Computer Science Report: Software Licensing, IT History, and Ethics

This report delves into several key aspects of computer science. It begins by exploring the history of software licensing, tracing its evolution from early methods to modern practices, including the distinction between free source and proprietary software. The report then examines the history of information technology, outlining its major stages and its increasing role in various sectors. Furthermore, it covers intellectual property, explaining its types and importance in protecting creations. Finally, the report addresses the ethics of information technology, emphasizing the moral principles that guide decision-making in the field. The report concludes by summarizing the key points and providing a list of references.

Running head: COMPUTER SCIENCE
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Table of Contents
History of Software Licensing.............................................................................................2
History of Information Technology.....................................................................................2
Intellectual Property.............................................................................................................3
Ethics of information technology........................................................................................3
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................3
References............................................................................................................................4

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History of Software Licensing
Till the year of 1980 there were less number of licensing strategy beyond the purchase
and selling of software program hoping the fact that it would not be copied anymore (Ito, 2012).
Previously some methods of protection were developed in which programs were written into disk
which were hard to copy (Schwalbe, 2015). Later on flexible methods were developed which
needs hardware USB dongles which contain licensing information and after that it put into the
user system and can be easily detected by various system software before it comes into action.
Free source license is a software from which various source codes can be easily released.
It actually relates to the method of creation of software by making use of one or many
programming based language. Free source software was developed in such a way that it can help
a large number of users. Propriety software generally consist of software which is licensed by
various copyright holders. Various users are allowed to use software but they are not allowed to
make any changes. Proprietary software is also known as closed source software in which
original source code for any software is not available.
History of Information Technology
Information technology has been around for a very long period of time. People has been
around information technology because of the method of communication which is available at a
given point of time (Bently & Sherman, 2014). There have been four main stages which has been
divided the whole information technology which are premechanical, mechanical,
electromechanical and electronic. In present day IT has played an important role in integration of
various plans of an organization. It is used in wide number of sectors like communication,

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inventory management, data management, management of information system, management of
customer relationship and many other things.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property in general refers to creation or building up of minds, invention and
artistic works which consist of symbols, names and images. There are generally two types of
intellectual property which are industrial property and copyright (Coeckelbergh, 2013). Various
organizations round the globe have made use of their intellectual property for making use of their
privacy, signal and protection time and date for the protection of clients on cyberspace.
Ethics of information technology
Ethics is a method which consist of various moral principles. It ultimately affects the way
how people take decision in a situation and lead their lives. The world is adopting new
technologies as the need of ethics which is used for proper growth of it. Information technology
gets it recognition after the proper launch of various office for various system.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that software licensing has played a key
role in buying and selling various software programs. Role and importance of free source license
has been discussed in brief. After that the history of information technology has been discussed
in details. Concepts related to intellectual property and the ethics of information technology has
also been described.

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References
Bently, L., & Sherman, B. (2014). Intellectual property law. Oxford University Press, USA.
Coeckelbergh, M. (2013). Drones, information technology, and distance: mapping the moral
epistemology of remote fighting. Ethics and information technology, 15(2), 87-98.
Ito, M. (2012). Engineering play: A cultural history of children's software. MIT Press.
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.