ESTATE AGENT INTERNET SYSTEMS

Arunkumar Marepally(u0853756)

Vijay Shivarathri(u0853758)

Rama Krishna Nagubadi(u0847053)

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Table of contents

Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Terminology Used 5

Legal, Ethical and Social Issues 8

Early requirements model 15

Late requirements model 19

Architectural Design Model 20

Conclusion 22

References 23

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Abstract

An agent is a person who arranges business deals for the other

people. Estate agents work with property. Property is land and anything built

on that land. They also help people who want to buy a property. People who

want to sell their property are called sellers; people who want to buy a

property are called buyers.

Many people dream of owing a home. When deciding to buy a place of

their own, most people begin by looking at properties in the area where they

want to live. This is where they meet Estate agents. Some property owners

choose to rent out, or let, their property, rather than sell it. Some estate

agents work in the residential market. These agents sell or let property such

as houses, townhouses and flats. Other agents work in the commercial

market. These agents sell or let property such as shops, factories and offices.

3

Introduction

The Case study that is being discussed here for its ethical, legal,

professional and social issues in Estate Agents Internet systems. Estate

Agents Internet Systems are the computerized systems that give information

to the customers about the available Flats, houses, villas for sale and rent.

The information about the Estate agents and the available Flats, houses,

villas are displayed in the website and this is accessed by web users from

anywhere with the access to internet. The Estate agents internet systems are

mainly of great use to the customers who are willing to either buy a new

house or to rent a house.

In our case study we have used sec tro tool for designing the secure

analysis. We have followed the early requirements model, late requirements

model and architectural design model to design the diagram using the sec tro

tool.

Tropos covers the early stages of requirements analysis. It also helps

to understand better the interactions that will occur in the system

between the software agents and the humans.

Second, Tropes covers the full range of the software development

phases from the early analysis to the actual implementation and

testing.

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Terminology used

Actor: An actor is something or someone who supplies a stimulus to the

system. An actor cannot be controlled by the system and is defined as being

outside the system.

Goal: A designated attribute: determining the values of one or more goal

attributes is the objective of interacting with a rule based expert system.

Sub goals: is used to define non-functional requirements. It’s usually a quality

attribute of one of the intentional elements

Task: a set of program instructions that is loaded in memory

Resource: A resource, or system resource, is any physical or virtual

component of limited availability within a computer system. Every device

connected to a computer system is a resource. Every internal system

component is a resource

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Social issues

Social Questions Answers Ratings

Who will the project

impact on?

Buyers, sellers,

solicitors, estate agents

How will it impact on

them?

It will impact both

positive and negative on

the customers.

What benefits will it

bring to them/their

community?

Easy to access the site

from any where through

internet.

2

How will it benefit them? User saves valuable

time by searching the

website.

To what extent will it

benefit them?

Ease of access. 1

What negative things

will it bring to them/their

community?

Misusing the users data. -3

How will this negativity

impact on them?

Customer may loose his

personal details.

To what extent will it be Extraction of bank -3

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negative? details.

Any ideas for

compensating for the

negative with benefits?

Customers need to

approach authorised

estate agents

1

To what extent do you

consider the above

questions are accurate?

1

TOTAL -1

Ethical issues:

Ethical questions Answers Ratings

Will people be asked to

behave in ways outside

their acceptable

standards?

No

How is it different from

their norm?

All the norms and

regulations are equal for

all estate agencies

0

To what extent is this

outside their norm?

Estate agents should not

cross the legal norms

0

What percentage of their

lives will be altered?

Wrong information about

the property and price

-3

How might they react to

this?

Legal action -1

How have people

responded in the past?

Direct contact with the

agent

-1

Any ideas for

compensating for the

negative with benefits?

Customers should

approach genuine

agents

1

7

To what extent do you

consider your answers

to above questions are

accurate?

2

Total -2

Legal issues:

Legal Questions Answers RatingsWhat laws are relevant

to the project?Copy right law, Law of

confidence, Design rights, Trade marks and

passing off.

How many laws involved?

Four laws -3

How much do we understand the law?

Customers are not much aware of the laws

-2

How many countries involved?

More than two countries 2

How many times might we be running close to

the law?

lack of knowledge about law makes customers

close to law

-1

How many times might we be in danger of slipping outside the

law?

Quite often -2

What are the consequences of

slipping outside the law?

Facing legal action -2

Any ideas for compensating for the

negative with benefits?

Taking advice from the legal solicitors

1

8

To what extent do you consider your answers to above questions are

accurate?

3

Total -4

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES:

According to our coursework and ratings to the issues the professional

issues has positive impact on estate agents internet systems. The software

estate agents internet systems will create employment which in turn is a

positive aspect leading to employment for people who are seeking a career in

estate agency. There are related courses which gives all the information

about estate agents.

The professional issues will not encourage any kind of bad behaviour

unless the estate agency follows all the norms and regulations.

Issues Ratings Student name and idlegal issue -4 Marepally arunkumar

reddy

Ethical issue -2 Shivarathri VijaySocial issue -1 Nagubadi rama krishna

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Legal issues MAREPALLY ARUN KUMAR

Issues related to the right of way regarding the ownership of the

information.

Issues about the information theft that is possible with the information

being sent over the internet.

Legal solicitor should be consulted in order to prevent the legal risks.

Copyright infringement.

Debt collection.

Property must be free of defects.

E- Commerce.

Distance selling regulations.

Paying deposit.

According to our case study there are many legal issues

effecting estate agency. Issues such as acceptable material should be

used in the construction of houses. Another major issue that needs to

be addressed is the legal procedures regarding the information theft

over the internet and hacking laws.

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As there are overseas customers who will contact

the estate agency through internet they may not be aware of legal

issues of the property so they must seek an assistance of the legal

solicitors. To save the time and expenses, and travelling from different

countries the customers should give the power of attorney to the

solicitor to sign documents on their behalf.

There are four laws protecting the creative works, commercial

goodwill, information and trademarks.

The first law is Copyright law which protects from copying. The estate

agents must copyright their own creative works such as their website

name and their policies.

The second law is law of Confidence which protects information, trade

secrets, and contents of database. The information which is produced

by the seller to the agency must be confidential and same in the case

of buyers.

The third law is law relating to designs which protects the registered

designs. The website for estate agents has particularly their own

symbols or designs which must be protected.

The fourth law is Trade marks and passing off through which the estate

agents can protect their own trade marks as these marks may be in

respect of goods or services.

E-commerce is about selling goods and services via internet. The

buyer, seller and the estate agents are not face to face at any point. As

far as e-commerce transactions are concerned, the legislation is

primarily intended to ensure that online contracts are legally binding.

The distance selling regulations 2000 are mainly to protect the

overseas customers who are not physically present at the time of

purchase.

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Another issue is that the seller’s information about the

property such as repairs problems, problems regarding supply of water,

gas, electricity (section: 11, landlord and tenant act1985) and legal

problems involving about the property are obligated to disclose the

information which is against the law.

The buyers should cross check about the property

papers such as encumbrances e.g. mortgages or loans or any

outstanding debts. It is important to obtain a certificate from the local

land registry confirming that the property is free from encumbrances.

The buyers should ensure that there are no debts against the property

and are cleared before buying the property. The buyers should also

check for official tax documents issued by the local tax office showing

the actual value of the property.

One more legal issue which is taking place in estate agency is that the

buyers are asked to pay the deposit as soon as they sign the papers.

But legally once the seven day cooling off period ends then the buyers

can pay the deposit.

References:

Software and Intellectual Property Protection, Copyright and Patent issues for

Computer and Legal Professionals. By Bernard A. Galler

Legal Issues in Property Valuation and Taxation: Cases and MaterialsBy Joan M. Youngman

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/.htm

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/.html

www.patent.gov.uk/.pdf

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/.s=tl

http://www.naeba.org.htm

http://www.port.ac.uk/

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Ethical issues SHIVARATHRI VIJAY

The term ethics has many shades. Ethical would mean doing the right thing. If

taken in a negative manner it means manipulating your work procedures. High

ethical standards require in estate agencies to conform to sound moral values

and principles. Estate agents ethics relate to rules, standards and moral

principles regarding what is right or wrong in specific situations.

The estate agents should concentrate on delicate issues such

as race, religion, creed, colour, national origin, sex, age, ancestry, in among

other situations, the “term, conditions or privileges of such accommodations”.

The statute also provides that its language should be “construed liberally” for

the accomplishment of company goals. (gnerre case 1988,p.284).

Each estate agent has their own policies but same norms and

regulations. Every estate should follow the norms in order to support the

customers. Estate agents should never have racial feelings towards

customers. Estate agents should not give false information about the property,

so that the customer faces problem and their lives may be altered in many

ways. For example if the information about the property with issues are given

as property with no issues and later customer needs to face the problems like

water supply, electricity, tax etc.

There are many ethical issues but it is helpful to focus on just four ethical

issues that are related to estate agents.

1. privacy

2. accuracy

3. property

4. accessibility

Privacy - privacy in estate agents website deals with information about the

property and the details regarding the buyers, sellers and solicitors. The

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estate agents should strictly keep the information private as there is hacking

problems for all the online websites.

Accuracy - accuracy in estate agencies is a must. If the information is

misused and is given inaccurately about the property and the buyers blindly

trust the estate agents and it is the responsibility of the sellers to maintain a

good record of the property and following all the rules according to the law.

Property – one of the most complex issues we face today is the question of

intellectual property rights. Here the estate agents hold all the details

regarding the property and details of customers. There are several imperfect

institutions that try to protect the intellectual property rights. Copyrights,

patent, encryption oaths of confidentiality trust worthiness and loyalty are the

most commonly used protectors of intellectual property.

Access – estate agents have to be restricting access, in order to obtain the

customers, solicitors information to the unauthorised users. Based on the

importance of the user the accessibility facilities have to be granted. To

access ethically those situations where intellectual property rights conflict with

public access rights with regards to estate agents customer information.

Estate agency customers have the access to the information about the

available properties (Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I, New York, 1968)

As we have already mentioned, estate agent ethical misconduct has become

a major concern in business today. Estate agent ethics comprises the policies

and standards that guide their behaviour in the business environment. Estate

agent specific action is judged by customers, employees, investors, solicitors

etc.

References:

Capurro, R. (2000). Ethical challenges of the information society in the 21st century. International Information & Library Review, 32(3/4), 257-276.

Frické, M., Mathiesen, K. & Fallis, D. (2000). The ethical presuppositions behind the library bill of rights, The Library Quarterly, 70(4), 468-491.

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Vaagan, R. (Ed.). (2002). The ethics of librarianship: an international survey.

Social issues NAGUBADI RAMA KRISHNA

Some of the social issues are

Privacy and confidentiality issues

Ownership issue

Security.

Accessibility issues.

Power to do without adequate knowledge.

Control authority.

Social Issues that are related to our project are confidentiality, security,

efficiency, reliability, accessibility. Estate agent project impacts on seller,

buyer, solicitor, investor etc. Benefits that it will bring to the customers are

direct access to the agency through internet from any where. Estate

agents have to control authority from unauthorised access using

authorised access and by increasing the security by efficient software

engineers. Security is the main issue and it estate agency has to balance

between the efficiency and efficacy.

Estate agency has to maintain privacy with respect to internet and relate to

agreement. When the agency is requesting the personal information from

the customers the agreement has to be clear to the customers and must

provide choices whether to reveal the information. Estate agents should

not divulge the customers, solicitors, and investor’s information in order to

increase the business and maintain confidentiality about the customer

details. Obviously customers are concerned about maintaining their

privacy and to protect the data about them from cyber criminal activities.

(Swinyard,Rinne & kau,1990)

Ownership is a crucial issue in the information technology age. Piracy is a

complex issue that estate agents should deal with. Estate agents should

not support unauthorised users to use the customer’s data illegally, so that

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the customers will be in trouble once if there data has been hacked. Estate

agents should not reveal the personal information of the customers with

out their permission other than for purchase of the properties for them.

(Boehm et al.,1978;mccall,1979)

Estate agent need to provide efficient information to the customers instead

of providing fake information for the customers. The agents should

increase the efficiency by replacing the staff with technology and with

efficient software engineers. Quality plays a pivotal role in defining the

good and bad practices towards the customers.

Freedom of speech has always been of concern to a broad cross

section of the populace. Even today freedom of speech issues is hotly

contested with the bans and destruction of paintings, sculptures, and

writings. The customers can access the web without adequate knowledge

about the web but dealing with online payments or any transactions the

users must know all the rules and regulations involved in it.

Ease of access to the estate agency through internet helps people find the

property from overseas. But there are many issues regarding which the

customers especially overseas customers should consult a legal adviser

who can guide the customer find a property with no legal issues.

Another main issue is encryption of data where the data can

be altered which results in problem to the users. Estate agents should

prioritise in helping the customers by providing proper information with the

acceptable standards in the society, based on the range of the customer’s

estate agents should segregate the customers and the properties. Estate

agents should do more to handle the above mentioned social issues.

References:

Neuhaus, Paul ; Van Fleet, Connie ; Wallace, Danny P .

Amy j.Hillman and Gerald D.Keim,(Feb.,2001),pp,125-139.

(Swinyard,W.R.Rinne,H and kau,A.K.1990)The morality of software

iracy:journal of Business ,9,655.

Social responsibility in the information age by Gurpreet Dillon.

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Actor diagram for estate agents

Actors: buyer, seller, company, council, employee and solicitor.

Goals: sell, buy, council tax check, legal advice, checks details.

Constraints: valid or not

Actor diagram: In estate agent internet system there are mainly six types of actor’s seller, buyer, company, council, employee and the solicitor.Company provides the needful information for both the seller and the buyer. Buyer enquires about council tax from the council; solicitor provides legal matters to buyers if any. Employee keeps the information of the customers and sellers in a secured manner.

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Goal diagram for Agent

Actor: agent, seller, database, buyer.Hard goal: receives order, provides wap service, process order, keeps customer details confidential, make a deal.Plan: wap browser, web request, receives request, sent request, extract property details, and check the customer details.Soft goal: checks for the availability property.Resources: wap request message, response message, web request message.

Agent diagram: the agent receives orders from the customers through web requests,

provides web services, receives request from the wap request message. Agent gets

data from the database and extracts required data for the customer process the order

and keeps the customer details confidential after extracting property details and

checks the customer details and finally makes a deal with the buyer and seller.

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Goal diagram for seller

System: website databaseActor: sellerHard goals: receives order, selection of property, what kind of property, regular user, office employee, finalise the property, buyer.Plan: regular user, login/password, different types of properties, buildings, flats, houses.

Goal diagram for seller: estate agent receives order after entering the username and password. After that seller will select the property type either it is building, flat, house and after selecting that the officer of the estate agent looks after the details of the seller whether appropriate and finalises the property to the buyer.

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Goal diagram for buyer

Actor: buyerGoals: selection of property, receiving property, employee, make an order, agentPlan: login/password, different types of properties, flats, houses, apartment.

Buyer will select the properties after using the username and password, which are of different types like flats, houses, apartments and gives the details to the data base and after that employee will get information from the buyer and estate agent will make a deal between the buyer and seller.

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Late Requirements diagram

Actors: buyer, seller, estate agent website, agent, solicitor, councilHard goal: receives property, employee, make an order, delivery property, information about the property, checks the data, process information, provides web service, receives property, checks for the council tax, updates the website, check properties, takes legal advice.

Buyer will makes an order through estate agent website and estate agent keeps the customer details confidential, employee approaches to the buyer and finally buyer receives property. Buyer takes the legal advices from the solicitor if he requires and also the buyer checks the details from the council about the properties council tax and needed.

Seller deliveries the property to estate agent website and informs about the property. Agent checks the data from the website and process the information and provides web services, receives property.

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Decomposition diagramSystem: estate agentActors: solicitor, buyer, seller, staff, security manager, availability manager, integrity manager, council.Hard goal: assistance regarding legal issues, enquiry about council tax, provide access to the seller, meeting with customer, provide access to buyer, performs authorisation checks, ensure data availability, ensure data integrity.

Estate agent: provides access to the buyers, provides access to the sellers, performs authorisation checks done by the security manager, ensure data availability from availability manager, ensure data integrity provided by the integrity manager, meeting with the customers and staff, enquires about council tax with the council, assistance regarding legal issues given by the solicitor.

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Conclusion

In conclusion the Estate agents internet system is the easy way to approach the estate

agents and to find a property by saving time, travel expenses etc. the estate agents

internet systems is now taking a good life across the globe. It is more comfortable to

the overseas customers also to buy or rent a property.

The system should be set up in such a way that the customer does not

face any issues while purchasing or selling the property.

This system can be success only if the agents follow all the norms and

regulations and go legally. This system is the fastest and the easiest way of finding

property where the customer wants to live. There will be no Ethical, legal, social,

professional issues when the estate agents follow the law.

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REFERENCES

Capurro, R. (2000). Ethical challenges of the information society in the 21st century. International Information & Library Review, 32(3/4), 257-276.

Frické, M., Mathiesen, K. & Fallis, D. (2000). The ethical presuppositions behind the library bill of rights, The Library Quarterly, 70(4), 468-491.

Vaagan, R. (Ed.). (2002). The ethics of librarianship: an international survey

Neuhaus, Paul ; Van Fleet, Connie ; Wallace, Danny P .

Amy j.Hillman and Gerald D.Keim,(Feb.,2001),pp,125-139.

(Swinyard,W.R.Rinne,H and kau,A.K.1990)The morality of software

iracy:journal of Business ,9,655.

Social responsibility in the information age by Gurpreet Dillon..

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/.htmhttp://www.hmso.gov.uk/.html

www.patent.gov.uk/.pdf

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/.s=tl

http://www.naeba.org.htm

http://www.port.ac.uk/

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