Thou shalt not…A look at the ethics of copying software code

Since the 1970´s, the field of ethics in software engineering has attempted to define the boundaries of what was morally correct when dealing with problems aggravated, transformed, or created by computer technology. Efforts to codify ethics for computer software engineers resulted in bright line rules such as “thou shalt not appropriate other people´s intellectual output” [1] and “honor property rights including copyrights and patent” [2]. Few instances in practice are, however, as black and white as these rules suggest. Rather, there are a number of grey areas where computer software engineers must question whether an action is morally correct. One ambiguity is when and to what extent it is morally acceptable to copy computer software code. This paper investigated whether software engineers comply with existing ethical standards surrounding intellectual property rights associated with computer software code.