"If you think it is difficult to do the right thing with your life, think about how difficult it will be to live your life doing the wrong things. Many people think doing the right thing is hard, and I agree with them, it is hard. On the other hand, doing the wrong thing seems easy, but boy, oh boy, does it get hard fast. And undoing the wrong thing seems to take a lot more time and energy than we thought, all the while taking this effort away from doing the right thing. So before you go for that easy, comfortable wrong thing, take a second look at what will be involved in undoing it, and then do the right thing. Believe it or not, doing the right thing turns out to be doing the easiest thing."

-- Edward W. Smith,

ETHICS refers to well-based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.


Ethics play a quiet, yet large part of our lives. Ethics come into play when we work, when we play, and at any time that we are interacting with others. Ethics are a set of rules that we each live by, essentially, although they are generally unwritten rules. Ethical behavior means that you are living, working, or playing in an ethical way - by the set of standards that are generally considered to be right or good.

Because we each have our own moral code, laws were written to protect us. Many of these laws are based on ethics, while others are not. However, most laws are there to more or less force us to practice ethical behavior, for fear of repercussions or consequences. Not all ethical behavior, however, has become law.

Take lying for instance. Yes, it is against the law to sit in a witness box, in a court of law, and lie. In fact, that is called perjury. However, it is not against the law to tell an acquaintance a lie. It is, however, unethical behavior. Cheating on your taxes is against the law, and unethical. Cheating when you are playing a game with friends or family members is not against the law, but it is still unethical behavior.

Most of us develop our own moral code - our sense of right and wrong - when we are growing up. We often base our morals on what we see around us. For example, if a child grows up with a parent who is prone to lying, that child may very well grow up to tell lies as well. They know that lying is wrong, but they don't necessarily see it as something that is unethical. In some cases, they won't even see lying as wrong, but instead as a way of life that they know.
 

REFERENCES:
http://www.ask.com/web?q=What+Is+Ethical+Behaviour%3F&qsrc=3053&o=15732&l=dir
http://ezinearticles.com/?Ethical-Behavior&id=2139600

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR COMPUTER ETHICS

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR COMPUTER ETHICS 

  Courtesy of the Computer Ethics Institute

1.  Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.

3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.

4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.

5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.

6. Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid.

7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization.

8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.

9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write.

10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.