Ethical CD burning?

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Ethical CD burning?

Everyone likes to find a good deal. When people are shopping and they find out the item they wanted to buy is cheaper than they expected, they are made happy. People like to receive things for cheap or even free. But as the familiar saying goes, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” This is because someone is always paying. One person may receive “a free lunch,” but it is not entirely free because there is someone in the background that still has to cover the cost. CD burning goes the same way. The people who use this technology are very happy because they have received something for cheaper than it would have been without the technology, but they did not receive something that was completely free. Somewhere out in the world there is someone who had to pay for that decision. The debate over CD burning revolves around whether it is right in some cases or not. The technology of burning CDs has many advantages and positive aspects to it but there are also negative aspects and ethical issues to consider.

CD burning enables any individual with the software and equipment to make a duplicate copy of any compact disc. Compact disks are also able to hold information, and this is a major advantage of burning technology. With the ability to burn information onto CDs, people are now able to make larger files and presentations and are not limited as much by storage space as they were when floppy disks were the only medium to transfer data between computers. The ability to transport large files is an advantage for many people: from students with large projects to do to business men and women who have major presentations to give. Now people are able to transport larger files w...

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...rcumstances. As Christians it is our duty to examine this issue and find what our faith will allow us to do. We must be careful that we do not steal from someone else and carefully consider what it would be like for the person on the other side of the issue. “There is no such thing as a free lunch,” and we need to carefully consider the person who will be stuck with the consequences for our decisions.

Works Cited

Baase, Sara. A gift of fire: social, legal and ethical issues in computing. Upper Saddle River:

Prentice Hall, 1997. (World Cat)

Mo, Pu-Fan. Ethics of CD Burning. 15 May 2002. 25 Nov. 2002

<http://www.geocities.com/bluejeff/601.htm>.

NIV Bible. Ronald A. Beers, gen. ed. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1991

Weckert, John and Douglas Adeney. Computer and information ethics. Westport: Greenwood

Press, 1997. (World Cat)

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