Computer Science Report: Ethical and Legal Issues of Free Software

This report explores the ethical and legal considerations associated with free software, focusing on aspects like licensing, copyright, and data security. It references works by Jovic, Brkic & Bogunovic (2014), Commons (2015), Kirschner (2016), and Wiesmann et al. (2015) to discuss the benefits and risks of free software, including its role in software development, potential security threats, and the importance of legal frameworks such as the General Public License (GPL). The report highlights the need for users to understand the legal procedures and copyright protections associated with free software, emphasizing that the ethical use of free software hinges on adherence to the legal terms provided by software companies. The report also discusses the balance between the advantages of free software, such as its accessibility for testing and modification, and the potential risks associated with its use, particularly regarding data security and potential misuse over the Internet. This report is available on Desklib, a platform providing AI-driven study tools and resources for students.

Running head: COMPUTER SCIENCE
Computer Science
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

2
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Free software is a software that provides freedom to a user for sharing, modifying the
software. As commented by Jovic, Brkic & Bogunovic (2014), there is various political and
ethical consideration for using free software. The different new software is releasing their free
version of the software in the market to understand the feedback of the software from the users.
On the other hand, Commons (2015) argued that the use of the free software can cause the threat
to the society over the Internet. Many malicious users can use the free version of the software in
order to perform malicious activities over the internet. The risk and threats related to the security
of the data and information over the internet increases. As suggested by Wiesmann et al., (2015),
the use of the free software helps in accessing many facilities provided by different software. The
new software release requires free software access that helps in testing the review of the software
in the market. The gaps and loopholes in the new software are identified with the help of the free
use by the users. As suggested by Kirschner (2016), after the successful implementation of the
new software among the users, the company might ask or license and copyright of the new
software. This provides total control of the software and user can change and modify the
software on their own. The legal procedures are followed by the company of the software.
Therefore, the use of the free software is beneficial for the users although it creates threats for the
users over the internet.
The ethical issues included in this process are the legal to use of the free software and
copyright asked by the respective company. The copyright is asked by the company to minimize
the illegal use of the free software provided by them. The agreement between the user and the
company have to be validated under various terms and conditions. This help in maintaining the
legal procedures for the use of the software. A software copyright is an exclusive legal right for
controlling and modifying the work of a software. Copyright holders help in copying and

3
COMPUTER SCIENCE
modifying the software and provide permission regarding the use of the software by any users.
As commented by Jovic, Brkic & Bogunovic (2014), General Public License (GPL) is used
during licensing of a software. The GPL helps in providing authenticity to the person to use the
software of his or her own. The ethical use of the software is depended on the legal procedures
provided by the company.

4
COMPUTER SCIENCE
References
Commons, C. (2015). About the licenses.
Jovic, A., Brkic, K., & Bogunovic, N. (2014, May). An overview of free software tools for
general data mining. In Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and
Microelectronics (MIPRO), 2014 37th International Convention on (pp. 1112-1117).
IEEE.
Kirschner, M. (2016). Common misunderstandings are about Free Software: How individuals,
companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations can make use the full
potential of Free Software. 10442/15409, 00-39.
Wiesmann, V., Franz, D., Held, C., Münzenmayer, C., Palmisano, R., & Wittenberg, T. (2015).
Review of free software tools for image analysis of fluorescence cell
micrographs. Journal of microscopy, 257(1), 39-53.