1.6 Ethical, Legal and Cultural

Question 1

The Data Protection Act 1998

Answer 1

Makes it illegal for companies to share or sell your data with permission from you.

Question 2

Computer Misuse Act 1990

Answer 2

Makes hacking (unauthorised access) and data theft illegal.

Question 3

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 -

Answer 3

Prevents people and organisations from copying each other’s work without permission.

Question 4

Creative Commons Licensing

Answer 4

Allows people to use their work for non-profit purposes. Creator can choose who uses it and for what purposes. People must get permission from author.

Question 5

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Answer 5

Allows members of the public to request information from large organisations such as the Government.

Question 6

Stakeholders -

Answer 6

A person with an interest (usually financial) in a company.

Question 7

Open source software

Answer 7

allows other people to access the original source code. People can view, edit and pass on the source code.

Question 8

Proprietary software

Answer 8

owned by a company with the view to making money. Proprietary software is closed source because the company does not want anyone to be able to view the source code.

Question 9

Advantages of Open Source

Answer 9

1. Large community of developers making improvements and removing bugs.
2. Online forums for help
3. Free and no restrictive license

Question 10

Disadvantages of Open Source -

Answer 10

1. May not always have a user manual.
2. No warranty/guarantee
3. Might not be compatible with proprietary products

Question 11

Advantages of Proprietary-

Answer 11

1. The product should be free of bugs.
2. Help can be sought from the organisation who supplied the software if problems occur.
3. Feature updates which extend the software’s facilities are often available, although usually at a cost.
4. Proprietary software that is in widespread use often has support available from many sources.

Question 12

Disadvantages of proprietary -

Answer 12

1. There is an initial or ongoing (subscription) cost.
2. Software cannot be adapted to meet the needs of the user. Only the machine code version of the software is distributed, which cannot be edited.
3. It can be limited to a single computer or network, so unless the licence allows it, a user may not redistribute the software.