Technology has a positive impact on the world (Williams, 2011). Computers have eased the life of people by making it easier to copy and modify information. This is due to the fact that digital information is more flexible as opposed to printing press. According to Ferreira (2011), digital information is easy to share and copy. This topic explores the use of software in the society and what ethical issues arises from its use. This topic is interesting and very relevant because it discusses how the software should be used in the society and the ethical issues involved. It includes all the issues involved in computer law which is a very interesting topic, sine, many people want to be aware of what is involved in the use of digital technology.

Free software is defined as the ability of the user to freely study, modify and share the software. The use of free software requires one to make a political and ethical choice allowing them to have the right to learn and share what they have learned with others (Williams, 2011). The use of free software has become the basis of a learning society since knowledge is shared in such a way that others can expand on it and at the same time enjoy. However, decisions concerning the use of the software are determined by the existence of software inevitability. Despite of the advantages associated with using free software many people who use the software currently are not given these benefits and freedoms (Wheeler, 2011). This has gone as far as being charged with criminal offence when found sharing of trying to figure out how the system works. Williams (2011) stated that, some of the corporations that developed the software often spy on the user’s activities and prevent them from sharing with others. However, the software are not a threat to free society this is because most of our personal information is controlled by our computers.

The question about the use of the software debatable. Some vote for the use of software to be free and others do not. The government cannot make this decision because it has adopted both of the sentiments about the use of software (Wheeler, 2011). On the other hand the developers and cooperation associated in the development of the software consider this on the grounds that the decision made should maximize the developer’s profit. The law is not in a position to decide the use of software since it should conform to ethics. Also current behaviors cannot determine the answer to this but they can offer possible solutions (Wheeler, 2011). Therefore, the best way of handling this issue is through recognizing the owners of the software by conducting a cost-benefit analysis on the behalf of the society.

The main ethical issue involved in the use of software is piracy, this is common in the universities and colleges (Santos et al., 2011). Apart from piracy institutions and individuals have been found to violate copyright law. More of the ethical issues involved in the use of software include: unauthorized copying of software by individuals and institutions; unauthorized use of the software; misuse of the software and lack of respect for the software developers. When looking at the ethics involved in the use of software the relationship between the humans and computer should be considered (Ritchie et al., 2013). Some of the ethical issues that arise from the relationship between humans and computer is: computer system failures; legal implications of writing computer programs; data security and software procurement.

The use of software has made our work easier and has enable us to accomplish many tasks using the computer. However, some people have end up committing software crime such as using unauthorized copies of software, in order to do their work faster and effectively (Ritchie, 2013). They are several methods that can be applied in the attempt to prevent such crimes. Some of the applied methods are: educating the people on the consequences that arise from unauthorized use of software; they are copyright laws that protect the software developers and investors as well as software authors; notifying institutions such as colleges and universities of the effect of illegal use of software on the institution, the institutions may incur legal liability; ensuring the work of the software developers is respected by the software users and finally the developers should be notified on the effects of illegal use of software on their work, it can lead to: failure to develop a new software product, increased prices, reduce the level of future support from investors and deprive fair return on their work (Santos et al., 2011).

Moral principles and practices of the people involved are the foundation of all digital systems.Bryman (2012) argued that, as much as people are part of the solution they are also part of the problem. Therefore in making ethical decisions concerning the use of software both the developer and the user should be made aware of the ethical issues associated with the use of software.

The use of software is very important in the world today. Many of our activities and personal information are controlled by the computer. Also the use of computers has made our work much easier. Therefore, it is very important that we learn the proper way of using the software. The decision of making the use of software free is not yet decided but should be decided in consideration of both the developer and user of the software. The use of software is faced with a lot of ethical issues that affects both the developer of the software, the investors, software authors and the software users. This issue should be not be taken lightly since it has very serious consequences and effects to the software developer. Both the parties should be educated on the proper use of the software and the consequences associated with improper use of the software. Also it is important to involve the developer and the software user on the ethics decision involving the software.

Bibliography
Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods. Oxford university press.
Ferreira, D. F. (2011). Sisvar: a computer statistical analysis system. Ciência e Agrotecnologia, 35(6), 1039-1042.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., & Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.
Santos, B. S., Dias, P., Silva, S., Ferreira, C., & Madeira, J. (2011). Integrating user studies into computer graphics-related courses. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE, 31(5), 14-17.
Wheeler, D. A. (2011). How to evaluate open source software/free software (OSS/FS) programs. URL http://www. Dwheeler. Com/oss_fs_eval. Html.
Williams, S. (2011). Free as in Freedom [Paperback]: Richard Stallman’s Crusade for Free Software. “O’Reilly Media, Inc.”.