The Coalition for Computer Ethics, which is embodied as the Computer Ethics Institute (CEI), concentrates on the interface of advances in information technologies, ethics, and corporate and public policy. The CEI acknowledges industrial, academic, and public policy organizations and is concerned with the ethical issues concerned with the advancement of information technologies in society.
CEI has asserted the following ten commandments of computer ethics:
- Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
- Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s computer work.
- Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files.
- Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
- Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
- Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
- Thou shalt not use other people’s computer resources without authorization or the proper compensation.
- Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellectual output.
- Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing for the system you are designing.
- Thou shalt use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.
