It may also be futile to try to have a meaningful concept and practice of professional ethics without professional autonomy.
The ABA and AMA take a lot of heat here on HN and other libertarian-leaning forums, and some of it is deserved, since they clearly do engage in cartel-like behavior.
However, it is important to remember that they have established a set of laws and practices that give the members of the profession the ability to resist unethical commands from "superiors". For example, generally speaking, a non-lawyer can't own a law firm. Same for physicians. A lawyer must be licensed to practice, and that right can be revoked. A lawyer isn't allowed to say "my boss made me do it", but at the same time, a lawyer can't have a non-lawyer boss, and that boss can't legally go hire someone who isn't a lawyer (and isn't bound by a code of ethics) to do it instead.
I want to be clear that I'm aware that in reality, it doesn't come close to working out this neatly. But the conceptual framework, at least, is there.
I do think programmers are in an untenable position, when they are stripped of any professional strength but called on to resist unethical demands of clients and bosses. And yeah, I do mean stripped, not just denied. A large section of the programming workforce is employed under visa conditions where their employer controls their right to live and work in the US, as well as their position in a very long queue for a green card application. So we aren't just ordinary workers with no special protections but no special liabilities either, we are often a workforce that is particularly vulnerable and unable to push back against the orders of people who aren't ethical and aren't part of our "profession".
This! Knowing that "this is wrong" is only half the battle. Having the political pull to actually push back and have fellow engineers behind you is the other blade of the scissors necessary to actually cut any wrongdoing.
We have a word for "when everyone who pushes back against wrongdoing must go out on a limb and do it at tremendous personal expense": Gomorrah. (I mean, in the sense of wanton immorality, not the dubious sexual mores.)
The ABA and AMA take a lot of heat here on HN and other libertarian-leaning forums, and some of it is deserved, since they clearly do engage in cartel-like behavior.
However, it is important to remember that they have established a set of laws and practices that give the members of the profession the ability to resist unethical commands from "superiors". For example, generally speaking, a non-lawyer can't own a law firm. Same for physicians. A lawyer must be licensed to practice, and that right can be revoked. A lawyer isn't allowed to say "my boss made me do it", but at the same time, a lawyer can't have a non-lawyer boss, and that boss can't legally go hire someone who isn't a lawyer (and isn't bound by a code of ethics) to do it instead.
I want to be clear that I'm aware that in reality, it doesn't come close to working out this neatly. But the conceptual framework, at least, is there.
I do think programmers are in an untenable position, when they are stripped of any professional strength but called on to resist unethical demands of clients and bosses. And yeah, I do mean stripped, not just denied. A large section of the programming workforce is employed under visa conditions where their employer controls their right to live and work in the US, as well as their position in a very long queue for a green card application. So we aren't just ordinary workers with no special protections but no special liabilities either, we are often a workforce that is particularly vulnerable and unable to push back against the orders of people who aren't ethical and aren't part of our "profession".