Computer Science 491/492
Senior Seminar

Dickinson College
Academic Year 2007/08
Luke Maffey

End-User License Agreements

Reading Assignment

Discussion Questions

  1. What moral responsibilities do the company and user have in creating, agreeing to, and upholding a EULA?

  2. Using each of the four ethical theories that Quinn labels as workable (Kantianism, act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism, and social contract theory), analyze the morality of the use of a typical EULA.

  3. Is reverse-engineering software to create additional functionality moral/should it be legal?  The copyright holder of any IP has the sole right to create derivative works, but does this limit competition and innovation for software?

  4. How will legal measures like the UCITA affect the software industry and consumers?  What role should the government play in software trade?