Instructions:
After reading the attached material, go the the following link and read the essay by Carl Sagan entitled A New Way To Think About Rules To Live By: http://tetrahedral.blogspot.com/2011/12/carl-sagans-new-way-to-think-about.html

Afterward, please write an essay addressing the following questions.

1.Which rule(s) do you live by personally? Give specific examples of how you apply the rules you identified in your life. Why do you choose these rules over others? Defend your personal position with sound reasoning.

2. Red Corp hires you to consult on an ethical issue they are facing. Red Corp recently discovered that its customer database has been hacked and published online, along with the customer database of its biggest competitor, Blue Corp. Red Corp had no prior knowledge of or involvement with the hacking until a Red Corp employee stumbled upon the files published on the internet and brought it to the attention of Red Corp management.

Red Corp has no idea how the files were hacked and published, or by whom. Obviously, since Blue Corp’s customer database is also published online, Red Corp doesn’t believe that Blue Corp had anything to do with the hacking (i.e. it appears Blue Corp was a victim to the same hacking as Red Corp).

Red Corp doesn’t know if Blue Corp knows about the databases online yet. Red Corp believes that if Blue Corp knew about it, Blue Corp would almost certainly use Red Corp’s customer information against Red Corp (i.e. try to steal Red Corp’s customers). Red Corp checked its account activity over the last quarter, and there doesn’t appear to be any unusual changes in business, so it is unlikely that Blue Corp knows about the databases (yet). Red Corp has begun the legal process of petitioning for its database to be removed from the internet, but the process is expected to take at least a few weeks because of the information rights issues involved.

What do you advise Red Corp to do? Tell Blue Corp about the databases online, and hope they will agree to a mutual good faith non-use of competitor information? Use Blue Corp’s database and go after Blue Corp’s customers, in anticipation that Blue Corp will likely do the same eventually? Ignore it and hope that Blue Corp doesn’t find it? Something else? On which of the rule(s) discussed in the Sagan essay do you base your recommendations, and why?

3. Suppose that Red Corp decides to use the database, and begins under-bidding Blue Corp and taking its customers. Witnessing this, Blue Corp investigates and discovers the customer databases (both Blue Corp’s and Red Corp’s) online. If Blue Corp does nothing, it believes that Red Corp will continue to steal customers. Blue Corp hires you to consult on a response. What do you advise Blue Corp to do? Retaliate? Ignore the information and the attack by Red Corp? Something else? On which of the rule(s) discussed in the Sagan essay do you base your recommendations, and why?

4. Did you rely on the same rules in your advice to question #1 and #2?
If you did, can you think of a different set of circumstances in which you would have given different advice (and relied on different rules)?
If you did not, why not? How were these situations different such that the difference caused you to change your basis of morality?

IMPORTANT NOTE: For the sake of these questions, you may assume that the published customer databases cannot be removed from the internet, and that law enforcement cannot help. While in reality, these options would be perfectly reasonable, they aren’t relevant to the purpose of the assignment.

The paper should be in APA format including a properly formatted cover page (abstracts are optional) and a reference page with at least five (5) academic references to include properly formatted in-text citations within the body of your work for each of your listed references so the reader can ascertain your original thoughts or ideas as well as the portion of your work that is credited to credible sources. It is very important to identify work from other sources to ensure that proper credit is provided to researchers in the field.

STANDARD TO MEET:

Thesis
Develops a focused and sophisticated research question or thesis that enhances the scholarly discussion of questions and ideas that are important to scholars in the discipline.

Introduction
The writing provides an exceptional roadmap for the essay. In addition, the introduction includes meets all of the following criteria:
    The introduction contextualizes the thesis statement by referring to larger issues in the discipline.
    The introduction provides rationale for pursuing the thesis by demonstrating a research need or question.
    The introduction articulates how the paper will address the key question or issue being studied.
    The introduction refers to relevant, appropriate scholarly literature.

Argument and Synthesis
The argument builds logically upon the thesis with research-based, discipline-appropriate supporting facts, evidence, and/or data.

The writing clearly describes major methodologies and practices of the field and implements them in creative and innovative ways.

The writing demonstrates the ability to interpret, analyze, and synthesize information to advance the argument.

Sources and Support
The writing communicates, organizes and synthesizes complex and contradictory information from multiple sources to advance knowledge in the discipline at a professional level.

The writing accurately quotes, paraphrases, and cites information in ways that are true to the original context with no errors.

Organization
The writing flows smoothly and logically from a well-defined thesis. There is a coherence in each sentence and paragraph that relates clearly to the controlling idea using appropriate examples. The flow of information demonstrates logical reasoning without jumps or shifts. The writing contains a through introduction, body sections, conclusion, and smooth transitions.

Style
The writing engages the reader through an original prose style appropriate to the subject. Language is precise and uses terminology appropriate to the discipline. All sentences are solid and reflect mature writing. Variety in sentence structure contributes to the logical flow and enhances readability.  Active voice and passive voice are used appropriately for the subject matter.

Mechanics and Grammar
The writing is free of spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, grammatical errors and proofreading errors.

Formatting
Provides a high-caliber, correctly formatted assignment in the assigned citation style. All citations in the text and in the references are accurately cited in the appropriate style.