Like most students at Arizona University, Ahmed was a student and spent 20 hourseach week working at the university library. He liked the library because it was quietand he could study some of the time. One interesting aspect of the library was theaccess to incredible databases, some of which were only for the professors. As astudent worker he was privy to all the database codes, and soon discovered largeamounts of materials for almost every class on campus.Bill, one of Ahmed's fellow library student workers, was constantly talking aboutdoing weird stunts and antics to put on YouTube. He was a nice person to be aroundbut sometimes he was a little overbearing. One evening when Ahmed started work,Bill was talking about the many ways to download pirated music, movies, and booksfrom the library's system. “It is very easy and untraceable. I just route my requests toa professor's IP address, then send it to several other faculty IP addresses so it isdifficult to trace. I then go to one of the library computers, log in as someone else, putin a CD or Blu-Ray DVD, and burn what I want. The people's computers I routethrough get a message that someone logged into their account, but the IT guys just tellthem it's no big deal and it happens all the time. IT never really looks into it becauseof the many systems and IP addresses on campus. Do you want me to get you anymovies or CDs?” Ahmed politely refused, knowing full well this could get a personexpelled from the university.Several months passed and Bill became more popular. Every day someone stoppedby the library desk where he worked and talked to Bill. The person walked to one ofthe library's computers, stuck in a disk, and several minutes later was gone. Ahmedlooked at Bill and shook his head. Bill responded with a smile. One day, Ahmedfound an envelope with his name on it when he went to his usual desk. When heopened it, there was $500 with a note saying, “Enjoy.” He started to ask people aboutthe money, but then saw Bill smiling. At that moment, Ahmed knew the money wasfrom Bill. He tried to give it back, but Bill refused to take it or admit he had given itto Ahmed in the first place.Ahmed became increasingly uncomfortable with Bill's behavior. He knew what Billdid was wrong and possibly illegal. He didn't want to be involved with it in any way,but he also didn't want to become a snitch. Now he was receiving money for hisinvolvement. Ahmed felt the situation was escalating and he should say something tohis supervisor before something really bad happened, but he didn't want to be the oneto get Bill in trouble. Ahmed knew Bill could be expelled for something like this,which could potentially damage his entire future. Then again, Ahmed had his ownfuture to worry about. Could he be expelled just for knowing what kind of activitiesBill was involved in? What should he do with the money Bill gave him? What mighthappen if he doesn't blow the whistle?
1. Describe the stakeholders involed in this ethical dilemma. what stake do they have in the situation?
2. Are Bill's actions an ethical issue, a legal issue, or both? Explain your reasoning.
3. What are some of the risks Ahmed faces if he becomes a whistleblower? What are the risk if he remains silent?