Code of Ethics?

Today, I read with interest the following news:

Like doctors and lawyers, teachers may soon be subject to a “code of professional ethics”, which includes clauses for disciplinary action over corporal punishment, private tuitions and other “anti-community” activities.

This led me to think not about the teaching profession but about the other two professions which are already under the “code of ethics”. Are our doctors and lawyers always operating with ethics? Has this code done any good? If this code of ethics was a deterrent factor how did our CJI get embroiled in the current scam?

Trouble is brewing for former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, with allegations of amassing of property worth crores of rupees sufacing against his son-in-law and former Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer today demanded a judicial probe into it.

What is professional ethics?


Professional ethics concerns the moral issues that arise because of the specialist knowledge that professionals attain, and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a service to the public.


The professional carries additional moral responsibilities to those held by the population in general and in society.

One of the most far-reaching recommendations of the code is setting up of a professional body like the Indian Medical Association or Bar Council of India, which applies to professionals in their respective fields and imposes penalties in case of reported violations of ethical practices.

As stated above, is it because violations are not reported?



I guess, in the end it all depends on the individual when it comes to integrity and honesty. No amount of “codes” can make one perform ethically if one puts more value to money and power above “professional ethics”.




Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_ethics http://www.indianexpress.com/news/scams-embroil-top-exjudges-balakrishnan-and-krishna-iyer/729883/1 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-professional-ethics.htm

Honey, it is just money

It was not very long ago that Amazon.com upheld the right of their customers or their right to choose within the world's largest democracy by the following statement:

Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts; we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions,"

And if some of you missed this news and failed to see the kind of privilege/freedom it offered  to it’s valuable customers,

It was the following electronic book,

"The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct," by Philip R. Greaves II, went on sale on Oct. 28 and cost $4.79 to download.

But sane customers were quick to lodge their protest:

The book quickly sparked a massive protest online, with thousands of Twitter users and Amazon customers calling for Amazon to remove the book, and some threatening to boycott the company altogether until it did.

Even if Amazon.com was not forthright in its intention, the author was, since he did not mince his words:

"I can see where they would come to that kind of conclusion and to a certain extent I wanted that kind of notoriety to affect the book. ... I wanted it to effect sales," he said.

But I am glad that this world still is still sane since only one book was sold.

Not sure if those aspiring pedophiles were scared to download fearing watchful eyes, but it seems before Amazon pulled the book, it apparently shot to #96 on Amazon's Top 100 list.

And now Amazon.com has chosen to block wikileaks and  most of it's sites are under attack by hackers.

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/amazon-removes-pedophilia-book-store/story?id=12119035&page=1
http://www.dailypioneer.com/303373/Amazon-sites-down-after-WikiLeaks-supporters-threat.html