laws lecture 2015

8/18/2019 Laws Lecture 2015

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JBC © 2014~ ECE Laws

JBCardenas © 1982

ECE Laws Codes Ethics and

Standards

Jose B. Cardenas, C.P.M. EE, ECE

Work in Progress

E-Leaning Module available

Work in progress

Common to other modules

OHP copy available

Checklist

Common to other courses

Maybe copied to answer sheets

Not normally provided in hard copy.

Course Lecture

This is Work in Progress

2016 © Jose Cardenas, v Beta


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ECE Laws 2JBC © 2014 ver BETA

Branches of Law

Nature of Law

• Divine Law

• Natural Law

• Moral Law

• State Law

• Physical Law

Branches of State Law

• Political Law• Labor Law

• Civil Law

• Tax Law

• Commercial Law– ObliCon

– Negotiableinstruments

– Corporation andpartnership

• Criminal Law

• Remedial Law

• Legal Ethics


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SubjectsObligations and Contracts

• Mode of study: Case presentation and Analysis

• Group or student discuss chapter, present case, then student or grouppresents their answer citing relevant articles etc… that apply, andthen ask class for the reaction

• Cases are initially pre-assigned, and at the later part of the coursecould be student authored

– Should cover a situation not earlier presented

• Selected students shall be assigned to do a more in depth analysisand submit a one page reaction paper, as well as required to askinteresting and relevant questions

Research and self study, aspects relevant to practice of ECE/Engineering

• ECE Radio Telecommunications Electronics Broadcasting Laws

• Engineering and ECE Ethics• Corporation Law, e.g.: ECE being incorporators partners

• Patent Law

• International Procurement Standards (Comms and Elec equipment)

• Technical Standards: PDH SDH mux rates, TL/FOC coler codes, etc…


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Excerpts of Some Articles

Selected articles, New Civil Code

• Article 1171

– Responsibility arising from fraud is demandable in allobligations. Any waiver of an action for future fraud is void

• Article 1172– Responsibility arising from negligence in the performance of

every kind of obligation is also demandable, but such liabilitymay be regulated by the courts according to thecircumstances.

• Article 1173– The fault or negligence of the obligor consists of the diligence

which consists in the omission of that diligence which isrequired by the nature of the obligation and corresponds with

the circumstances of the persons, of the time and of theplace. x x x– If the law or contract does not state the diligence which is to

be observed in the performance, that which is expected of agood father of a family shall be required.


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• Article 1156

– An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do

• Article 1163

– Every person obliged to give something is also obliged to takecare of it with the proper diligence of a good father of a family,unless the law or the stipulation of the parties requires another

standard of care.

• Article 1170

– Those who in the performance of their obligations are guilty offraud, negligence, or delay, and those who in any mannercontravene the tenor thereof, are liable for damages

In presentations, reports and reaction papers, the relevant articlesshould be cited with excerpt of relevant content, then own-wordinterpretation. For printed reports: including the impromtu end-of-term discussions: IEEE multi-modal format with ID picture


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Continuation…..

• Article 1253– Pay principal first before capital

• Article 1254

– xx

• Article 1306

– Parties may setup contracts to their convenience so long as itis lawful, moral, and not contrary to good custom and publicpolicies

• Article 1403– Unenforceable unless ratified: by party with no authority, non

compliant to Statue of Frauds, both parties incapable ofgiving consent


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Cite Relevant Articles

For presentations: only those relevant to the answer given,but have ready other articles that might be needed toanswer questions from the class

For written case analysis, cite the numbers only, though youmay use own-words to elaborate

For research reports, numbers only; same with other

sources, but include a bibliography



Some ECE Related Laws

Regulation of practice of ECE Some examples of Code and Std:

Delivery of Public Telco Services TIA/EIA: cable color codesElectronic Commerce Radio bands; spectrum assignment

Broadcasting Mux standards: SDH PDH

Delivery of Telco service Numbering plans

NTC organization various current circulars PCAB certification

Cable TV, Sat TV Station band assignmentLimits Radio and TV channels Separation between bands

Illegal connections

ECE Manuals, Ethics Manual, NSPE, US SarbOx, OSHA, business codes, etc…

Note: Consider latest and proposed versions, discuss old version only tocompare it with new. Discuss Philippine related laws, discuss othercountries only for comparison. In the discussion of a certain Law, includealso the affected technical Standards and Codes.



Corporation and International Commercial

Negotiable Instruments

• A written document, signed, for the unconditional payment of money on

demand or a future time, payable to order or bearer, and if addressed todrawee, he must be named with reasonable certainty

Some Business Matters

• Partnership 2 or more persons bind themselves to contribute to a commonfund to get profit; personality distinct from partners

• Incorporators signatory to articles, permanent, 5~15; corporators stockholders any number

• Share vs certificate of stock: interest if corporation intangible; evidence ofownership tangible

Procurement Practices

• Corporate governance: SarbOx, various Code of Ethics of local firms

• Default international procurement practices, purchase orders



Ethics Case Methodology

Cases are multi-dimensional, with more than one controversy

• Ethical aspect

– deontological– teleological

• Economic aspect

– Win-win

– Zero sum

• Political aspect

– Free market

– Intervention

– Socialism

• Organize data

• Put it all together

• Resolution of all controversies

Do Best vs Do Right

Definition of Good and Right

will vary with Individual

Do Bad is a No-No



Ethics

Some Issues, In Engineering

• Product and public safety

• Employee health• Sexual harassments

• Acid rain and environment

• Waste disposal

• Cover ups vs Privacy

• Professional Ethics

• Inappropriate gifts, bribery extortion

• Hacking, spreading viruses

• Dealings with other stake holders and public

HW4 sampler:

• See www starbucks.com/aboutus/So_Bc_FY09_eng.pdf• List 3 aspects that you most like, explain

• List 3 aspects that you least like, explain

• Create one for a hypothetical company you own

Some Issues, In Research

• Authorship

• Bias, Conflict of Interest• Data management, statistics

• Mentoring


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In Summary

+

Benefits both self and others

No benefit both self and others(You may fail course)

Benefits self only

Benefits others only

Egotism

P r e d a t i o n

A l t r u i s m

Piety

Ethical Behaviour = Character + Moral ReasoningFocus on outcomes vs duties and rules• Greatest good for greatest number, discerning which is good, time element• Interpretation or Rules

Quadrants



Character Self Survey

Attribute: List your own for ownership

Degree

deficient OK

Degree

Excess

Degree

deficient OK

Degree

Excess

Perserverance Compassion

Pride Courage

Wisdom Emotional Intelligence

Curiousity Gratitude

Ingenuity Love

Spirituality Self Control

Perspective Mercy

Judgement Honesty

Open Mindedness Prudence

Critical Thinking Optimism

Justice Out-of-the-box Thinking

Loyalty others

Character is one of two components that determines ethical behavious. Do a

periodic survey, and also as a friend to rate you. You develop your own list of

attributes for ownership and accountability.



The XYZ Case

X the supervisor, informed Y the technician that the computer system crashed due

to a power surge. After sometime, Y reported back to X that repairs can be made for

P20,000. X reported the same to the Chief Finance Officer who then instructed Y todig up all the underground and building cabling before the insurance adjustor

appears. P500,000 could then be claimed from the insurance company. Y refused.

When later Z – the newly hired manager and X’s boss, heard about it he

congratulated Y for his integrity. Y said that it doesn’t matter because X earlier

instructed him to do it. There is no confidential mechanism in place for reporting

wrong-doings internally, and no legal protection for whistle blowers. The company

is also losing business and have to refund some of its customers. There are rumors

this is not the first time the company made spurious insurance claims. Assume you

are Z, an ECE engineer. Explain from both deontological and teleological

perspectives. What will you do, and why?

C



Mga Bayani Case

Jose Bonifacio, the majority stockholder and chairman of the board of directors of Bayani Company, was

dissatisfied with the top executives of the company, a manufacturer of LED screens. The stockholders

had invested P50 million and the return on their investment had been poor for the past 3 years. In the last

meeting of the Board at the start of the year, Bonifacio fired the chief executive officer and (with Boardapproval) appointed himself as the new CEO. At the first management meeting, he asked two of the

managers to stand up and then fired them on the spot. At the budget review meeting that followed, he

ripped up the departmental budgets that had been submitted for his review and yelled at the managers for

submitting weak targets. He then ordered everyone to submit new budgets calling for at least a 13%

increase in sales and announced that he would not accept excuses for results that fell below target.

Andres Mabini, an ECE engineer working for the production manager, discovered toward the end of the

year that his boss, Manuel Aguinaldo, had not been scrapping defective LED screens that had been

returned by customers. Instead, he had been shipping them (repaired) as new to customers in order to

avoid booking losses and increase production output. Quality control had deteriorated during the year as

a result of the higher production rate and returns of defective screens were running as high as 17%

(previously 3%) of the new screens shipped. Mabini even managed to derive an equation showing linear

relationship between production volume and returns. When he confronted his boss with his discovery,Manuel told him to mind his own business. And then, in the way of a rationalization for his actions,

Manuel said, “Lahat kaming manga managers ay ginagawa lahat nang paraan para maabot angtarget”.

Manuel Aguinaldo and Bonifacio are both ECE engineers, Rizal from MIT and Bonifacio from the other

MIT. Bonifacio also has an MBA from Ateneo. STATE THE CORE ETHICS PROBLEM THEN

SOLVE,

Mi d C l C



Mind Control Case You -- an ECE engineer, are leader of a team of Filipino drone experts andengineers. Your team developed a unique way to control drones through brain wavetechnology (very unique at this time), and monitor them through voice technology

(quite rare but with few competitors). The safety issues with these newtechnologies are unknown but expedient product to market timing is critical – meaning you have to be ahead of competitors.

You want to develop, manufacture and sell the technology (not actual drones). Youdon’t have money – you need 1000, including working capital to develop prototypes.

Problem 1: prepare a 3 minutes presentation with a target audience comprised ofangel investors and venture capitalists to give you all the money needed to financethe project. Your class mates are the potential investors. You must be able toconvince them the concept is extremely profitable. Identify also your target market

or customers.

Problem 2: List the rights and obligations of all stakeholders: you, the financiers,design team, customers; citing relevant reference as much as possible. Again: it isthe technology and not the drones that is your major concern.

C C



3 More Cases or CWs1. Solidary debtors B and D owe solidary creditors A and C 20,000 at 10% interest

per on annum on original principal. D paid C 5,000 after one year and B paid A15,000 after another six months. D paid all the remaining if any to A after 3

months from previous payment. How much was the last payment, explain indetail how much for principal and how much for interest. Explain also the rightsand obligations of all parties after the last payment. Cite relevant articles(number only)

2. A obligated himself to deliver to B 75 pigs and to C 25 pigs. B in turn is obligated

to deliver to A 75 (similar) pigs. It costs 10% more to deliver a pig to A than to Bor C, delivery to B costs P1000 per pig. These is confusion and merger betweenthe persons of B and C. Detail or list all possible delivery options or alternativesto completely extinguished all obligations, e.g.: actual/partial deliveries, full andpartial compensation, etc... Then choose which is best for A and for B.

3. Explain briefly but completely and clearly in your own words the similarities anddifferences between these contract types: valid, voidable, non-existent,unenforceable, reccissible, remediable, and simulated. Provide clear, short andsimple examples. Then summarize in table format the comparison by identifyingand differentiating key elements.

G SW 01



Clare, as a Quality Assurance Engineer at a large electronics company is responsible for the

final testing of her company’s servers and is part of a team which decides when new products

will be shipped to distributors for sale.

Clare’s company has a contract with another company which makes the chips which are

incorporated into the servers Clare’s company makes. The business model for this product is

to release a new generation server approximately every six months, meaning she has a limited

timeframe to conduct her Quality Control tests.

Because there is such a short amount of time between the release of each next new product,

the Quality and Assurance department cannot perform every possible test on the servers to

ensure they are defect free. Clare will not ship a product if there is any possibility that the

server could malfunction and cause physical harm to the customer. However, she will ship a

product that has a higher likelihood of failure resulting in data loss for the customer, because

she knows that if she doesn't, her company's competitor will.

Is this an ethical way to conduct business? How should she determine when to ship a product

with known defects?

Group SW 01

G SW 02



Clare was recently promoted to a managerial position at her industrial engineering company.

With her new position, she is now responsible for overseeing the company’s production

factory, meaning approximately 50 factory workers now report to her. Although Clare

previously worked as an engineer and does not have any experience running a factory, she is

excited to begin her new position.

At the end of her first day, Clare is confused to see her factory workers continuing to work

well past the end of their 8-hour shift. She then goes to the factory supervisor (who reports to

her) to express concern because the factory does not have the budget to pay so many workersovertime. The supervisor smiles at Sarah and explains that the factory meets production goals

by making the factory workers work off the clock. The workers are well aware of this

expectation and went along with it in order to keep their jobs. Clare is shocked to learn this

illegal practice had become part of the company culture, but the supervisor explains that the

company’s CEO (who is Clare’s boss) is well aware of this expectation.

What should Clare do?

Group SW 02

G SW 03



SDX Alliance is a large company that sells computers, computer components, and software.

Clare is hired as an entry-level software engineer at SDX Alliance. Her first project was to

assist in writing the code for SDX Alliance’s new hard disc controller. He had previously

worked on a similar system interning at a start-up and had written a code which greatlyenhanced the performance of their product. Clare quietly re-uses this same code in the SDX

Alliance product, and does not think to tell anyone that she has used the code from her last

job. Her manager is thrilled with the speed improvements this code brings to the product.

Before the product is released, it has to undergo a four-month long quality assurance process

review. During the review of the product, it was found the code which Clare developed had

been copyrighted by the startup she had previously worked for. Even though Clare had

developed the code, her previous company still owned the intellectual property rights to it.

When her manager informed Clare of the problem, She admits she did not realize he had made

a mistake because she was not familiar with copyright laws. Clare then goes on to explain that

the start-up she used to work for is now out of business and is unsure if SDX Alliance would

be able to get in contact with the owner of the copyright. If SDX Alliance can’t use Clare’s

code, then it will have to rewrite the entire code of the product, delaying its release by many

months.

What should they do?

Group SW 03

G SW 04



Jocelyn is an intern at an power electronics startup. On her first day of work, she was shown

around a laboratory where she would complete most of her projects. During this time, she was

also introduced to nine male interns who would be sharing the same lab space. Since the lab

could only accommodate five interns at a time, a vote was held to determine who would workin the lab during the day (e.g. 8am to 4pm) and who would work at night (e.g. 4pm to 12am)

during certain days of the week. The morning shift was a popular option for a majority of the

interns; Jocelyn was fortunate to be selected for four (out of five) morning shifts. Weeks

passed. Jocelyn had been enjoying her work and almost completed one of her projects.

However, one day, a fellow intern asked how she was doing. Jocelyn commented that she was

“good but tired.” The intern replied that Jocelyn had “no reason to be tired because [she was]working mostly day shifts.” Jocelyn was offended, but chose to ignore his comment. The next

day, she ran into several interns, one of whom was the one she encountered the previous day.

At some point in group’s conversation, the same intern made a remark about how Jocelyn

“always got her way because she was a girl.” Jocelyn was upset; however, because she did not

want to cause a scene, chose again to ignore his remark. During the following weeks, Jocelyn

tried to avoid the intern who made the inappropriate comments. However, certain settings

forced her to interact with him and, in those times, he made a point to make Jocelyn feel

guilty and trivial. Because she did not observe him behave condescendingly towards the other

interns, Jocelyn speculated that her colleague held a prejudice towards female engineers.

How should Ramona respond?

Group SW 04

G SW 05


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On June 13, 1999, Coke recalled over 15 million cans and bottles after the Belgian Health

Ministry announced a ban on Coke's drinks, which were suspected of making more than 100

school children ill in the preceding six days. This recall was in addition to the 2.5 million

bottles that had already been recalled in the previous week. The company's products namelyCoke, Diet Coke and Fanta had been bottled in Antwerp, Ghent and Wilrijk, Belgium while

some batches of Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite were also produced in Dunkirk, France.

Children at six schools in Belgium had complained of headache, nausea, vomiting and

shivering which ultimately led to hospitalization after drinking Coke's beverages. Most of

them reported an 'unusual odor' and an 'off-taste' in the drink. In a statement to Reuters, MarcPattin, a spokesman for the Belgian Health Ministry explained the seriousness of the issue:

"Another 44 children had become ill with stomach pains, 42 of them at a school in Lochristi,

near Ghent, northwest Belgium. In the same week, the governments of France, Spain and

Luxembourg also banned Coke's products while Coke's Dutch arm recalled all products that

had come from its Belgium plant. The entire episode left more than 200 Belgians and French,

mostly school children, ill after drinking the Coke produced at Antwerp and Dunkirk.

As part of a damage control exercise, Coke sent a team of scientists to Europe. And after a

week, Coke's chairman and CEO Michael Douglas Ivester said, "We deeply regret any

problems encountered by our European consumers in the past few days." Coke Belgium even

announced that it would reimburse the medical costs for people who had become ill after

consuming its products. Comment.

Group SW 05

G SW 06


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ECE LawsJBC © 2014 ver BETA

In May 2000, the NHTSA in the US issued a letter to the Ford Motor Co. and Firestone Inc.

asking for information about the high incidence of tire failures on the Ford Explorer Sport

Utility Vehicles. During July, Ford analyzed the data on tire failures. The analysis revealed

that Firestone Radial 15 inch ATX and ATX II tires produced in North America andWilderness AT tires produced at Decatur, Illinois Plant had very high failure rates with the

treads peeling off. When the tires failed, the vehicle often rolled over and killed the occupants.

In August 2000, Firestone amid concerns over tread separation, accidents, injury and death

announced a voluntary recall of all 3.8 mn Radial ATX and ATX II tires, and 2.7 mn

Wilderness AT tires.

Analysts felt that there were as many as 250 deaths and more than 3000 injuries associated

with the defective tires. Most of the deaths occurred in accidents involving the Ford Explorer

and the victims and their families filed hundreds of lawsuits.

In May 2001, Firestone announced that it was severing its ties with Ford and alleged that the

problems in the Ford Explorer caused 174 deaths. Firestone alleged that Ford was trying to

divert attention from the problems with Explorer. Comment.

Group SW 06

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