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Chapter 14 Exercises

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Principles of MIS

© 2008 by Jerry Post
  1. Research the tools (hardware and software) available for a new employee of yours who is blind. List the sources, capabilities, and costs.
  2. Should people be allowed to use the Internet anonymously? Should ISPs be required to pay for hardware and software that can track individual usage in case of a lawsuit or criminal charge? Is it possible to prevent anonymous use of the Internet?
  3. Do you think governmental agencies should share data about citizens? For example, should the FBI be able to access IRS records to locate suspected criminals? Should the FBI be allowed to access files from state and local governments? For instance, should all arrest records be automatically relayed to a central database? Should medical records be accessible to law enforcement agencies? Say that it is technically possible for the FBI to build a national database that contains DNA records for all citizens. If all medical records (from accidents, blood tests, and medical treatment) were computerized and automatically forwarded to the FBI, the agents could easily locate virtually any criminal.
  4. Some remaining Federal laws limit the ability to create huge, integrated collections of personal data. Some agencies, including the FBI, have turned to buying this data from private companies (e.g., ChoicePoint). Should government agencies be allowed to circumvent laws by purchasing data on individuals from private agencies?
  5. Research the issues involved in electronic voting. What problems need to be overcome? What technologies could be useful? Does an electronic voting system have to be perfect, or simply better than the existing manual system?
  6. Should vendors be allowed to charge different prices for online products, or should everyone pay the same price? Answer the question both from the perspective of the consumer and as a vendor or artist.
  7. Should consumers be able to sue software companies for security failures or other problems with the software? What limits these lawsuits now?
  8. What aspects of education would you prefer to have online or automated? What elements would you prefer to keep in person?
  9. Find at least five news sites on the Web. Evaluate them in terms of (1) style/presentation, (2) accuracy, (3) believability, and (4) balanced news.
  10. Identify which privacy and computer crime laws would apply to the following situations:
    1. Someone configures a laptop at an airport and pretends to offer free Wi-Fi access. When people log on, he uses the system to capture their login data, then users their account to send e-mail to millions of people.
    2. A clerk in a dental office steals a customer’s SSN and date of birth and uses them to obtain credit cards in the customer’s name and run up thousands of dollars in debt.
    3. An investigator trying to obtain information on a subject calls a phone company and a bank pretending to be that person and tries to get detailed call and bank records (known as pre-texting).
    4. The owner of a small coffee shop running a Wi-Fi access point open to the public is approached by the FBI and asked to provide immediate wiretap data for a suspected terrorist using VoIP to make phone calls through the system. The owner has no clue what to do.
    5. Hacker from some East-European nation breaks into a NASA computer and shuts it down for 12 hours.
    6. A large retailer (such as Lands’ End) accidentally sends commercial e-mail to millions of customers, even though many have opted out of the messages.
    7. Someone enters false personal data into a Web service site, pays with his own credit card, downloads data, and then calls then repudiates the transaction with his credit card company.

    11. Toolbox logoTechnology Toolbox

  11. Find at least two translation sites and test them with sample text. If you read the second language, comment on the results. Translate the text back to the original language and comment on the quality.
  12. Find at least two foreign exchange sites and convert $100 (USD) into a different currency. Then convert that value into a third currency. Compare the results. How can they be different?
  13. Find the Web site of one of your senators. Summarize the features on the Web site. For example, what contact methods are listed, and what policy and voting information is provided?
  14. Assume that you want to start a business in your state. Using the Internet, find the forms and cost to incorporate a new business. Choose a name and verify that the name is available. Find the IRS forms that you will need.
  15. Find the most recent population and per-capita income numbers for your state and a large city. Use a federal data source and list the Web site URL of the data.

    16. Teamwork logoTeamwork

  16. Assume that you are selling a new release for popular music. Create a silent auction and have everyone write down the price they are willing to pay for the music. Add up the numbers to get the total revenue you would obtain. Now, look up an average price for a similar item. Assume that each person who was willing to pay at least that amount would actually buy the item, and the others would not. Count the number of items sold and multiply by the fixed average price to get revenue. Compare the two values for total revenue.
  17. Have each team member select a developing nation. Research the information technology available in that country. How do people get access to the Internet? What percentage of the people have used the Internet? Combine the results and create a list of options that might be used by other nations to improve Internet access.
  18. Split the team into two groups to participate in a debate. The proposition is that programmers and developers should be licensed. One group should find evidence and arguments to support the proposition, the other to defeat it. If possible, conduct an actual debate. Otherwise, outline your arguments and compare them in writing.
  19. Examine the arguments against electronic voting. Divide the arguments among the team members and have each person research existing technologies and proposals. Identify the methods used to avoid or minimize the stated problem. Combine the results and write a proposal defending the use of electronic voting.
  20. Interview or survey at least 30 people, not students in the class and be sure to include a range of demographics including older people. Ask them what they would think about a national ID number and how it might affect them. Ask them what they think about the potential benefits and how it would be different from the existing system.
  21. Split the team into three groups and have each group choose one nation. Find at least one computer-crime or privacy law for that country. Note: It helps if at least one person in the group can read Web documents in the country’s language. Combine the results and summarize which crimes are most commonly outlawed.

    22. Rolling Thunder Bicycles logoRolling Thunder Database

  22. What privacy problems might exist at Rolling Thunder? What rules or procedures should be enacted to avoid problems?
  23. Your boss says that with the decline in sales, it would be wise to cut costs and suggests that you could buy only a single copy of some of the office software and install it on multiple machines. What do you do?
  24. The management at Rolling Thunder is thinking about trying to get a patent for an online process of configuring and ordering a custom bicycle. Search the patent records to see if anyone already has a similar patent, and estimate the probability of obtaining such a patent.
  25. You logged onto the computer and noticed that many of the customer payment records were altered. You suspect someone attacked the database and stole and altered much of the data. What do you do?