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Course Outline
• Introduction
• Ethics and codes of conduct
• Structure of organization (Software House)
• Financial practices
• Human resource management
• Intellectual property
• Cyber law
• Software related contracts
• Social networking responsibilities and ethics
• Information security and privacy
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Previous Lecture
• Intellectual Property rights grants exclusive rights to an
author for utilizing and benefiting from their creation.
• Intellectual property rights include:
– Confidential information: know how which goes into the development
of the product.
– Patents: hardware or a process used in its manufacture maybe protected by
a patent
– Trade marks: name under which a product is sold maybe registered
– Designs: look of the product maybe registered in the Designs Registry
– Copyrights protecting computer programs
• Plagiarism: practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas
and passing them off as one’s own
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Chapter 5: Computer Contract
Book: Professional Issues In Software
Engineering by F.bott, A.Coleman, J.eaton,
Diane Rowland 3rd edition
COMPUTER
CONTRACT
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LECTURE REVIEW
• Introduction
• Computer Contracts for
supply of Custom-built
Software
• Other Types of Software
Services Contract
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INTRODUCTION
• An agreement between two or more parties for
the doing or not doing of something specified.
• Contracts serve the following purpose:
– Set out the agreement between the parties
– Set out the aims of the parties
– Provide for matter arising while the contract is running
(conflict)
– Ways of terminating the contract and the consequences
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INTRODUCTION (cont..)
• If the contracts are too harsh or unfair causing any
issue between parties to be unresolved, it is the
responsibility of contract laws to contemplate
according to the rules.
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INTRODUCTION(cont…)
• There are almost never disputes over contracts
which run perfectly.
– Example of a ship carrying a cargo.
– Example marriage.
• In order to avoid disputes and future difficulties it is
better to draft a document which sets out:
– The terms on which both parties is to work.
– Methods of payments
– Appropriate ways to terminate the contract-notice
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INTRODUCTION(cont…)
• Contract should be clear, concise and consistent.
There should be no ambiguity and the parties to
the agreement should be left in no doubt as to
their rights and duties.
• Ambiguity and doubts can lead to performance
which is viewed as unsatisfactory.
• This can lead to disagreement and the
expenditure of time, effort and therefore money,
in resolving the matter.
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CONTRACTS FOR THE SUPPLY OF CUSTOM-BUILT
SOFTWARE AT A FIXED PRICE
• Software suppliers try to use what are known as
standard form contracts (tender) , which are used
or intended to be used many times over.
• Such a contract might consist of:
– a short introductory section
– A set of standard terms and conditions
– A set of appendices or annexes
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1. INTRODUCTORY SECTION
• It states that it is an agreement between the parties
whose names and registered addresses are given.
• It is dated and signed by authorized representatives
of the parties.
• It often begins with a set of definitions of terms
used in the course of the agreement, set out either
in alphabetical order, like a dictionary, or in the
order in which they appear in the rest of the
contract –The Company, The Client
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OTHER PARTS
2. Terms and conditions : do not change from one
project to another; they contain references to the
annexes, which contain all the project specific
material.
3. Annexes must include any document stated like
Requirements specification. This is to avoid,
– for example, the situation in which statements
made by an over-enthusiastic salesman while
trying to win the business are claimed by the
client to constitute part of the contract
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2. ISSUES DEALT WITH STANDARD TERMS
& CONDITIONS
• What is to be produced?
• What is to be delivered? (source code, command files, training to
employees)
• Ownership of rights (in physical items books, dics, documents or
duration of licence)
• Payment terms
• Calculating payments for delays and changes
• Penalty clauses
• Obligations of the client
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2. ISSUES DEALT WITH STANDARD TERMS
& CONDITIONS (cont…)
• Standards and methods of working (QA procedures)
• Progress meetings
• Project Managers
• Acceptance procedure
• Warranty and maintenance
• Termination of the contract
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OTHER TYPES OF SOFTWARE
SERVICES CONTRACT
• There are four types of contractual arrangement
which are widely used in connection with the
provision of software services:
1. fixed price
2. contract hire
3. time and materials
4. consultancy
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2 .CONTRACT HIRE
• The supplier agrees to provide the services of one
or more staff to work for the client.
• The staff work under the direction of the client
• Supplier’s responsibility is limited to provide
suitable competent people and replacing them if
they become unavailable or said unsuitable by the
client.
• Payment is on the basis of a fixed rate for each
man day worked.
• Issues such as delay payments, acceptance tests
and many.
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3. TIME AND MATERIALS
• It is somewhere between a contract hire agreement
and a fixed price contract.
• The supplier agrees to undertake the development
of the software in much the same way as in a fixed
price contract but payment is made on the basis of
the costs incurred, with labor charged in the same
way as for contract hire.
• The supplier is not committed to completing the
work for a fixed price, although a maximum
payment may be fixed beyond which the project
maybe reviewed.
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4. CONSULTANCY CONTRACTS
• Consultants are typically used to assess some aspect
of an organization and to make proposals for
improvements.
• The end product of a consultancy project is therefore
usually a report or other document.
• Consultancy projects are usually under taken for a
fixed price but the form of contract is very much
simpler.
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