Transcript EC-10 - Home - KSU Faculty Member websites

Legal, Ethical, and Social Impacts of EC
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Ethics: The branch of philosophy that deals
with what is considered to be right and wrong
 What is unethical is not necessarily illegal
 Ethics are supported by common agreement in
a society as to what is right and wrong, but they
are not subject to legal sanctions
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EC ethical issues
 Non-work-related use of the Internet
▪ Employees use e-mail and the Web for non-work-related
purposes
▪ The time employees waste while surfing non-workrelated Web sites during working hours is a concern
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 Corporate code of ethics
▪ Issue written policy guidelines
▪ Copyrighted trademarked material cannot
be used without permission
▪ Post disclaimers concerning content
▪ Post disclaimers of responsibility concerning
content of online forums and chat sessions
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▪ Make sure that Web content and activity comply with
the laws in other countries
▪ Make sure that the company’s Web content policy is
consistent with other company policies
▪ Appoint someone to monitor Internet legal and liability
issues
▪ Have attorneys review Web content to make sure that
there is nothing unethical, or illegal, on the company’s
Web site
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Major ethical/legal issues
 Privacy
 Intellectual property rights
 Free speech versus censorship
 Consumer and merchant protection against
fraud
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Privacy: The right to be left alone and the
right to be free of unreasonable personal
intrusions
1. The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacy
must be balanced against the needs of society
2. The public’s right to know is superior to the
individual’s right of privacy
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Web site registration
 Most B2C and marketing Web sites ask visitors to
fill out registration forms including:
▪
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names
addresses
phone numbers
e-mail addresses
hobbies, etc.
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 There are few restraints on the ways in which
the site can use this information
▪ Use it to improve customer service or its own business
▪ Or sell the information to another company that could
use it in an inappropriate or intrusive manner
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 Cookie: A small piece of data that is passed back
and forth between a Web site and an end user’s
browser as the user navigates the site; enables
sites to keep track of users’ activities without
asking for identification
 Users can protect themselves against cookies:
▪ delete them from their computers
▪ use anticookie software
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Privacy of employees
 Monitoring employees’ e-mail and Web
activities
▪ wasting time
▪ may disclose trade secrets
 77% of companies monitor their employees’
communications
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Protection of privacy
 Notice/awareness
 Choice/consent
 Access/participation
 Integrity/security
 Enforcement/redress
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 Opt-out clause: Agreement that requires
computer users to take specific steps to prevent
collection of information
 Opt-in clause: Agreement that requires
computer users to take specific steps to allow
collection of information
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Intellectual property:
Creations of the
mind, such as
inventions, literary
and artistic works,
and symbols, names,
images, and designs
used in commerce
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Copyright: An exclusive grant
from the government that
allows the owner to
reproduce a work, in whole
or in part, and to distribute,
perform, or display it to the
public in any form or manner,
including the Internet
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Copyright protection approaches
 Using software to produce digital content that
cannot be copied
▪ Cryptography
▪ Tracking copyright violations
 Digital watermarks: Unique identifiers
imbedded in digital content that make it
possible to identify pirated works
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Trademark: A symbol used by businesses to
identify their goods and services;
government registration of the trademark
confers exclusive legal right to its use
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The owner of a registered trademark has
exclusive rights to:
 Use the trademark on goods and services for
which the trademark is registered
 Take legal action to prevent anyone else
from using the trademark without consent
on goods and services (identical or similar)
for which the trademark is registered
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 Domain name refers to the upper category of an
Internet address (URL)
▪ Should additional (new) top-level domain names be
added?
▪ The use of trademarked names that belong to other
companies as domain names
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 Domain name disputes and resolutions
▪ Major disputes are international in scope, because
the same corporate name may be used in different
countries by different corporations
▪ Internet community now quickly resolves domain
name disputes using arbitration
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 Cybersquatting: The practice of registering
domain names in order to sell them later at a
higher price
 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of
1999 allows trademark owners sue for statutory
damages
▪ Juliaroberts.com
▪ Madonna.com
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Patent: A document that grants the holder
exclusive rights on an invention for a fixed
number of years
 Patents serve to protect tangible
technological inventions
 Patents are not designed to protect artistic
or literary creativity
 Patents confer monopoly rights to an idea or
an invention, regardless of how it may be
expressed
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Fraud on the Internet
 Online auction fraud—87% of online crime
 Internet stock fraud—spread false positive
rumors about the prospects of companies
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Consumer protection—tips for safe electronic
shopping
 Make sure that they enter the real Web site of
well-known companies
 Search any unfamiliar site for an address and
telephone and fax numbers and call
 Check out the seller with the local chamber of
commerce, BBB, or TRUSTe
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 Investigate how secure and organized the
seller’s site is
 Examine the money-back guarantees,
warranties, etc.
 Compare prices online to those in regular stores
 Ask friends what they know, look for
testimonials and endorsements
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 Find out what redress is available in case of a
dispute
 Consult the National Fraud Information Center
(fraud.org)
 Check the resources available at
consumerworld.org
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 Authentication and biometric controls provide
▪ Access procedures that match every valid user with a
unique user identifier (UID)
▪ Authentication method that verifies that users
requesting access to the computer system are really
who they claim to be
▪ Are valid for both consumer and merchant protection
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Digital divide: The gap between those who
have and those who do not have the ability to
access electronic technology in general, and
the Internet and EC in particular
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Other societal issues
 Education
▪ Virtual universities
▪ Companies use the Internet to retrain employees
▪ Home-bound individuals can get degrees
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 Public safety and criminal justice
▪ e-911 systems
▪ collaborative commerce
▪ e-procurement
▪ e-government—coordinating, information sharing,
and expediting legal work and cases
▪ intelligent homes, offices, and public buildings
▪ e-training of law enforcement officers
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 Health aspects
▪ safer and healthier to shop from home than to shop in a
physical store
▪ some believe that exposure to cellular mobile
communication radiation may cause health problems
▪ collaborative commerce can help improve health care
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