!"#$ &'() !*+, -./01 &2 $345 35 .

6, 7,*58+ #*96:5,
noLe: 1hls case sLudy ls based on one of your requlred readlngs for Lhls week:
Bowyer, K. W. (2000). Pornography on the Dean's PC: An Ethics and Computing Case Study. Journal of
Information Systems Education, 11(3/4), 121-126.
ln 1998 Lhe dean of Parvard ulvlnlLy School asked a compuLer Lechnlclan Lo come Lo hls house Lo
upgrade Lhe slze of a hard-drlve on Lhe compuLer he used. 1he compuLer (and, ln facL, Lhe house) were
owned by Parvard. uurlng Lhe upgrade process Lhe Lechnlclan dlscovered Lhe dean had Lhousands of
pornographlc lmages on Lhe hard-drlve. none of Lhe lmages lnvolved chlld pornography or oLher lllegal
acLlvlLy.
1he dean meL wlLh Parvard's presldenL and by muLual agreemenL Lhe dean reslgned from hls poslLlon as
dean. 1he dean Look a one-year sabbaLlcal and Lhen reLurned as a regular Lenured full professor. 1he
publlc was noL aware of Lhe ex-dean's pornography collecLlon unLll a reporLer broke Lhe sLory a few
monLhs afLer Lhe reslgnaLlon.
!"#$%&' )* #+" !"$*, 1he dean was marrled wlLh Lwo grown daughLers. Pe had served as Lhe dean of
Parvard ulvlnlLy School for 13 years and was generally well-regarded. Pe generaLed close Lo 200 mllllon
dollars of endowmenL fundlng and founded Lhe !"#$"% '(% )$*+, (' -./*"0 1# 2*3/14 51'". Pe was also an
ordalned Lvangellcal LuLheran pasLor. 1he Lvangellcal LuLheran Clergy has a pollcy agalnsL pornography.
!"#$%&' )* #+" -".+*%.%$*, 1o Lransfer Lhe dlsk conLenLs, Lhe Lechnlclan Lransferred Lhe conLenLs of Lhe
orlglnal hard drlve Lo a server, lnsLalled Lhe new hard drlve, and Lhen Lransferred Lhe daLa from Lhe
server Lo Lhe new hard drlve. 1he Lechnlclan noLlced many suggesLlve flle names and opened some of
Lhe flles ouL of curloslLy. A confllcLlng reporL says Lhe dean lefL a pornographlc lmage on dlsplay when
Lhe Lechnlclan wenL lnLo Lhe dean's offlce Lo do Lhe work. LlLher way, Lhe Lechnlclan dlscovered
Lhousands of pornographlc flles. lnlLlally Lhe Lechnlclan dld noL reporL Lhe pornography, buL evenLually
she relucLanLly explalned her flndlngs when a supervlsor asked why Lhe upgrade Look so much Llme.
/$01$023' 4)567#"0 8'$9" :)&%.;: Parvard school pollcy sLaLes compuLer use musL be relaLed Lo Lhe
mlsslons of Lhe school, and bans lnapproprlaLe" and obscene" maLerlal. ollcy also requlred
auLhorlzaLlon Lo use school compuLers for non-Parvard purposes.
!"! $%&'()*)
1. WhaL are Lhe relevanL descrlpLlve and normaLlve clalms ln Lhls case?
2. uslng Lhe dlalecLlc process, whaL reasons supporL your clalm?
a. uoes a S1S analysls glve you reasons and ldeas Lo supporL or modlfy your clalm?
b. Conslder sLraLegles from uLlllLarlan, deonLologlcal, and soclal [usLlce Lheorles. uo any of
Lhese perspecLlves glve supporL Lo your clalm? Cr do you wlsh Lo modlfy your clalm?
3. Are Lhere any analogles LhaL help supporL or refuLe your clalm?
4. SLaLe (or resLaLe) your revlsed (or orlglnal) clalm, wlLh reasons.
!+&,- ./'0-1 $%&'()*)
ldenLlfy Lhe four maln sLakeholders. uescrlbe Lhelr responslblllLles. 1hen descrlbe how Lhelr roles ln Lhe
case sLudy fulfllled (or dldn'L fulflll) Lhelr responslblllLles. CompleLe Lhls charL (ln a dlfferenL documenL.)
SLake holder 8esponslblllLles 8ole





2*)34))*/% 54-)+*/%)
3. Should Lhe 1echnlclan have reporLed Lhe pornographlc flles?
6. uoes lL maLLer lf Lhe 1echnlclan saw Lhe flle on Lhe uean's compuLer or opened a flle wlLh a
suggesLlve name?
7. Would Lhe ACM Code of LLhlcs helped Lhe Lechnlclan declde whaL Lo do?
8. Should Lhe uean have losL hls poslLlon as uean? Should Lhe uean have remalned a Lenured
professor?
9. Was Lhe uean's prlvacy unfalrly vlolaLed? lf yes, by whom?
10. Analoglcal 1hlnklng:
a. A newspaper arLlcle abouL Lhls sLory asked uo CompuLer uocs need a PlppocraLlc
CaLh?" ls lL helpful and accuraLe Lo compare Lhe 1echnlclan Lo a physlclan?
b. ls Lhls slLuaLlon analogous Lo a house-cleaner flndlng layboy magazlnes ln Lhe
uean's closeL?
c. ls Lhe slLuaLlon slmllar Lo flndlng lllegally-obLalned copyrlghLed muslc or .avl flles?
11. Sarah Wunsch, an lawyer for Lhe Amerlcan Clvll LlberLles unlon descrlbed Lhe case as ralslng
quesLlons abouL Lhe rlghL Lo prlvacy and abouL punlshlng people because Lhey have lnLeresLs ln
sexual lmages."
a. Would Lhe case be dlfferenL lf Lhere were Lhousands of phoLos of Lhe uean's famlly
vacaLlons?
b. WhaL abouL lf Lhere were only a handful of pornographlc lmages, raLher Lhan
Lhousands?