Professional Issues in Computing – Customer Malfeasance
for a software company that provides bespoke accounting programs. Your job
entails visiting a customer when they report a problem that can not be
replicated without the data they use. Many companies are not willing to
transfer their financial information to another company so you must visit their
site and work through the problem with their employees demonstrating the problem.
As a software engineer in the field, you understand a great deal about taxation
rules, accounting regulations, and so on. In tracking down the problem, you
realize that the reason the customer has a problem is that they are trying to
make your program (written with due respect for accounting standards) support
their false accounting procedures. You are completely certain that what this
company is doing is illegal. Their attitude while you are there makes you
believe that this is a wilful act and not a misunderstanding on their part.
There are a number of possible actions you can take, with various possible
consequences:
* You might tell the customer that what they are doing is
illegal and refuse to provide a fix for their software.
* You might tell the customer that you understand the
problem but that you must consult with your colleagues before working on a fix.
* You might consult by phone with your management for
advice.
* You might fix their software so that it does what they
want.
In any of the first three cases, your company may react in a
number of different ways:
* They might decide that they should not support illegal
accounting practices and refuse to provide a fix.
* They might order you to provide a fix as requested.
* They might arrange for other programmers to provide a fix.
If you are ordered to provide a fix you might or might not
be willing to comply with such a request.
1. How far should you be willing to push the ethical case
that you should not be aiding and abetting tax fraud?
2. Would you personally and/or your company be criminally
liable if you did?
3. What does due diligence require in this case?
4. In general, what responsibilities do computing
professionals have in situations like this?
5. Is it enough to produce (as employees and as companies)
what the client requests?
ScholarMatic: Explanation & Answer
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