Ethics Newsline®

In some of the more unusual news from the ethics file, good-guy hackers receive advanced training, farmers face increasing scrutiny by those who keep ethics scorecards, and a businessman who wants to promote education about the works of Ayn Rand hits some resistance at colleges

VARIOUS DATELINES
Ethics dilemmas involving some unusual scenarios made last week’s news from the business world. Among the stories:

• The Scripps News Service reports on an unusual education program in Redwood City, California, that teaches computer professionals how to infect computers with viruses, steal information, and freeze programs — but only if they pledge to use their powers for good and not evil. Students who pass the course, according to the report, are certified as “ethical hackers,” who then are paid to probe corporate and government networks and look for flaws before the bad guys find them. But the Scripps report notes that the bad guys, known as “black hats,” still hold the upper hand, with more than 5.5 million destructive software programs loosed on the Internet in 2007.
• Farmers, who often are drawn to their business because of its independence, increasingly are finding that they are subject to ethics oversight — something many regard as the imposition of a corporate Big Brother — according to an analysis from the Winnipeg Free Press. Some livestock producers have been under scrutiny for a decade or so because of animal-rights activities, according to the report. But increasingly, concerns over the environment are affecting producers of other agricultural goods. Many companies now check whether agricultural producers are using environmentally sustainable practices and providing good working conditions for laborers.
• A prominent businessman who wants to donate money to several colleges is attaching some strings to the gift and prompting an ethics debate. The Charlotte Observer reports that banker John Allison was captivated by the works of Ayn Rand as a college student at the University of North Carolina — and now wants to give cash to several institutions as long as they include Rand’s controversial novel Atlas Shrugged in the curriculum. Many campuses are balking, reports the Observer, saying that such an agreement would compromise academic integrity. Atlas Shrugged is viewed as a tribute to capitalism and is predicated on Rand’s philosophy that individuals have the right to guide their lives by their self-interest.

Sources: Scripps News Service, Apr. 5 — Charlotte Observer, Apr. 6 — Guardian, Apr. 4 — Winnipeg Free Press, Mar. 29.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Mar. 3 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 14 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 10. 2007 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 29, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 18, 2006.