Lesson 7: Ethics, Legal, and Professional Issues

As developers, we must follow ethical standards. This includes respecting user privacy (not misusing personal data) and avoiding plagiarism (writing original code or properly citing sources). In the Philippines, the DOST Code of Ethics for IT Professionals says we should "perform our duties with honesty." An exam question might describe a scenario (like finding a bug in a competitor's software) and ask what the ethical action is (for example, do not exploit it and report it instead).

Software licenses determine how code can be used or shared. Open-source licenses (GPL, MIT, Apache) allow copying and modification under certain conditions (e.g., sharing improvements). Proprietary software requires purchasing or permission to use. In class, know basic terms: copyright, patent, and software piracy. For example, copying a paid program without permission is illegal under the IP Code (RA 8293). Questions may ask you to identify a license type from terms (e.g., "You must release source code" indicates a GPL-like license) or explain the consequence of piracy under Philippine law.