Definition of Philosophy Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Definition of Philosophy - Dissertation Example The paper is aimed to compare the two given definitions of philosophy, based on Aristotle and Novalis. Aristotle defined philosophy as a body of knowledge that begins with wonder. Novalis defined philosophy as homesickness, or the longing (nostalgia) for a home one never had which results in search for knowledge. Between the two definitions of philosophy, Aristotle’s view is more logical, thus, it can be considered to best define philosophy. He presented the essential elements that are required to establish the knowledge in philosophy. One is the sense of wonder which drives the quest for knowledge. This element can be considered as the primary phase in the field of philosophizing. Another is wisdom which had been equated with the terms vision and the manner of perceiving a concept. This is important because the manner of exploration in the field of philosophy is through critical thinking. While the definition of Novalis is more artistic and literary in perspective, Aristotle’s view is more scientific which is important since philosophical thoughts and concepts are established through scientific method and inquiry.

Report of Warwickshire College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report of Warwickshire College - Essay Example ed for fashion, sport, beauty, hair and sport and after this, in the year 2007 the college merged with Pershore College in Worcestershire which is known as famous Centre of Horticulture Excellence (Warwickshire College, 2014). Liabilities can be defined as the obligations or legal debts which arise during the time of operation of the business. Liabilities can be paid off by money and goods or services. Liabilities include mortgages, both short and long term loans, accrued expenses, deferred revenues and accounts payable. These are important aspect of a business organization as they have an impact on the financial performance of the business. Generally current liabilities are those which are payable in one year and long term liabilities are those which can be paid over years (Holgate, 2006, pp. 122-123). Current Liabilities of the college will include Bank loans of 1000000 pounds, loans from other sources 44000 pounds, creditors of 2278000 pounds, Accruals of 1604000 pounds, unpaid VAT of 63000 pounds, payments that are received in advance of 683000 pounds and 1519000 pounds is to be paid to the skills funding agency. Long term liabilities include bank loans of 17000000 pounds, unpaid VAT of 184 ponds and loans from other sources of 24000 pounds (Warwickshire College, 2013, p. 40). Record keeping is also known as record management which is professional process to get easy and quick access and step by step guidance to access the confidential and archived records which may provide sensitive and personal records about the college. Record management process includes identifying, categorizing, selecting, storing, protecting, archiving, conserving, maintaining and demolishing the records. Record keeping is an important step for start up of Warwickshire College because management of records related to VAT and Tax liabilities will be helpful for the management to track the liabilities in future. The college is comes under Schedule 6of Finance Act 2010 and the college

The Islamic Concept Of Charity Religion Essay

The Islamic Concept Of Charity Religion Essay Charity in Islam has been a central focus of the society. It has different forms (zakat and sadqah) which differ from each other. The charity in Islam gives an impression of the purification and worship of God. It is also perceived as good deed and benevolence in the Islamic theology. Islamic charity gives a notion of the welfare of the humanity. The crux of the charity is to form a moral economy which regulates the behaviour of Muslims. The moral economy is based on the fairness, sense of responsibility and purity in worship and welfare of the people. 1. Introduction The contemporary debate of the charity has been long in the literature (Melvin 2009, Ferrari and Khan 2010, Shirazi 1996, Scott 1987 and Waldron 1986). Specifically, the religious zeal and zest revolves around the notion of charity (Iwobi 2009). Islamic concept of charity is not exception for that debate (Scott 1987). It emphasizes on the moral values and the contribution to the neglected segment o f the society. However, Islamic concept of charity has never been debated in the light of the notion of moral economy. This paper is intended to give a comparative view about the different notions of the Islamic charity (zakat and sadqah). The concept of charity, in general, is not new because every religion of the world preached that charity. However, the focus of this paper is to highlight the forms of charity in Islam, their differences and their impact on the multiculturalism and the formation of the moral economy. The definition of charity in Islamic tradition differs somewhat from its interpretation in different contexts. However, its aim and goals remain the same. The Quran states: And be steadfast in your prayer and pay charity; whatever good you send forth for your future, you shall find it with Allah, for Allah is well aware of what you do . Similarly, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: No wealth (of a servant of Allah) is decreased because of charity. Charity is the fifth pillar of Islam and its reward will be given in the after world. The Quran declare the five basic concept of the zakat. These concepts included: infaq (spending benevolently), Ihsan (kindness), zakah (purification), sadqah (charitable deed) and Khayrat (good deeds). However, Islam does not force anyone to give charity. It is obligatory in the form of zakat and voluntary in the shape of sadqah (charity). 2. Basic concepts of charity in Islam Islamic charity has two basic concepts: zakat and sadaqah. 2.1 Zakat (alms giving) The zakat extracted from the word zaka to be pure that denotes purification. Quran highlights to the purification of wealth and states: Of their wealth take alms to purify and sanctify them. Zakat is an obligation on a Muslim. It is moral duty of a Muslim to pay Zakat at the rate of 2.5% per year. A Muslim cannot deny the ZakatI. Quran lists recipients of Zakat which includes: Zakat is for the poor and the needy and those who are employed to administer and collect it, and for those whose hearts are to be won over, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage, and for those who are overburdened with debts and for every struggle in Gods cause, and for the wayfarers: this is a duty ordained by God, and God is the All-Knowing, the Wise. (Al-Quran 9:60). 2.2 Sadaqah (Charity) The word Sadaqah is derived from the Arabic root verb sadaqah which means to be truthful and hence Sadaqah implies engaging in any righteous act in order to earn the mardat (pleasure) of Allah. The sadaqah has certain principals which a Muslim must follow. One, Sadaqah is given on the name of God. Second, the money or the donation should be from the legal sources. Islamic discourages the illegitimate (stolen or unethically gained) money or resources. Third, surplus money (beyond the need of a person) is the money of God and Muslims are custodian of it. They should spend and return the money to the needy, poor and spend on the ways of God. Quran outlines the charity: Those who (in charity) spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Al-Baqarah 2:274). It further highlights: And spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say, O my Lord! Why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good. But to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do. (Al-Munafiqun 63: 10-11). Further Quran states: And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive. We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks. (Al Insà ¢n 76:8-9). In another statement, the Quran states: For those who give in Charity, men and women, and loan to Allah a Beautiful Loan, it shall be increased manifold (to their credit), and they shall have (besides) a liberal reward. (Al Hadà ®d 57:18). Sadaqah is important for a number of purses. It reduces the sins and increases the virtue of a Muslim. It also compensate for shortcoming in any past payment of Zakah. For instance, if a person forgets to pay zakat in the past or was guilty to pay the zakat, the sadaqah reduces the burden of the past. Sadqah, give a sense of protection not only the giver but also to the receiver of falling victim of calamities. God pleasure is received through the sadqah. It gives pleasure to the giver of the charity to the others. A person feels his obligation to the betterment of the humanity. 3. Difference between Zakat and Sadaqah Zakat and Sadaqah are two different kinds of charities in Islamic ideology. Zakat is the obligatory annual almsgiving which is determined on the basis of the value of ones wealth. It is 2.5% as per Islamic traditions. Accroding to some of the Islamic jurists, zakat must be collected from the Muslims. It is mandatory and has strict zeal to pay the zakat. Zakat is the responsibility of the person who owns wealth. It cannot be transferred to the second person. It is liable on the individual. However, the sadaqah is charity that is given beside the Zakat contribution over the surplus wealth. It is volunteer act and without any percentage. Sadqah is not specified as only monetary terms (feeding the poor and the needy), but also given support to the orphans, widows in the form of advising or counseling. It also includes the volunteer activities for the befit of the community at larger: teaching to the poor, giving sense of good faith and advising them to excel on the right path, the path of God. Some of the Islamic jusrits beleieved that to form charity organization, construct educational institutions (mosque, school, college, universities) and construction of well (to supply water to the common man) are the different forms of sadaqah. It can be given on the name of any relative (parents or children). 4. Comparative view of charity: Development of moral economy Islamic notion of charity (in its different forms) generates a moral economy. This is the economy which is based on the good faith and welfare of the humanity. In line with Bollig (1998) and Thompsons (1971, 1993) notion of moral economy. Islamic charity gives the following notion of charity. 4.1 Islamic charity: Moral injection Benthall (1999) highlights the Quranic injection to charity. Accroding to Benthall the Islamic system of almsgiving (zakat) is more organized than other societies. For him, the ZakatI is closely associated with the prayers and the worship of God, therefore, the Muslim are morally obliged to pay the Zakat to the poor, to the needy as per Islamic conception. He argued that Zakat can be distributed in poor, needy, orphans, widows, divorcees, prisoners and their families, unemployed and homeless people, students, those who dont afford to marry, disaster victims, and those in need of free medicine or dignified funerals (Benthall 1999:31). 4.2 Zakat: Powerful instrument to poverty eradication Zakat which literally means growth, extension and purification is a premium on all forms of accumulated productive wealth and on a variety of agriculture produce. It is calculated at various rate according to the nature of the asset or product, and is due to the needy of the Muslim community. It is one of the basic tenets of Islam and besides being an obligatory act of worship, it is a system through which a Muslim society can eradicate poverty and inequalities (Mohammad 1991:1119). Islamic Zakat system in Pakistan is the source to eradicate poverty in the country (Ibid). Zakat system is well organized system for the development of country but it can be more organized for poverty eradication and for the maintenance of society (Mohammad 1991). 5.3 Charity: Road towards the social justice According to Bremer (2004:1) the development of any society local resources are necessary. Historically, Islamic societies developed a range of charitable institutions to fulfill these mandates include zakat boards, auwkaf, and diverse local structures reflecting the richness of Islamic culture from Dakar to Davao (Ibid). For her, A strong civil society is now widely recognized as an important pillar supporting democratic society (Bremer 2004:2). With the help and struggle of civil society it is possible that a democratic society can be established. Only the help of foreign donor and government is not enough for development. If government or foreign donors will help the society the civil society will lose their interest for the development. For her, in recent years USAID has funded the creation of an NGO service center that provides technical assistance and training to civil society organizations, and has granted financial support directly to NGOs ranging from business associations to community development groups (Bremer 2004:3). Government, foreign donor and for free services do not provide an adequate base for a vibrant civil society. This aid is for short term. This aid is not compatible with the long term independence (Bremer 2004). 4.4 Charity: Funding for free education According to Blanchard (2007) religious school work as a charity organization in Muslim countries. They are source of providing education to the vulnerable groups. Madrasas offer a free education, room, and board to their students, and thus they appeal to impoverished families and individuals. On the whole these religious schools are supported by private donations from Muslim believers through a process of alms-giving known in Arabic as zakat. The practice of zakatone of the five pillars of the Islamic faithprescribed that a fixed proportion of ones income be given to specified charitable causes, and traditionally a portion of zakat has endowed religious education (2007:4). Blanchard (2007) provides information that in Pakistan Madrasas are being observed by the government regarding their finance sources after 9/11 attack in the United States. All foreign students in madrasas were required to expel from madrasa if they did not obtain permission to remain in Pakistan from their home governments in 2005. Madrasas are registered in Pakistan and their financial assistance is observed by the government since August 2006. (Blanchard 2007:5). Zakat and usher contributed to the income of the people of 2.7% in a household of Pakistan (Shirazi 1996). The survey was conducted in 1990/91 of the household Integrated Economic Survey and findings revealed that the Zakat and usher were the significant to contribute the lives of the people. According to the survey, 39000 zakat committees were working with 250 thousand volunteers (Shirazi 1996:166). The zakat contribution on 1981/1982 from 845.85 million Pakistani rupees to 4655.9 million in 1993/94 (Shirazi 1996:170). The money were spend to Substance allowance (708.622 million), rehabilitation (245.669 million) Pakistani rupees and 1738234 people benefited from the zakat contribution (Shirazi 1996:185). However, the latest figures on the issue are not available. 5. Why Muslim countries depend upon the foreign aid? There is wide spread opportunity to get resources in order to feed the marginalized segment of the society, as per the notion of Islamic charity, then why the Muslim countries are dependent upon foreign aid? In fact, there are two major reasons of the dependency of the Muslim societies on the foreign aid. 5.1 Collapse of the charity institution: Change to moral values Muslim countries depend upon the foreign aid because they were unable to maintain their institutions. Such institutions were collapsed during the colonization or soon after. In the eyes of the colonial masters, the Muslim charity institutions were the symbol of Muslim legacy and a risen of the rise of the Muslim powers, therefore, it was necessary to abolish them. They developed the institution of welfare instead the zakat institution (Bremer 2004). However, this welfare institution developed by the colonial powers was perceived as not ones own. It was considered as a symbol to get money, but without any legacy (Bremer 2004). It was just perceived as the symbol of the colony. People wanted to get benefited from the social welfare but not were ready to pay back. Therefore, it was not much institutionalized as the Zakat was spread during the Muslim era in the Middle East and in the Muslim countries. 5.2 Collapse of morality: Change to develop a new morality based on materialism Islam appreciates the giving hands (charity giver) and discourages the charity recipients. According to Islam, giving hand is better than receiving hand. However, current scenario does not reflect the basic ideology of the charity of Islam. Despite of the fact that zakat remain as an institution among the Muslim societies at individual level. However, it was not developed up to the level after the colonial era. It was perceived that state is in the hands of someone else and there was not any institutionalized method of the zakat collection and distribution. This collapsed the real notion of the moral economy among the Muslim societies. In Islamic morality, there are two sets of rights and obligation of a Muslim: the rights to worship God and the right to serve the humanity. In Islamic theology, the right of God may be put aside by the God, if He wants. However, the right to serve humanity cannot be neglected until unless the fellow human beings do not forgive it. It is exclusive the people who have to forgive their rights to the fellow Muslims. So the Islamic moral values exclusive emphasize on this value. However, the collapse of the Islamic morality is dominated. It does contradict on the basic philosophy of the Islam that spends everything to the humanity which is surplus for a person. However, the materialism and greed for wealth is dominant in the current culture of the Muslim societies. It is depicted in the life style and in the emerging value system. Consequently, it is affecting the basic notion of the Islamic charity. 7. Conclusion Islamic concept of charity is much associated with the Muslim societies or Muslim association. It forms a moral economy and moral value system (give charity and worship to God) which strengthen the notion of close social networking of the Muslims. However, it does not neglect the humanity at large. It gives a due share to provide the help to the people of the world. The charity is given to the needy, poor, scholars, charity organizations and welfare of the world society at large. However, criticism to retain the Muslim charity among Muslim is not exclusive from the debate of the charity. Dominant point of view is in favour of the humanity rather than the welfare of the any specific community. Islamic charity begins from the Individual level. It creates the space for the state. However, it does not exclusive involve the state to regulate the charity. The charity in Islam is equally important to the worship of God. Islam emphasize the worship of God (right to obey God) and the service for the humanity (the rights of the people). It is the right of the people.

A Close Reading of Euripides Medea :: Euripides Medea Essays

A Close Reading of Medea Medea's first public statement, a sort of "protest speech," is one of the best parts of the play and demonstrates a complex, at times even contradictory, representation of gender. Medea's calm and reasoning tone, especially after her following out bursts of despair and hatred, provides the first display of her ability to gather herself together in the middle of crisis and pursue her hidden agenda with a great determination. This split in her personality is to a certain degree gender bias. The lack of emotional restraint is "typical" of women, and the strong attention to moral action is a common trait of heroes. Medea actually uses both of these traits so that her wild emotions fuel her ideals, thus producing a character that fails to fit into a clear mold. The speech itself highlights women's subordinate status in ancient Greek society, especially in the public eye." When Medea points out that women, especially "foreign" women, "require some knowledge of magic and other covert arts to exert influence over their husbands in the bedroom," she argues for a kind of alternative power that women can enjoy. A power that remains invisible to men and unknown by society, yet sways each with unquestionable force. Medea also supplies a method for interpreting her own character towards the end of her speech (lines 251-257): we should read her history of exile as a metaphoric exaggeration of all women's alienation; in fact, her whole predicament, past and yet to come, can be read as an allegory of women's suffering and the heights of tragedy it may unleash if left unattended. Under this model of interpretation, Medea portrays the rebellion of women against their "wretchedness." Such a transparent social allegory may seem forced or clichéd in our own contemporary setting, but in Euripides' time it would have been revolutionary, as tragedy generally spoke to the sufferings of a generic (perhaps idealized) individual, rather than a group. It would be a mistake, however, to claim that Medea's speech elaborates a clearly progressive political message, as her concluding remarks appeal to women's natural talent for devious manipulation (line 414). While Euripides' play manifests many revolutionary political sentiments, its social criticisms remain sporadic, forming just a part of some of the many trains of thought he follows. Aside from providing a time frame that initiates a sense of urgency to the play (Medea only has a day to complete her plans), the exchange between Creon and Medea introduces the theme of her cleverness.

International Reporting Financial Standards Essay

International reporting financial standards are the guidelines that are used when preparing financial reports (Rutherford, 31). They are used by the international accounting standards board as an outline when preparing financial statements. These financial standards gives the accountants a guideline when they are preparing financial statements and this ensure that the accountants follow the right financial standards and prepare financial reports as per the required financial statements (Rutherford, 31). The international financial reporting standards ensure that information provided concerning the entity ensures that transparency is maintained when preparing financial statements (Schroeder, 20). It also ensures that people who are interested in investing in the business receive information that is more precise and reliable (Melville, 202). Financial reporting involves the preparation of financial information to users who include customers, banks, government, employees, investors and management who need this information to make informed economic decisions (Schroeder, 20). Before all these users make any decision concerning the organization they will need to review the financial reports of the organization to help them make decisions. The organization which is the reporting entity usually prepares financial statements which include the balance sheet, statement of retained earnings, profit and loss account and cash flow statement (Melville, 202). These financial statements help users of information to be able to understand how the management uses the entity’s resources to achieve the set goals and objectives. It also helps users to know the financial position of the business and the cash flow of the entity (Schroeder, 20). Investors in the entity need the financial reports enable them know the returns of their investment in the organization. Information provided in the financial statements helps them to know when to buy or sell their investment. It also helps them to know when to hold and also provide information which helps to determine whether the entity would be able to pay dividends at the right time (Rutherford, 31). Information in financial statements helps lenders to determine whether it should lend to the entity or not. It gives lender information to determine whether the entity would be able to pay loans (Rutherford, 31). Employees also use the information to determine if their employer would be able to pay them in time and if the employer would b e able to provide them with retirement benefits. The government needs the financial reports to determine whether an entity is able to pay taxes and also for the purpose of resource allocation. Customers are also users of the information and they use this information to know the stability and continuity of the entity. Objectives of financial reporting The general-purpose of financial reporting is to give users of financial statements the most useful information as possible at the least cost to enable them to make informed economic decisions (Melville, 202). On the other hand, users of this accounting information need to cover a rational understanding of business as well as financial accounting procedures to understand financial statements well. Internationally, as planned at distinctively in the present conceptual framework through the IASB, there are two key goals of financial reporting (Rutherford, 31). The main goal of financial reporting is to enable the management to provide information to the owner or shareholder of the business to show how they have used the entity’s resources to achieve the set goals and objectives in the organization (Rutherford, 31). Since the shareholders have given the management powers to use resources of the business, the management therefore has the responsibility to report to the shareholder concerning the performance of the business. The information that is provided through financial reporting also helps to give information about the financial performance and situation of the business. This is help when it comes to the creation of economic resolutions. Management should ensure that they maximize the shareholders’ wealth and this should be reflected in the financial statements (Melville, 202). Underlying assumption of international financial reporting standard Accrual Basis Financial reports that are prepared by an entity are prepared on the basis of accrual so as to meet the objectives of an entity (Melville, 202). This means that transactions are recognized when they occur and not when cash is received. This assumption helps to provide information about past events that are useful for decision making by the users of the information. Going concern assumption This assumption assumes that the business would be in operation for the foreseeable future and that the entity has no intentions to close the business in the near future (Michael et al, 2003). The qualitative characteristics of financial reporting These are qualities that make financial reporting useful to user of financial information when making economic decisions. The main qualitative characteristics of financial information include understability of the information, relevancy of information, reliability of information and comparability (Bromwich et al, 2006). The quality of understability requires that financial statements must be prepared in a manner that can be easily understood by users (Michael et al, 2003). However, users are required to have at least basics knowledge about business, accounting and economic activities. Users should also be willing to study carefully the information provided. All information that is relevant should be included the financial reports even if there is some information that may be difficult for some users to understand (Bromwich et al, 2006). Relevance requires that all information that is relevant for decision making be included in financial reporting (Michael et al, 2003). Relevance is when information include in the financial reports affects the economic decision made by the users of the financial statements. Information can only be useful to users if it is relevant. Relevant information helps users to make economic decisions since it gives them opportunity to assess the past, present and future actions. Information that has no effect on the decisions made by the users is irrelevant and therefore should not be included in financial reporting (Michael et al, 2003). The relevance of certain information in financial reporting may be affected by its materiality. Information that is material affects decision making in that its omission can mislead users to make wrong decisions. Relevant information must have a predictive value and confirmatory value meaning that for information to help capital providers for instance investors to make predictive decisions about the future information should be valuable and information is able to change the past or present depending on previous evaluations (Bromwich et al, 2006). Reliability of information is important for financial reporting. For financial information to be useful for decision making it must be reliable (Rutherford, 31). Information that is free from any material error and biasness is reliable and therefore useful for decision making by users. International financial reporting standards require that information be represented in a faithful way for such information to be reliable. Comparability of information is important in financial reporting as it helps users to compare information for different financial years and for different reports from different entities (Bromwich et al, 2006). By comparing financial reports for different periods helps to compare the performance of the entity for the different periods. Information should also be represented in their real value for financial information to be reliable. The constraints on relevant and reliable information Timeliness of information Some information if delayed to report may be come irrelevant. For relevant information to be reported in time it will mean that some aspect of information need to be included and this may weaken the relevance of information (Michael et al, 2003). Before all relevant information is reported, the cost of reporting must be considered alongside with the benefits that the entity will gain. Relevant information should give more benefits than the cost incurred when reporting (Bromwich et al, 2006).

Ethical Issue on the Internet

Ethical issues relating to the use of the Internet and the implications for managers and business practice. by Mihai C. Orzan Abstract When we address the topic of ethical issues on the Internet we are generally referring at two different matters: privacy and intellectual property. Each has been examined extensively in the last five years, since the Internet explosive intrusion in everyday life activities, each has an important number of sub fields that require special attention from managers and other business professionals.The purpose of this paper is to to make a short presentation of most relevant developments pertaining Internet ethical issues in direct connection with the business world. The Privacy debate is centered on the arguments regarding citizens’ right to privacy granted or implied by laws on one hand and companies approach on â€Å"customer data, considered an asset to sell for profits† (Choi, 2000, p. 317) on the other hand. Privacy on the Internet is ex ploding as a topic of public concern these days. A recent Internet survey showed that 4 out of 5 users have major concerns regarding various privacy threats when they’re online.Yet only 6% of them have actually experienced privacy abuses. Those who are not yet on the Net cite privacy as the main reason they have chosen not to become Internet users. If electronic commerce is going to thrive, this fear is going to have to be dealt with by laws and by industry practices and this paper attempts to give a thorough description of the major computer ethics trends of the moment. The other major source of concern for business world as well as the majority of Internet users is copyright control.Serious question come from both approaches on this matter: what information available on the Internet can I freely use and how can one protect the hardly earned information that he posts on a website. In fact, â€Å"The Internet has been characterized as the largest threat to copyright since it s inception. It is awash in information, much of it with varying degrees of copyright protection. † (O’Mahoney, 2001). Copyrighted issue constitutes an important part of this paper and it details most of the present concerns of intellectual property. 1 Privacy Everyone has the right to know what information is collected and how it will be used and to accept or decline the collection or dissemination of this information– particularly financial and medical information. † President George W. Bush. Privacy has become a major concern on the Internet. According to (Ferrell, Leclair & Fraedrich, 1997), â€Å"the extraordinary growth of the Internet has created a number of privacy issues that society has never encountered before and therefore has been slow to address. † Opinions have been expressed and actions were taken in order to resolve these matters in one way or another.In an interview earlier this year United States President George W. Bush (Miller, 2 001) expressed numerous and informed concerns regarding privacy issues, including access, security, and use of personal information. He promised to ensure actions that will meet consumer demands for privacy protection and advocated â€Å"opt- in† policies for mailing lists. He concluded the interview by stating: â€Å"I share many people's concerns that, with the advent of the Internet, personal privacy is increasingly at risk, and I am committed to protecting personal privacy for everyone. Privacy issues on the Internet relate to two major concerns. The first concern is users’ ability to control the rate, type, and sequence of the information they view. Spam, or unsolicited commercial e- mail, is a control concern because it violates privacy and steals resources. A second concern relates to the ability of users to address and understand how organizations collect and use personal information on the Internet. Many 2 Web sites require visitors to identify themselves and provide information about their wants and needs.Some Web sites track visitors’ â€Å"footsteps† through the site by storing a cookie, or identifying string of text, on their computers. The use of cookies can be an ethical issue, especially because many users have no idea that this transfer of information is even occurring. Internet privacy is an important ethical issue because most organizations engaging in e- commerce have not yet developed policies and codes of conduct to encourage responsible behavior. Spamming â€Å"Junk e- mail and spam are both terms for advertising and e- mail sent to you which you did not ask for and which you do not want†, (Elbel, 2001).However, spam is a more generic term that includes broadcast posting to newsgroups as well as individuals. And spamming is very costly for the end users: recent surveys showed that various forms of spam consume up to 15% of Internet bandwidth. According to a recent European Union study â€Å"junk email costs all of us some 9. 4 billion (US) dollars per year, and many major ISPs say that spam adds 20% of the cost of their service†, (Elbel, 2001). As you can see spamming is a very profitable endeavor and have grown over the years to assume a number of different forms.Thus, we can distinguish: v Unsolicited e- mail is any email message received where the recipient did not specifically ask to receive it. It might not be always an abuse. v Bulk e- mail is any group of messages sent via e- mail, with substantially identical content, to a large number of addresses at once. Many ISPs specify a threshold for bulk e- mail to be 25 or more recipients within a 24- hour period. Once again, bulk e- mail itself is not necessarily abuse of the e- mail system. 3 Unsolicited Commercial E- mail (UCE) is a form of e- mail containing commercial information that has been sent to a recipient who did not ask to receive it. Several ISPs specify that sending even one UCE is a violation of privacy. v Make Money Fast (MMF) are e- mail messages that â€Å"guarantee immediate, incredible profits! â€Å", including such schemes as chain letters. v Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) are e- mail messages that â€Å"guarantee incredible profits! â€Å", right after you send them an â€Å"initial investment† and recruit others. v Mailbomb is probably the most harmful type of spamming.It takes the form of email packages delivered repeatedly to the same address until the mailbox is overloaded, or perhaps even the system that hosts the mailbox crashes. Mailbombs generally take one of two forms. A mailbox might be targeted to receive hundreds or thousands of messages, making it difficult or impossible for the victim to use their own mailbox, possibly subjects them to additional charges for storage space, and might cause them to miss messages entirely due to overflow. This is seen as a denial- of- service attack, perhaps also harassment.Another form of mailbombing is to forge subscripti on requests to many mailing lists, all for one recipient. The result is a huge barrage of email arriving in the victim's e- mail box, all of it unwanted, but â€Å"legitimate†. There are several ways to escape spamming, but none will guarantee 100 percent reliability. First, a complaint to the ISPs that originated and forwarded the spam is required. It is also recommended to switch to an ISP that uses one or all of the anti- spam databases available (RBL, RSS, and DUL). About 40% of the Internet is using these services, with good success.Also, it is important that you never, under any circumstance, reply to junk e- mail, even if it is to send a â€Å"remove† request. Most spammers ignore such 4 responses, or worse, add you to their list of validated e- mail addresses that they sell. Also, getting removed doesn't keep you from being added the next time they mine for addresses, nor will it get you off other copies of the list that have been sold or traded to others. Fina lly, we should note that there are voices that argue that spamming is a legitimate form of expression and restricting it would be a First Amendment infringement.Even more, has been suggested that â€Å"junk e- mail (also called â€Å"bulk† e- mail and â€Å"spam†) should be legally protected†, (D’Ambrosio, 2000). Tracking a user on the Internet Data about individuals is collected in a wide variety of ways, including information provided on application forms, credit/debit card transactions, and cookies. Many users expect that such activities are anonymous, but unfortunately they are far from being so. It is possible to record many online activities, including which newsgroups or files a subscriber has accessed and which web sites a subscriber has visited.This information can be collected both by a subscriber's own service provider (available in the request headers of browsers) and by agents of remote sites which a subscriber visits. But the most popular fo rm of collecting data about web surfers is the cookie. These are short pieces of data used by web servers to help identify web users. The cookie is stored on the user's computer, but contrary to popular belief it is not an executable program and cannot do anything harmful to the machine. Cookies are used by Internet shopping sites to keep track of users and their shopping carts.When someone first visits an Internet shopping site, they are sent a cookie containing the name (ID number) of a shopping cart and other useful tags. Another use of cookies is to create customized home 5 pages. A cookie is sent to the user’s browser for each of the items they expect to see on their custom home page. One of the less admirable uses of cookies, and the one that is causing all the controversy, is its use as a device for tracking the browsing and buying habits of individual web users.On a single web site or a group of web sites within a single subdomain, cookies can be used to see what web pages you visit and how often you visit them. However, such concerns can be easily addressed by setting the browser to not accept cookies or use one of the new cookie blocking packages that offer selective cookie access. Note that blocking all cookies prevents some online services from working. Also, preventing the browser from accepting cookies does not confer anonymity; it just makes it more difficult to be tracked on the Web. Related to cookies, but more damaging is the activity known as â€Å"prying†.Many of the commercial online services will automatically download graphics and program upgrades to the user's home computer. News reports have documented the fact that certain online services have admitted to both accidental and intentional prying into the memory of home computers signing on to the service. In some cases, personal files have been copied and collected by the online services. Use of Personal Information You can find out simple directory information about peopl e on a variety of web sites, like Switchboard, Whowhere, Four11, Bigfoot.These contain information retrieved from telephone books. And most of these sites allow someone who doesn’t want to be listed in their databases to have his/her information removed. But beyond the free services there are the fee- based services where one can find out a great deal about 6 individuals on the Internet. There are services like as KnowX, Informus, Infotel, CDB, Infotek, Information America, and Lexis- Nexis that offer subscription based services and give access either through the Internet or through their own telephone networks.The information they provide is primarily from public records like records of court cases, both civil and criminal (not the full text, not yet anyway, but an index of cases), bankruptcies, judgments and liens, property records, such as county tax assessors files, professional license information, if regulated by the state, Dept of Motor Vehicle data from many states, v oter registration data from many states, stock investments, if you own 15% or more of a company’s stock, and many more other sources.Data warehouses built with this kind of sensitive personal information (including â€Å"browsing patterns,† also known as â€Å"transaction- generated information†) are the lifeblood of many enterprises that need to locate their customers with direct mailing (or e- mailing) campaigns. It may also create the potential for â€Å"junk e- mail† and other marketing uses. Additionally, this information may be embarrassing for users who have accessed sensitive or controversial materials online. In theory, individuals (data subjects) are routinely asked if they would permit their information to be used by the information collector.Application forms usually include a clause stating that personal information provided may be used for marketing and other purposes. This is the principle of informed consent, meaning that if the individual does not so request that his/her data not to be used for such purposes, it is assumed that he/she had given permission. The alternative principle, of affirmative consent, where an individual is required to give permission for each and every occasion on which a data user wishes to make use of an individual’s data, becomes extremely expensive and complex and is seldom practiced.The Federal Trade Commission is urging commercial web site operators to make public their information collection practices in privacy policies posted on web sites. 7 Many web sites now post information about their information- collection practices. You can look for a privacy â€Å"seal of approval,† such as TRUSTe, Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, WebTrust, and others on the first page of the web site. Those that participate in such programs agree to post their privacy policies and submit to audits of their privacy practices in order to display the logo.There are several technologies that help online users protect their privacy. v Encryption is a method of scrambling an e- mail message or file so that it is unintelligible to anyone who does not know how to unscramble it. Thus, private information may be encrypted, and then transmitted, stored or distributed without fear that outsiders will have access to its content. Various strong encryption programs, such as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and RSA (RSA Data Security) are available online.Because encryption prevents unauthorized access, law enforcement agencies have expressed concerns over the use of this technology, and Congress has considered legislation to create a â€Å"back door† to allow law enforcement officials to decipher encrypted messages. Federal law limits exporting certain types of encryption code or descriptive information to other countries and file them under the same ammo type as nuclear weapons. v Anonymous remailers. Because it is relatively easy to determine the name and email address of anyone who posts messages or sends e- mail, the practice of using anonymous remailing programs has become more common.These programs receive e- mail, strip off all identifying information, and then forward the mail to the appropriate address. v Memory protection software. Software security programs are now available which help prevent unauthorized access to files on the home computer. For 8 example, one program encrypts every directory with a different password so that to access any directory you must log in first. Then, if an online service provider tries to read any private files, it would be denied access. These programs may include an â€Å"audit trail† that records all activity on the computer's drives.Censorship and Blocking Software â€Å"With its recent explosive growth, the Internet now faces a problem inherent in all media that serve diverse audiences: not all materials are appropriate for every audience† (Resni ck & Miller, 1996). Any rules or laws about distribution, however, will be too restrictive from some perspectives, yet not restrictive enough from others. Apparently it might be easier to meet diverse needs by controlling reception rather than distribution. In the TV industry, this realization has led to the V- chip, a system for blocking reception based on labels embedded in the broadcast stream.On the Internet, the solution might be considered even better, with richer labels that reflect diverse viewpoints, and more flexible selection criteria. Not everyone needs to block reception of the same materials. Parents may not wish to expose their children to sexual or violent images, businesses may want to prevent their employees from visiting recreational sites during hours of peak network usage, and governments may want to restrict reception of materials that are legal in other countries but not in their own.The blocking solution with the largest acceptance at this moment is PICS (Pla tform for Internet Content Selection). Its labels are supposed to be able to describe any aspect of a document or a Web site. As was natural to be expected, PICS labels started out as an attempt to block web pages that were not compliant with indecency 9 laws. As one of its initiators said, â€Å"the original impetus for PICS was to allow parents and teachers to screen materials they felt were inappropriate for children using the Net†, (Weinberger, 1997).At this moment, Microsoft, Netscape, SurfWatch, CyberPatrol, and other software vendors have PICS- compatible products, while AOL, AT WorldNet, CompuServe, and Prodigy provide free blocking software that is PICS- compliant. Intellectual Property Intellectual Property concerns the protection of â€Å"all products created or designed by human intellect – book, songs, poems, trademarks, blueprints†¦and software† (Davidson, 2000, p. 9). The copying of software programs, although nominally protected by copyright laws, is certainly widespread. Much of the argument about IP lies in the deontological dichotomy between rights and duties†, (Davidson, 2000, p. 12). Software producers claim that they have the right to protect the fruit of their endeavors, and have the right to be compensated for the resources spend in the development process, while consumers claim that they have the right to use a product for which they have paid and expect that the product will be free of defects. This should lead to competitively priced products with superior quality, providing value for money. 10 Copyright, Patents, and TrademarksAccording to prof. Johnson (2000) â€Å"as computing resources become more and more prevalent, computer software becomes easier and easier to access, and as such, easier and easier to copy†, (p. 124). Protection for one’s work, from a legal point of view, requires copyright, patents, and trademarks for sensible and strategic information. The best approach is to hav e a combination of trade secret protection, copyright laws, and trademark laws for the product in question because these are cheap, effective, and fast ways of protecting a software product from being pirated.Copyright Issues Copyrighted works on the net include news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics, pictures, Usenet messages and even e- mail. â€Å"In fact, the frightening reality is that almost everything on the Net is protected by copyright law† (O’Mahoney, 2001). Software and manuals, as novels and other literary works, are protected under copyright laws. In simple terms, this guarantees the copyright owner, the author in most cases, the exclusive rights to the reproduction and distribution of his intellectual property.Thus, copyright law guarantees the owner of the intellectual property the same types of rights that patent law guarantees the owner of an invention or other piece of seemingly more tangible physical property. Computer software and dat a are intellectual property, and as such are covered by copyright law. The problems start when people cannot, or will not, make the mental transition from physical to intellectual property. While most people would not steal books from a bookstore or a software package from a dealer's showroom, 11 ven if they knew they would not be caught, many of the same people would not hesitate copying a computer program from a demo or from their friends and colleagues. The only free software is the one places in the public domain, also known as freeware. For the rest of the software products the user must abide by the license agreements which usually come with a program and places restrictions upon reproducing and distributing the software, including such things as loaning the software to a friend or colleague and making duplicates for classroom or network use. Some licenses even go so far as to restrict use to a specific computer.In most cases, however, the user does have the right to make a ba ckup copy of the software for archival purposes. In theory, any use of a software package which falls outside of the limits of the license agreement renders the user, and quite often the user's company or institution, liable to prosecution. A computer program is defined in the copyright law as â€Å"a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result. † Copyright protection begins at the time a work is created in fixed form; no act other than creation of the work is required to obtain a copyright for the work.According to (Yoches and Levine, 1989) â€Å"the scope of copyright protection for a computer program's expression may extend beyond its literal code to the structure, sequence and organization of the program. † Another debated and important aspect of software copyright involves the use of databases, data warehouses, and other forms of data collections. Under traditional concepts of literary copyright, the data contained in a compilation, and the selection of the data, may sometimes not be protected from copying. Only the coordination and arrangement of the database may be protected, and even then there must be some originality to the collection and arrangement for it to be protected†, (Losey, 1995). 12 There are essentially three ways to legally protect computer databases: copyright, trade secret and contract. Raw facts in a database may not be protected by copyright, regardless of the time or expense that went into locating them. However, in many databases the data itself, or the particular expressions of the facts, may have been created by the author. In such cases the data has originality and can be protected.Even if the contents are raw facts, not new materials created by the author, the compilation aspects of the database (selection, coordination and arrangement) may still receive copyright protection. A trade secret is â€Å"knowledge which a person or com pany acquires through its own efforts and which has some value to it† (Losey, 1995). Typically, this knowledge is kept secret from competitors because it is felt that this information provides some type of competitive advantage. Since a computer database is a compilation that derives economic value, it is a type of intellectual property that has frequently received trade secrecy protection.Finally, the owner of a database can require that any purchaser enter into a written contract as a condition of purchase of the database. That written agreement could expressly provide that the purchaser will not disclose the content to anyone but authorized users, nor make any copies or unauthorized use of the information. Typically this takes the form of a License Agreement between the owner/licensor of the database and the user/licensee of the database. Protect your site against theft It might be useful to know that a link is a URL, a fact not unlike a street address, and is therefore not copyrightable.However, a URL list may be copyrightable under a 13 compilation copyright if it contains some originality. The Internet was created on the basis of being able to attach hypertext links to any other location on the Web. Consequently, by putting yourself on the Internet, â€Å"you have given implied permission to others to link to your Web page, and everyone else on the Web is deemed to have given you implied permission to link to their Web pages† (O’Mahoney, 2001). The two primary methods of protection are technical countermeasures and legal protection.Technical countermeasures include strategies such as digital watermarking and spiders that search the Internet for copies of your pages or graphics. These strategies tend to be difficult, expensive, and user- unfriendly. The primary vehicle for legal protection is copyright. This is by far the easiest and most popular form of protection in use today. In implementing a copyright strategy, there are three ite ms that you should consider: v Ownership: before trying to copyright your website, a clear understanding of what exactly it is considered to be copyrighted is required.There are many elements to a website, including text, graphics, scripts, data, and code. If everything was created from scratch for the website, ownership is not an issue. However, if someone else created text, or some clip art was downloaded from another website, or scanned photographs from archives were used, or a web design firm was hired to load all informational content into an attractive package, then ownership of the respective elements is shared with the original creators, unless otherwise stated in contracts and licenses. Copyright notice: it is generally a good idea to put a copyright notice on your website. It used to be that in order to be afforded any copyright protection whatsoever, one needed to put the world on notice by attaching a copyright notice to the work. While this is no longer the case, it is still customary to attach a 14 copyright notice on copyrighted works in order to be eligible for certain types of damages. The copyright notice consists of at least elements that include the copyright symbol and/or the term â€Å"Copyright†, the year of copyright, and the name of the copyright holder. Registration: register your copyright with the Copyright Office. Although the Copyright Act gives protection just for creating your work and reducing it to a tangible form, that protection proved somewhat illusory in some cases when registration was overlooked. Patents and Trademarks â€Å"A recognized brand name or trademark represents the goodwill that has been built into the product or service†, (Eldenbrock & Borwankar, 1996). Consumers tend to associate the recognized brand name or trademark with certain characteristics that are specific to that name or mark.Therefore, companies often spend millions of dollars annually for safeguarding the investment in the related in tellectual property rights. Trademark laws protect the name of the software, not the software itself. Some examples include: â€Å"Lotus 1- 2- 3†, â€Å"Apple â€Å", â€Å"D- BASE†, â€Å"WordPerfect†, and many others. Copyright protection protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. A patent protects the idea itself. There are two major drawbacks to patents. They take a lot of money and a lot of time (usually two or more years).Computer games are rarely patent protected because the shelf life for a game is usually no more than six months. 15 Fair Use â€Å"When the fair use doctrine applies to a specific use of a work, the person making fair use of the work does not need to seek permission from the copyright owner or to compensate the copyright owner for the use of the work†, (Lehman, 1998). The fair use is a form of limitation of the exclusive rights of copyright owners for purposes such as criticism, comments, news reporting, teaching (i ncluding the possibility to make multiple copies of a copyrighted work for classroom use), scholarships, or research.In order to determine whether the use made of a work in any particular case is not a copyright infringement, Smith’s (2001) Copyright Implementation Manual offers the following guidelines: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. Those creators and authors who wish to dedicate their works to the public domain may, of course, do so notwithstanding the availability of protection under the Copyrigh t Act. 16 Libel and Defamation â€Å"We know that as the Internet grows, there will be more and more lawsuits involving libel and defamation. † said attorney David H. Donaldson, editor of Legal Bytes, â€Å"The only question is if the number of cases will grow steadily or if there will be an explosion of lawsuits all at once. The Internet has been used to harass, slander, threat and these online activities led to arrests, successful sues (because have used netnews to slander and for delivering inappropriate screen saver images) and other forms of legal punishments. The most frequent form of libel on the Internet is flaming, defined as â€Å"the practice of sending extremely critical, derogatory, and often vulgar e- mail messages, or newsgroup postings to other users on the Internet or online services† (O’Brien, 2002, pp. 326).Famous cases of racism or defamation have turned the attention at the gaps in legislation regarding Internet crime. Sexual explicit web p ages are responsible for another stir in social awareness regarding Internet- related legal void. Sometimes even a â€Å"link to another's page could be defamatory and may subject someone to legal liability†, (INET Legal Networks, 2001), if it links to a page where offensive or illegal content is present and if you do not give strong warning to the web surfer about the consequences of his/her â€Å"click†.There are a number of features unique to the Internet that distinguish it from any other medium and have â€Å"led to the current re- examination of existing libel laws to allow for their possible evolution and ultimately their application in the cyberspace†, (Potts & Harris, 1996). These features include its global nature (more than 125 countries are linked via Internet), which raised questions about jurisdiction, repeated publication every time a 17 page is updated/viewed, and the possibility to enforce judgments.Another Internet specific aspect is its highly interactive nature, which decreases the effectiveness of later corrections, but empowers the ability to reply, which might be considered more gratifying, immediate and potent than launching a libel action. Accessibility is another feature of the Internet, which distinguishes it from traditional print or broadcast media. The relatively low cost of connecting to the Internet and even of establishing one's own website means that the opportunity for defamation has increased exponentially. Now, on the Internet everyone can be a publisher and can be sued as a publisher.Internet anonymity means that users do not have to reveal their true identity in order to send email or post messages on bulletin boards. This feature, coupled with the ability to access the Internet in the privacy and seclusion of one's own home or office and the interactive, responsive nature of communications on the Internet, has resulted in users being far less inhibited about the contents of their messages than in any other form of media. Computer Crime One of the biggest threats for the online community comes from various ways in which a computers network in general and the Internet in special might be used to support computer crime.The list of such actions is vast as â€Å"criminals are doing everything from stealing intellectual property and committing fraud to unleashing viruses and committing acts of cyber terrorism† (Sager, Hamm, Gross, Carey & Hoff, 2000) and a few of the most dangerous and common ones have already entered the general IT folklore. The Association of Information Technology Professionals defined computer crime as including â€Å"unauthorized use, access, modification, and destruction of hardware, software, data, or network resources; unauthorized release of information; unauthorized copying of 18 oftware; denying an end user access to his or her own hardware, software, data, or network resources; using or conspiring to use computer or network resources to illegally obtain information or tangible property. † Software piracy Software piracy is the illegal copying of computer software. It is also considered the computer industry's worst problem and, according to the specialists, has become a household crime. â€Å"People who wouldn't think of sneaking merchandise out of a store or burgling a house regularly obtain copies of computer programs that they haven't paid for†, (Hard- Davis, 2001).Software piracy is fought by legal means (licenses, copyright, trademarks and patents, and lawsuits, when all else fails). According to Zwass (1997), â€Å"deterrent controls (legal sanctions) and preventive controls (increasing the cost of piracy by technological means) can be used to combat software piracy. † Information technology is a key driver in the globalization and growth of the world economy. In a recent study of worldwide software market (International Data Corporation, 1999) the total worldwide package software market has been st imated at $135 billion. Worldwide expenditures on software are expected to increase to about $220 billion by the year 2002. The U. S. software industry is reaping the benefits of this hyper growth, having captured 70% of global software sales. According to (Software Publishers Association, 1998), the worldwide revenues of business- based PC applications was $17. 2 billion, but global revenue losses due to piracy in the business application software market were calculated at $11. 4 billion.This is very similar to the report of (International Research and Planning, 2001)’s Business Software Alliance (BSA), a watchdog group representing the world’s leading software manufacturers, which announced the results of 19 its sixth annual benchmark survey on global software piracy. The independent study highlights the serious impact of copyright infringement with piracy losses nearing $11. 8 billion worldwide in 2000. Figure 1 shows an interesting correlation between the national piracy rates compiled by the SPA with the per capita GNP for 65 countries in the year 1997.Higher software piracy rates are heavily skewed towards countries with low per capita GNP. The effect of GNP is much more pronounced for the countries with GNPs less than $6,000, as shown in Figure 2. Each $1,000 increase in per capita GNP is associated with a nearly 6% decrease in the piracy rate. These results indicate a significant income effect on the global piracy rates, particularly in the poorer segments of the world. The different ways of illegally copying computer software can be broken down into five basic ways of pirating. Counterfeiting is duplicating and selling unauthorized copies of software in such a manner as to try to pass off the illegal copy as if it were a legitimate copy produced by or authorized by the publisher. v Softlifting is the purchasing of a single licensed copy of software and loading it on several machines, contrary to the terms of the license agreement. This i ncludes sharing software with friends and co- workers. v Hard- disk loading is selling computers pre- loaded with illegal software. v Bulletin-board piracy is putting software on a bulletin- board service for nyone to copy or copying software from a bullet in- board service that is not shareware or freeware. v Software rental is the renting of software for temporary use. An interesting study regarding software piracy in academic environment was conducted at the Faculty of Business at the City University of Hong Kong (Moores & 20 Dhillon, 2000). A total of 243 usable responses were received, of which 122 were female and 121 were male. As shown in Figure 3, 81% of the respondents report they buy pirated software on a regular basis, with a significant minority (29%) buying every month, and 3% even reporting they buy several times a week.The most popular pirated software bought was spreadsheets, followed by programming languages, databases, word processors, and statistical packages. Oth er software mentioned included e- mail, graphics, and game software. Only 7% claim to have never bought pirated software. Illegal Information The Internet was designed as an inherently insecure communications vehicle. This allowed an impressive number of security gaps that led to numerous hacking techniques. Probably the most famous one at this moment is the denial of service attack, that led to the shutdown of many famous Internet sites, including Yahoo! , eBay, Amazon, and CNN.Other hacking tactics include spoofing (faking an web page to trick users into giving away critical information), Trojan horses (programs that are planted on user’s machine without his knowledge), logic bombs (instructions in computer programs that triggers malicious acts), and password crackers. According to Givens (2001), â€Å"Identity thieves are able to shop online anonymously using the identities of others. Web- based information brokers sell sensitive personal data, including Social Security n umbers, relatively cheaply. † In December 1999 300,000 credit card numbers were stolen from the online music retailer CD Universe database.That’s way it is considered a federal crime to possess 15 ore more access devices like cellular activation codes, account passwords, and credit card numbers. 21 Beside the theft that these kinds of devices enable, such actions lead to loss of trust from customers to such services that have been the target of hacking. It is also illegal in many states to have pornographic related material on your machine, and in some cases mere possession of child pornography is punishable by many years in jail. As mentioned before, possession or export of certain types of cryptographic techniques is a very serious federal crime.AMA Code of Ethics of Marketing on the Internet â€Å"All professionals find a code of ethics is useful to guide them through the sometimes thorny issues that confront them† (Klampert, 1998). Codes of ethics are an orga nized, written set of rules that describe expected behaviors. There are many such codes in Information Systems (ACM, IEEE, British Computer Society), but none of them has overall recognition. Most institutions that provide Internet access have formulated policies and procedures regarding the fair use of their facilities.The most frequent policies are grouped under the following categories: a Code for Ethical Computer Use (usually a written policy an institution has developed to describe ethical use of their computer system), an E- mail Privacy Policy, and an Internet Access Policy. One of the most representative such codes for the Internet community is the one that has been imposed by the American Marketing Association for its members. Below there are a few of the most interesting requirements, as they can be found in the latest edition of (AMA, 2001) Code of Ethics for Marketing on the Internet: 2 Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations with no use of Internet marketing th at would be illegal, if conducted by mail, telephone, fax or other media. Organizational commitment to ethical Internet practices communicated to employees, customers and relevant stakeholders. Information collected from customers should be confidential and used only for expressed purposes. All data, especially confidential customer data, should be safeguarded against unauthorized access. The expressed wishes of others should be respected with regard to the receipt of unsolicited e-mail messages.Information obtained from the Internet sources should be properly authorized and documented. Marketers should treat access to accounts, passwords, and other information as confidential, and only examine or disclose content when authorized by a responsible party. The integrity of others' information systems should be respected with regard to placement of information, advertising or messages. Conclusions This R paper gives a general overview of the most debated ethical issues related to the us e of Internet and their implications for managers and business practice.However, there are several other less critical aspects that should be considered by a very thorough revision and some very interesting papers on these subjects are listed in Appendix C. These aspects include unauthorized use of computer resources at work, accessing individuals’ private e- mail and telephone conversations and computer records by the companies they work for and other forms of computer monitoring, challenges to 23 work conditions and individuality that are brought about by computer systems, mistaken computer matching of individuals, and many, many more.To protect themselves and the people they work with, information professionals need to be as professional as they can be and, sometimes, must decline a project if clients insist that they do something they have moral objections about. Ethical considerations are inherent for any IT professional. Moral behavior, including acting with integrity, increasing personal competence, setting high standards of personal performance, accepting responsibility for your actions, avoiding computer crime, and increasing the security of computer systems developed are just a few of many such considerations.Overall, I believe that there is a critical need for heightened debate on professional ethics in Information Systems. 24 Appendix A Figure 1. Per capita GNP and piracy rates. Figure 2. Piracy rates and per capita GNP less than $6000 25 Figure 3. Frequency of pirated software. 26 Appendix B Cited Works 1. Choi, S. – Y. & Whinston, A. B. (2000). The Internet Economy: Technology and Practice. Austin, TX: SmartEcon Publishing. 2. D’Ambrosio, J. (2000,. January). Should â€Å"Junk† E- mail Be Legally Protected? [online]. Available: http://www. fmew. com/archive/junk/. October 26, 2001). 3. Davidson, Robert (2000, April). Professional Ethics in Information Systems: A Personal Perspective. Communications of the AIS, Vol. 3, Article 8. 4. Elbel, F. (2001, October 23). Junk E- mail and Spam. [online]. Available: http://www. ecofuture. org/jmemail. html. (October 26, 2001). 5. Elderbrock, David and Borwankar, Nitin. (1996). Building Successful Internet Businesses: The Essential Sourcebook for Creating Businesses on the Net. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide. 6. Ferrell, O. C. , Leclair, D. T. , & Fraedrich, J. P. (1997, October).Integrity Management : A Guide to Managing Legal and Ethical Issues in the Workplace. O’Collins Corp. 7. Givens, Beth. (2001, March). A Review of Current Privacy Issues. [online]. Available: http://www. privacyrights. org/ar/Privacy- IssuesList. htm. (October 26, 2001). 8. Hard- Davis, G. (2001, March). Internet Piracy Exposed. Alameda, CA:Sybex. 27 9. INET Legal Networks (2001). Defamation – Law for Internet [online]. Available: http://www. lawforinternet. com/subject_defamation. php3? searchkys=defamation =topdefamation. html. (October 26, 2001). 10.Internationa l Data Corporation (1999, February 10). Distribution of Worldwide Software Revenues Vary Dramatically [online]. Available: www. idcresearch. com/Press/default. htm. (October 26, 2001). 11. International Research and Planning. (2001, May). Sixth Annual BSA Global Software Piracy Study. [online]. Available: http://www. bsa. org/resources/200105- 21. 55. pdf. (October 26, 2001). 12. Johnson, Mark B. (2000, January). Software Piracy: Stopping It Before It Stops You. Proceedings of the sixteenth ACM SIGUCCS Conference on User Services. pp. 124- 131. 13. Klampert, Elizabeth (1998, July 13).Business Ethics for Information Professionals. Proceedings of the AALL 1998 Conference on Independent Law Librarian Program, Anaheim, CA. 14. Lehman, B. A. , (1998). The Conference on Fair Use: final report to the commissioner on the conclusion of the Conference on Fair Use. Washington, DC: Office of Public Affairs U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. 15. Losey, Ralph C. (1995). Practical and Legal Protec tion of Computer Databases [online]. Available: http://www. eff. org/Intellectual_property/database_protection. paper. (October 25, 2001). 16. Miller, M. J. (2001, February 6).Bush’s Privacy Plan. PC Magazine, Vol. 20, No. 3. 28 17. Moores, T & Dhillon, G. (2000, December). Software Piracy: A View from Hong Kong. Communication of the ACM, Vol. 28, No. 10, p. 88- 93. 18. O’Brien, J. A. (2002). Management Information Systems: Managing Information Technology in the E- Business Enterprise. New York, NY: McGraw- Hill. 19. O’Mahoney, B. (2001). Copyright Website [online]. Available: http://www. benedict. com/digital/digital. asp. (October 26, 2001). 20. Potts, David & Harris, S. (1996, May 16). Defamation on the Internet [online]. Available: http://owl. nglish. purdue. edu/handouts/research/r_apa. html. (October 26, 2001). 21. Resnick, P. & Miller, J. (1996). PICS: Internet Access Controls Without Censorship. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 39, No. 10, pp. 87- 93. 22. Sager, Ira, Hamm, Steve, Gross, Neil, Carey, John and Hoff, Robert. (2000, February 21). Business Week. 23. Smith, Steve. (2001, May). Copyright Implementation Manual [online]. Available: http://www. groton. k12. ct. us/mts/cimhp01. htm. (December 1, 2001). 24. Software Publishers Association (1998). SPA's Report on Global Software Piracy [online]. Available: www. pa. org/piracy/98report. htm. (October 26, 2001). 25. Weinberger, J. (1997, March). Rating the Net. Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 19. 26. Yoches, E. Robert & Levine, Arthur J. (1989, May). Basic principles of copyright protection for computer software. Communications of the ACM Vol. 32 No. 5. pp. 544. 27. Zwass, Vladimir. (1997, Spring). Editorial Introduction. Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 3- 6. 29 Appendix C Bibliography 1. American Marketing Association (2001). Full Text of the AMA Code of Ethics [online].Available: http://www. ama. org/about/ama/fulleth. a sp. (October 26, 2001). 2. Berman, J. & Weitzner, D. (1995). User Control: Renewing the Democratic Heart of the First Amendment in the Age of Interactive Media. Yale Law Journal, Vol. 104, pp. 1619. 3. BRINT Institute. (2001). Intelectual Property: Copyright, Trademarks and Patents. [online]. Available: http://www. brint. com/IntellP. htm. (October 26, 2001). 4. British Computer Society. (2000). British Computer Society Code of Practice [online]. Available: http://www. bcs. org. uk/aboutbcs/cop. htm. (November 30, 2001). 5. CETUS. (1995).Fair Use: A Statement of Principle [online]. Available: http://www. cetus. org/fair4. html. (December 1, 2001). 6. Cheng, H. K. , Sims, R. R. , and Teegen, H. (1999, Spring). To Purchase or to Private Software: An Empirical Study. Journal of Management Information Systems Vol. 13, No. 4, p. 49- 60. 7. Gopal, R. D. , & Sanders, G. L. (1997, Spring). Preventive and Deterrent Controls for Software Piracy. Journal of Management Information Systems Vol. 13 No. 4. pp. 29- 47. 30 8. Hinman, Lawrence M. (2001, September 15). Ethic Updates [online]. Available: http://ethics. acusd. edu/index. tml. (October 25, 2001). 9. Jamison, B. , Gold, J. & Jamison, W. (1997). Electronic Selling: 23 Steps to ESelling Profits. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. 10. Lending, D. & Slaughter, S. A. (2001, April). Research in progress: the effects of ethical climate on attitudes and behaviors toward software piracy. Proceedings of the 2001 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research. p. 198- 200. 11. Limayem, Moez, Khalifa, Mohamed , Chin, Wynne W. (1999, January). Factors Motivating Software Piracy. Proceeding of the 20th international conference on Information Systems, p. 124- 13. 12.Scott, Thomas J. , Kallman, Ernest A. , Lelewer, Debra. (1994 November). Ethical Issues Involving the Internet. Proceedings of the conference on Ethics in the computer age. pp. 31- 32. 13. Thong, J. Y. L. , & Yap, C. – S. (1998, Summer). Testing and Ethical Decisi onMaking Theory: The Case of Softlifting. Journal of Management Information Systems Vo. 15, No. 1. pp. 213- 237. 14. U. S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability Information Bulletin. (1998, March 12). Internet Cookies. [online]. Available: http://ciac. llnl. gov/ciac/bulletins/i- 034. shtml. (October 26, 2001). 31

Free Essays on Danger Of Cell Phones On The Road

Cell Phone vs. Beer We’ve all seen people driving down the highway trying to keep the mouthpiece of the phone up to their mouth, not paying nearly enough attention to the roads. Most of us have heard the debate on whether or not there should be laws concerning whether or not this type of behavior should be legal. It has become very obvious that the use of cellular phones, palm pilots, and other portable devices has grown in the past few years and will surely continue to grow. The true question is, how hazardous can these gadgets be when going down a highway anywhere from 45 to 75 miles per hour? Recent studies have been showing that talking on a cell phone while driving can be very dangerous, probably more than most people think. In a recent study done in the United Kingdom, scientists did research in which they compared drivers talking on cellular phones and those who were registered above the legal blood alcohol limit. The results are surprising. The study was carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory for an insurance company called Direct Line to show the dangers that drivers present while talking on cell phones and driving. It is common knowledge that people who drive while under the influence of alcohol, especially with blood alcohol content or BAC over the legal limit, are a danger to everyone on the road, but the results show that they may not even be as dangerous as cell phone users. Twenty people were tested on a driving simulator under normal conditions, while talking on cell phones, and while over the legal BAC. Reaction times of drivers using cellular phones were dramatically reduced from reaction times of a drunk driver, making the reaction time one third of a second longer than a drunk driver and half of a second longer than normal(Wrolstand 1). While cell phone companies defended their market by replying that they questioned the results, Dominic Burch, road safety campaign manager for Direc... Free Essays on Danger Of Cell Phones On The Road Free Essays on Danger Of Cell Phones On The Road Cell Phone vs. Beer We’ve all seen people driving down the highway trying to keep the mouthpiece of the phone up to their mouth, not paying nearly enough attention to the roads. Most of us have heard the debate on whether or not there should be laws concerning whether or not this type of behavior should be legal. It has become very obvious that the use of cellular phones, palm pilots, and other portable devices has grown in the past few years and will surely continue to grow. The true question is, how hazardous can these gadgets be when going down a highway anywhere from 45 to 75 miles per hour? Recent studies have been showing that talking on a cell phone while driving can be very dangerous, probably more than most people think. In a recent study done in the United Kingdom, scientists did research in which they compared drivers talking on cellular phones and those who were registered above the legal blood alcohol limit. The results are surprising. The study was carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory for an insurance company called Direct Line to show the dangers that drivers present while talking on cell phones and driving. It is common knowledge that people who drive while under the influence of alcohol, especially with blood alcohol content or BAC over the legal limit, are a danger to everyone on the road, but the results show that they may not even be as dangerous as cell phone users. Twenty people were tested on a driving simulator under normal conditions, while talking on cell phones, and while over the legal BAC. Reaction times of drivers using cellular phones were dramatically reduced from reaction times of a drunk driver, making the reaction time one third of a second longer than a drunk driver and half of a second longer than normal(Wrolstand 1). While cell phone companies defended their market by replying that they questioned the results, Dominic Burch, road safety campaign manager for Direc...

Introducing Jackie Robinson’s Life Was No Home Run for Racial Progress Professor Ramos Blog

Introducing Jackie Robinson’s Life Was No Home Run for Racial Progress Link to article: http://time.com/3942084/jackie-robinson-racial-progress/ The article by   Jason Sokol, Jackie Robinson’s Life Was No Home Run for Racial Progress, is one that links the story of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball, to modern day racial issues. Sokol states that the Jackie Robinson saga was not only a step forward for diversifying baseball, but a symbol of the back and forth battle between racial progress and racism. Freedom is ultimately the goal for Americans, but unfortunately it has not been gained by many citizens even now. African Americans still face poverty and unnecessary violence enforced by police officers. Going back to the Robinson era of American life, similar issues were present, though racism was more blatant. Despite Robinson’s success on the ballfield, African Americans had to put up with the housing segregation and discrimination which led to black ghettoes. Sokol states that â€Å"Robinson’s own family experienced the inequities first-hand. Jackie Robinson learned that it was one thing to integrate the national pastime, and quite another to desegregate white towns and neighborhoods.† The inequality experienced by the Robinson’s was mainly fierce housing discrimination. For instance, when they had found a house at last, they â€Å"offered the asking price, waited for weeks, and were told that the price would be raised by $5,000.† This obvious act of racism was normal at the time and was used to keep black people from being able to buy houses in white neighborhoods. The story of the Robinsons, Sokol tells, is the harsh reality of race relations in this country. He states that cheering on black baseball players or celebrities isn’t enough to solve the conflict and discrimination forced upon African Americans still to this day. Sokol advises that to truly take steps forward, American citizens need â€Å"to stop the rising tide of mass incarceration and police brutality . . .† If we can achieve that, Sokol contends that we will be able to make true progress and break down the barriers that are keeping African Americans from reaching the freedom to feel safe and welcome everywhere in this country (Sokol). Sokol, Jason. Jackie Robinson’s Life Was No Home Run for Racial Progress. 15 July 2015.  http://time.com/3942084/jackie-robinson-racial-progress/. Date accessed: 30 October 2018. Link to picture: http://social.rollins.edu/wpsites/thirdsight/files/2016/11/whiteonly.jpg Discussion What do you think we can do to make racial progress happen? Why did people discriminate against Robinson and his family in spite of his fame? What the difference between racial progress and racial inequality? Will people get treated inequally even if they strive to be something better ?

Bill Recommendation Essay Example for Free

Bill Recommendation Essay Is it a good idea for those individuals convicted of armed robbery to receive double the sentence that it is now? In my opinion the answer is no. Policy making in the field of criminal justice is extremely vital to society. Punishments can be very confusing in the fact of what is appropriate. What is too much and what is too little? There have been many studies that show that there is little or no deterrent of crime such as armed robbery when the punishment is a long sentence to prison. The reason for this lack of deterrent is because the person who is committing the crime or crimes knows what is at stake, yet he or she chooses to commit the robbery anyway. This is because the gains of that robbery outweigh the prison sentence. The main purpose of this bill is to stop or at least lessen the amount of armed robbery that is being committed by putting those who commit the crime behind bars for a longer period of time. This seems like a good idea at first glance. However there is more to this proposition. Lengthening the prison sentence is being used as a deterrent or to simply take the bad guys off the street for longer. This has not worked in the past and will not work now. Facing a long sentence has not deterred robbery from happening. If prison sentencing was enough robbery would not be around in society especially not as frequent as it is today. According to a study done by the FBI in 2006 447,403 robberies were reported to the police, which equals out to a rate of one robbery per minute in the United States (McGoey, 2014). The punishment for robbery can be up to 25 years in the United States. Doubling that and making the sentence 50 years will hardly make any change in the robbery rate. If anything it would just cause the jails and prisons to  become overpopulated quicker, costing taxpayers more money. There are more effective ways to address a crime than make the punishments more intense or longer. The classic school of criminology is what I base my recommendation on. In the late 1700’s, which are the time that the classical school came about, the punishment for crimes was extremely cruel and would be seen today as barbaric. Cesare de Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham played a tremendous role in the theory of criminology and criminal justice today would not be where it is without them. Their main focus was to lessen the harsh punishments implemented by the judicial system at the time (Schmalleger, 2012). Cesare de Baccaria believed that preventing crimes would benefit a society more than punishing someone who committed a crime. This belief was the driving force of the classic school of criminology. He believed the punishment should fit the crime for instance theft should be punished through the use of fines and crimes that cause personal injury to be punished by corporal punishment. This would, in turn he believed, prevent these crimes from happening. Jeremy Bentham viewed crime a little differently than Beccaria. Bentham was viewed as a utilitarian. He believed that the punishment for any crime must be that of the greater good for the community. Basically stating that any pain being used as a punishment towards an offender must be justified to benefit the good of the society. Modern criminal justice still holds its foundation in that of the classic school of criminology. Having said that, long prison sentences do act as a major deterrent for many criminals, but poses a major conflict of ideas to that of the classic school of thought due to the fact that crimes are committed based on free will and rational thinking. many factors such as emotional instability in s sudden moment, and mental and physical disorders that a longer prison sentence simply would not abolish. There is also the very likely chance that drugs and or alcohol is involved.  If the offender is being driven by an addiction nothing, surely not a longer prison sentence is going to persuade his or her decision (Schmalleger, 2012) With all of that being said, the answer to decreasing crime, more specifically armed robbery, a longer prison sentence is not the answer. The question at hand is: what is the answer? This is a question that is going to be debated as long as crime is resent in the population. Juvenile criminals usually mature into adult criminals, so perhaps putting more criminal emphasis on juvenile crime must be done. In addition to everything, it is well known that drugs are the foundation of many crimes. Drugs are responsible for many thefts and robberies, and more time behind bars is not going to make a drug addict think twice before robbing someone. More emphasis needs to be put on the war on drugs and alcohol addiction. Put the taxpayers money to good use by stopping the spread of drugs, not on paying for more people inside if jails. Lets stop the robberies from happening. McGoey, C.E. (2014). Robbery Facts: Violent Crime Against Persons.

Briefly discuss, using specific examples, the issue of vaccine safety Outline

Briefly discuss, using specific examples, the issue of vaccine safety - Outline Example They argue that the effectiveness and safety of vaccines are not guaranteed. Issues surrounding the safety of vaccines are based on the fact that the use of vaccines has been associated with health problems that occur as side effects upon using vaccines. Specifically, autism has controversially been a condition that has been linked to the use of vaccines, with children within the relevant age bracket being the most vulnerable. In this regard, parents have raised concerns over the underlying risks in vaccine use. Governments, states, and more especially medical interventionists are embarking on monitoring health status of most vaccinated patients in a bid to ensure that vaccines remain safe, over and above being effective (Miller, 2009, p.173). While most vaccines have passed safety tests, cases of vaccines that are not safe cannot be ruled out. The occurrence of health problems that result from vaccines also remains an open phenomenon, thereby necessitating intensive analysis of vaccines’ side effects and subsequent health complications that they are likely to

Self Cleaning Toilet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self Cleaning Toilet - Essay Example My target market will include homes and public places where at homes, this product will facilitate old age people, working men and women, and children; and also, this product will be used in schools and colleges, offices, parks, and shopping areas. The main intention before the usage of this product will be the saving of time and energy in using toilets. Since old age people and children are too feeble to clean the toilet after using it and working people and students are also running short of time, hence this product is especially designed for them. Public places also need them since people often do not consider cleaning the toilets themselves properly after using them. Public places need to be hygienically cleaned which this product very efficiently ensures because the cleaning cycle is nearly of forty seconds which includes the flush, the cleaning of bowl and seat, and disinfecting and drying of the floor. My Marketing Approach I would mainly use the brochure marketing approach. M y color brochures will actually be a guide for the readers that would tell them the usefulness of the automated toilets and how they are going to save them time and energy.

Stratigic Management - McDonalds Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Stratigic Management - McDonalds - Assignment Example The analysis of these factors can reveal the internal strengths and weaknesses of a company (Barnat, â€Å"Internal Organizational Analysis†). McDonald’s is one of the biggest fast food restaurants with customer base of 47 million. McDonald’s operates in almost 119 countries in the world. It has complicated distribution channel and its supplier’s network is spread throughout the world. McDonald’s marketing strategy aims to raise the sales and to maintain its brand image. McDonald’s constantly alter the strategies according to the customer’s tastes, standard of living and opinions. McDonald’s is quite approachable in countries where people are sensitive towards consuming various foods, for example, the market of India (Scribd, â€Å"Internal Analysis on Macdonald’s†). ... In the year 2006, McDonald’s had faced criticism in Japan because of including forbidden foods and dishonest coloring of apple pies. Another critic stated that McDonald’s and its other fast food competitors demoralized native cooking and developed identical international culture. Besides, McDonald’s had faced bad reputation because of unhealthy food and bad employee relation in many of their outlets. There was objection against McDonald’s for making people work for lower wages (Gibison, â€Å"McDonald’s: A Good Image with Bad Ethics†). Section 3: In-depth Internal Analysis Resource Based View of McDonald’s The marketing strategy of McDonald’s is based on the internal resources. Tangible Resources: Product: With regard to fast food products there are many choices for a customer. Thus, McDonald’s focuses on creating a menu that most of the consumers require as well as prefer. McDonald’s always examine the preferences of customers as the preferences change from time to time. To facilitate the change in preference, McDonald’s continuously develop new products and replace old products (McDonald’s Corporation, â€Å"Marketing at McDonald’s†). Intangible Resources: Brand Reputation: McDonald’s has good brand reputation. In the year 2008, it was ranked number eight among other international brands. It had ranked in first position among other fast food international brands. The brand value was calculated to be around 49,499 million USD. In the fast food markets of North America, McDonald’s brand was ranked in seventh position (Millward Brown Optimor, â€Å"Top 10 0 B rand Ranking†). In the year 2010, McDonald’s brand was ranked sixth in the year 2010, among ‘most valuable global brands’ (Social Brand Value, â€Å"Brand

Crime Scene Investigator Behind Mysterious and Unusual Deaths Case Study

Crime Scene Investigator Behind Mysterious and Unusual Deaths - Case Study Example There were three types of shoe marks there which indicated three types of footprints in these footprints it also became evident that one of that one out those three people was a female. The way the footprints were placed was favouring the fact indicating that the boy not dead body only struggle with the two men while the woman is standing at one side only watching or recording what is happening which was also raising a doubt that may be the reason of this crime the fight is that woman. A medical expert and police photographer that was there came forward and after all the shots of the body were taken. The medical expert started examining the body by just throwing a careful watch on it and along with that he also started collecting useful information. After this aspect was covered the body was searched for the belongings with the dead body but all his pockets were empty and were torn and it was giving evidence that they had been emptied freshly most probably by the criminal. This aspec t of the investigation gave another picture that he was killed maybe because he had some property with him and the criminals were trying to snatch that. Photographer was taking pictures from all every angle of the body as a set of â€Å"CSI shot† (This is the technique of shooting extreme close-ups, normally with explanatory commentary from one of the characters from the media) (CSI, 2004). Measurements and a rough sketch were made to preserve the scene for further study and investigations and possible reconstruction.

Victoria Kite Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Victoria Kite Company - Essay Example Total collections $47200 $66100 $51500 January February March Schedule c: Purchases Budget Desired ending inventory $0 $0 $0 Cost of goods sold $20950 $37500 $19000 Total needed $60000 $37500 $19000 Beginning inventory $39050 $0 $0 Purchases $20950 $37500 $19000 Schedule d: Disbursements for Purchases 100% of previous month's purchases $23050 $20950 $37500 March 31 accounts payable $19000 Financial Statements Exhibit I VICTORIA KITE Budgeted Statement of Cash Receipts and Disbursements For the Three Months Ending March 31, 2005 January February March Cash balance, beginning $5000 $5000 $10850 Minimum cash balance desired $5000 $5000 $5000 (a) Available cash balance $0 $0 $5850 Cash receipts and disbursements: Collections from customers (Schedule b) $47200 $66100 $51500 Payments for merchandise (Schedule c) $35550 $37500 $19000 Rent $8050 $250 $250 Wages and salaries $15000 $15000 $15000 Miscellaneous expenses $2500 $2500 $2500 Dividends $1500 $0 $0 Purchase of fixtures $0 $0 $3000 (b) Net cash receipts & disbursements ($154000) $10850 $11750 Excess (deficiency) of cash before financing (a + b) ($15400) $10850 $17600 Financing: Borrowing, at beginning of period $15400 $0 $0 Repayment, at end of period $0 $0 $15400 Interest, 10% per annum $0 $0 $385 (c) Total cash increase (decrease) $15400 $0 ($15785) from financing (d) Cash balance, end (beginning balance + c + b) $5000 $10850 $7665 Exhibit II VICTORIA KITE Budgeted Income Statement For the Three Months Ending March 31, 2005 Sales (Schedule a) $175000 Cost of goods sold (Schedule...Thus, the JIT philosophy is an elimination of non-value adding activities in the company's supply chain to boost manufacturing efficiency, driving down cost, and ensuring maximum customer satisfaction by driving down prices of commodities. This report will look at the feasibility and compatibility of this system to the company's current operations. Since these factors can be best measured quantitatively, this report will present a master budget utilizing the company's assumptions. Part 1 will provide the schedule of Victoria Kite's sales budget, cash collections, purchases budget and disbursements. The next part looks at the impacts of JIT to the company's financial performance by providing a pro-forma income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet for the first quarter of 2005. The financial statements presented in Exhibits 1-3 shows that JIT will bring in profits and incremental shareholder