CMSC 220 May 2007 - Social Context of Computing

Class Documents

• CourseSyllabus

Microsoft anti-trust

• MicrosoftAntitrustPlayers
• LawyerQuestions
• Comes vs. Microsoft documents (1 , 2)

Other

• Despair

Course Schedule

Paper topics:

Paper 1: Microsoft

• Was Microsoft's behavior towards its competitors ethical or not?
  • Microsoft prevented Windows from running on DR-DOS, only allowing it to run on MS-DOS.
  • Microsoft requires OEMs to place Windows on all computers they sell in order to qualify for a hefty OEM discount. This prevents companies from selling computers with Linux on them. MS argues many computers sold bare-bones or with Linux end up having pirated Windows installed on them.
  • Netscape sold their browser. Microsoft gave theirs away.
• Could Microsoft have been as successful if it had "played nice"?
• What action should the U.S. have taken against MS, if any?

Paper 2: Open Topic

• Must be related to ethics and technology. If you have a question if something is appropriate, see me.
• Examples:
  • Write more on the MS case
  • Software Patents
  • DRM
  • Explore the ethics around pirating software, music, and video
  • DMCA, Copyright
  • Reverse engineering
  • Protest, Parody and Criticism Sites
  • Keeping customer data safe
  • Open source / GPL
• Notes:
  • Don't use the Courier or other monospaced font
  • No more that .5 pages of block quotes.
  • One automatic letter grade penalty for each page less that 6 pages.

Paper 3: How would you run a company

• You are charged with running a small company or a team of people
  • How do you manage them so that you can be ethical and competitive?
  • How can you get employees to enjoy working in your team?
• Peopleware
  • Many of the recommendations in Peopleware are not used in technology industries.
  • Why?
  • Are the criticisms valid?
• Notes:
  • Follow the previous notes for paper 2.
  • Make sure you have a bibliography.
  • Follow the IEEE citation style.
  • You can work with a partner on this paper!
    • If you work with a partner, your paper must be 8 pages. One letter grade off for each page you are short.
    • Your paper will be held to a higher standard for grammar.

Readings

Danger inside the firewall That nice, new Linksys wireless router might as well have been a ticking bomb

Upgrade disasters made easy We've got a huge number of upgrades to do, so let's do them all at the same time!

When will companies stop producing awful software? Evaluating new products requires technical skills, and a boss with two brain cells to rub together

Bribery in the Beltway

http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=202593,00.asp

• bulletin_board.GIF: