametric KruskalWallis Test was used to determine significance of
difference among the demographic groups. KruskalWallis test is a “nonparametric equivalent to one-way
ANOVA. Tests whether several independent samples
are from the same population. Assumes that the
underlying variable has a continuous distribution, and
requires an ordinal level of measurement.” (SPSS,
1999)
In the past, age has been shown to be a significant
factor in ethical decision making. In this study,
ranking of importance of Cracking with evil intent,
Distribution of viruses, and Copying others’ software
Information technology intellectual property ethics: issues and analysis
Volume VIII, No. 2, 2007 211 Issues in Information Systems
were significantly different among age categories (p
< .05) (Table 3) and generally directly increased with
age. This confirms a similar finding of Vitell (2003)
that suggested older individuals more readily follow
ethical norms. Hacking, Use of your IP, and
Development of Viruses showed no such age
difference. This supports Glover, Bumpus, Logan,
and Ciesla (1997) who found that age was not a
factor in recognition of ethical issues. Overall
hypothesis two was partly supported. Age
significantly affected three of the six ethical property
issues.
Table 3. Significance Levels of Demographic
Analyses

Hypothesis 3: Gender will significantly affect
recognition of the importance of property ethics
issues.
Significance levels based on gender are also
displayed in table 3. This study found that five of the
six property issues did not show a gender difference.
According to this study, females had a higher
recognition of Copying others’ software than males.
This was significant at p < .05. This supports Krete
and Cronan (1998) who found in all their information
technology ethical scenarios that men were “less
likely to consider a behavior as unethical”. Vitell
(2003) suggests ethics relationships with gender are
“not definitive at this point.” Athey (1993) also tested
gender differences in determining ethical decisions.
Her results did not show significant differences in
gender. Hypothesis three was generally rejected.
Gender did not significantly affect recognition of
property ethical issues with the one exception of
Copying others’ software.
LIMITATIONS, DISCUSSION, AND
CONCLUSION
The study provides interesting and useful results but
as with any study there are limitations that must be
recognized. The sample was drawn from a
convenience population of students, faculty, and
practitioners and may not be applicable to the
population as a whole. More extensive and varied
sampling would be necessary to verify results. This
study should be rightly viewed as the start of an
exploration of specific information property issues
and can be extended.
Though there have been many past studies that have
examined intellectual property and others that have
reviewed demographic differences in ethical
judgments, this is the first study that examines a
range of information age property issues both real
and intangible. It is also the first to then study
demographic difference within information
technology property ethics. Calluzzo and Cante
(2004) called for further study of ethics in
information technology to “define and clarify the
issues, which in turn can form the basis for programs
to rectify or at least ameliorate the situation.” This
work has explored information technology ethics in
several ways. First, the work analyzes whether
information technology property is viewed by
individuals as an ethical topic. Second the study is
the first to consider and analyze property in a
multidimensional fashion. Finally, demographic
differences were explored. Significant differences
were found in many cases between demographic
groups based on property issues. These findings can
be used to target and address ethical education and
enforcement to reduce information technology
property losses.
In order to improve IT ethical decision making, Loch
and Conger (1996) propose clear corporate definition
of acceptable behavior and norms. They also suggest
specific policies and guidelines, and corporate ethical
training. This should increase ethical computing
among employees. Specific IT property ethical
behavior should be defined, promulgated, and
enforced. Peterson (2002, p.346) has suggested that
“identifying factors that contribute to unethical
behavior and developing methods of controlling
inappropriate behavior in organizations is an area of
increasing interest to academicians and
practitioners.” This paper provides insight into the
ethical positions of students, employees, and future
IT employees. It was found that gender held little
significance in views towards intellectual property
ethical issues. To control inappropriate behavior in
organizations, efforts should generally be targeted at
all individuals regardless of gender. Copying others’
software however was shown to be significantly
related to gender. More efforts should be placed on
education and training and rule enforcement for male
employees. Age was also shown to significantly
affect attitudes towards intellectual property issues.
Programs should more directly target younger
employees. This work supports Banerjee, Cronan,
Information technology intellectual property ethics: issues and analysis
Volume VIII, No. 2, 2007 212 Issues in Information Systems
and Jones (1998) who note the importance of
understanding information technology ethical issues
due to their potential in the corporate arena for
significant security and productivity losses. In order
to improve IT ethics, “an overlooked and potentially
effective deterrent is the identification of unique and
situational characteristics of IS personnel who act
ethically/unethically. Identification of unique
characteristics could lead to the formulation of more
effective ways of solving the problem of unethical
use or inappropriate use of computers.” Our study
noted some significant demographic influences on
information technology ethics. Banerjee, Cronan, and
Jones (1998) suggest that methods to improve
behavior after identification include education and
organizational environment.
This work analyzed the ethics of information
technology property. As noted, the complexity of
property in an electronic world has created an
environment where ethical issues are unclear. The
importance of these issues, however, is clear. The
United Nations has declared property to be a
fundamental right. It is imperative that proper ethical
issues be studied and analyzed to clarify current
electronic property issues. Rest (1986) suggests that
“moral education programs designed to stimulate
moral judgment development do produce modest but
significant gains”. With identification of problem
areas, programs can be instituted to improve ethical
awareness, education, and enforcement. Further study
can to be performed to extend this analysis through
the other stages of ethical decision making and
identify specific actions to ameliorate the identified
ethical dilemmas.
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