Two words come up when describing human behavior in terms of right and wrong: ethics and morals. Are these words synonymous? There is much debate concerning the subject among experts of law, psychology, religion, and government.
Morals:
Morals seem to be more personally held beliefs, codes of action, guides to good and evil. Although a set of rules of behavior (moral code) may be espoused by a religious organization, increasingly in the modern world there is no censure for ignoring moral instruction or prohibitions. This is in part because of the separation of religious authority and governance (religious institutions no longer control the police or the courts in a modern democracy).
Furthermore many faiths struggle to define morality within their own communities (for example, how Christians deal with the issue of gay marriage). And many people do not adhere to a particular religious faith, but believe they have morals. In an increasingly global community there is a lot of debate about what is moral and immoral, and individuals are left to decide for themselves.
So the penalty for immoral behavior increasingly seems to be personal and psychological, in other words, guilt. Shame, which is public censure, also seems to be declining as an incentive to act morally.
In summary then, morals are what influence an individual's behavior when they think only God (or no one) is watching them. In this sense one might say morality works at a deeper level than ethics.
Ethics:
Ethics are a framework of laws and practices that are commonly accepted in society, defining good and bad behavior. Unethical behavior is frequently subject to civil or criminal penalty and public censure. Much of the ethical code of behavior in America is derived of Judeo-Christian morality (prohibitions on theft and false witness, for example). But much of what is called ethics also relates to specific business or professional practices, as in law, medicine, accounting, and even digital media.
Ethics are what influence an individual's behavior when they think their neighbors are watching. Behavior that is deemed both immoral and unethical typically carries severe penalties. Penalties for behavior that is deemed merely unethical are usually less severe, such as a lawyer being disbarred, or a doctor losing a license to practice.
It is possible that some actions might be considered immoral but not unethical. In our society, abortion is a personal choice, and the morality or immorality of that choice is hotly debated. But since there are no legal or professional prohibitions on performing abortions (within certain parameters), it is not unethical for doctors to perform them. Conversely, a government or corporate "whistleblower" may feel morally compelled to leak classified documents to the press, even though doing so may be considered unethical.
Information Technology ethics:
IT ethics relate to information: its accuracy, who owns it, who has access to it. Many of the ethical issues in multimedia come from related fields, like publishing and journalism. Information technology has added new urgency to many of these ethical issues because of:
1. The pervasive and global reach of the Internet, along with near-instantaneous publishing.
2. The anonymity made possible by the Internet.
3. The ease of manipulating digital information.
4. Access to vast stores of information made possible by the Internet.
Ethical issues in IT break down into 3 broad categories:
1. Information ownership and intellectual property rights, including the "right to privacy".
2. Publisher's responsibilities and liabilities, including the accuracy of information.
3. Access to information, and the public's "right to know".