The New York Times and other media have reported that James Liang, a software engineer, was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined $200, 000 for his role in developing software that deliberately deceived emission testing equipment to understate emissions levels. The software combines the hardware and mimics the unique input characteristics of the emission testing equipment to modify the engine mode and achieve the goal of lowering the exhaust emission level. In normal driving, the software turns off the controls to improve torque or reduce fuel consumption.
The cost of the scandal, which exceeded $24 billion in the United States alone, has reignited debate about the ethics of software engineering.
An IEEE article explores the ethical issues in such cases. Yotam Lurie, senior lecturer in business ethics at Ben-Gurion University in Negev, Israel, points out:
In the same article, Shannon Vallor, chair of philosophy at Santa Clara University in California, points out:
The Business Ethics Case Analysis adds the incident as a Case study as a scandal that reveals a series of ethical principles violated by companies.
Where does software engineering ethics come from? Should Software engineering professionals be socially responsible first? Did the engineers involved refuse to cooperate to produce software and hardware that was deliberately designed to deceive regulators?
There are several professional organizations that offer a code of ethics or conduct for software engineering. For example, THE ACM provides a Code of Ethics and Professional Practice for software Engineering, which specifies the responsibilities of software engineers as:
Software Engineering Knowledge System (SWEBOK, Software Engineering Body of Knowledge has an entire chapter on Software Engineering Professional Practice, which includes ethical and Professional guidelines.
Volkswagen Engineer Sentenced to 40 Months Prison
