business reaearch

8/21/2019 business reaearch

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Understanding Ethical, Social, and Political

Issues in E-commerce

Internet technology and its use in e-commerce

disrupts existing social and business relationships

and understandings

Costs and benefits of technology must be

carefully considered, especially when there are as

yet no clear-cut legal or cultural guidelines


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Unique Features of E-Commerce Technology and

Their Potential Implications


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A Model for Organizing the Issues

Issues raised by Internet and e-commerce can be viewed atindividual, social and political levels

Four major categories of issues

Information rights: What rights do individuals have to controltheir own personal information when Internet technologies

make information collection so ervasive and efficient Property rights: How can traditional intellectual property rights

be enforced when perfect copies of protected works can beeasily made and distributed

Governance: Should the Internet and e-commerce be subjectto public laws, and if so, who has jurisdiction

Public safety and welfare


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Basic Ethical Concepts

Ethics: Study of principles that individuals and organizations canuse to determine right and wrong courses of action

Responsibility: As free moral agents, individuals, organizationsand societies are responsible for the actions they take

Accountability: Individuals, organizations and societies shouldbe held accountable to others for the consequences of their

act ons

Liability: Extends the concepts of responsibility andaccountability to area of law

Due process: Refers to process by which laws are known andunderstood, with ability to appeal to higher authorities toensure that laws have been correctly applied


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E-commerce and Privacy

Major ethical issue related to e-commerce and

privacy: Under what conditions should we invade

privacy of others

Major social issue: Development of expectations

o pr vacy an pr vacy norms

Major political issue: Development of statutes

that govern relations between record keepers and

individuals


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Information Collected at E-commerce Sites

Personally identifiable information (PIN): Data that

can be used to identify, locate or contact anindividual

Anonymous information: Demographic and

behavioral information that does not include any

Almost all e-commerce companies collect PIN and

use cookies to track click stream behavior


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Personal Information Collected

by E-Commerce Sites


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The Internets Major Personally Identifiable InformationGathering Tools


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Profiling: Privacy and Advertising Networks

Profiling: Creation of digital images that characterizeonline individual and group behavior

Anonymous profiles: Identify people as belonging tohighly specific and targeted groups

Personal profiles: Add personal identifiers

Advertising networks can:

Track both consumer behavior and browsing behavioron the Web

Dynamically adjust what the user sees on screen

Build and refresh high-resolution data images orbehavior profiles of consumers


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The Concept of Privacy

Privacy: The moral right of individuals to be left

alone, free from surveillance or interference from

other individuals or organizations

Information rivac : Includes both the claim thatcertain information should not be collected at all,

as well as the claim of individuals to control the

use of whatever information is collected about

them


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Legal Protections for Privacy

May be explicitly granted or derived from

constitutions (U.S., Canada, Germany)

May also be found in common law (U.S,

England)

In U.S, also found in federal and state laws

and regulations


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Federal Privacy Laws


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Summary of Proposed Internet Privacy

Legislation in 2003


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Technological Solutions to Privacy

Invasion on the Web

Many privacy-enhancing technologies being developed

emphasize security

Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P): Comprehensive

technological privacy protection effort sponsored by W3C

Web sites privacy policy, and to compare that policy

against users preferences or to other standards such as

FTCs FIP guidelines or EUs Data Protection Directive


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Technological Protections for Online Privacy


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Intellectual Property Rights Intellectual property: Encompasses all tangible and intangible

products of human mind

Major ethical issue: How should we treat property that belongsto others

Major social issue: Is there continued value in protectingintellectual property in the Internet age?

a or po ca ssue: , an so, ow, s ou n erne an e-commerce be regulated/governed to protect intellectualproperty

Main types of intellectual property protection:

Copyright

Patent

Trademark law


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Copyright: The Problem of Perfect

Copies and Encryption Copyright law: Protects original forms of expression (but not

ideas) from being copied by others for a period of time

Look and feel copyright infringement lawsuits involvedistinction between an idea and its expression

a r use oc r ne: n er cer a n c rcums ances, perm s use ocopyrighted materials without permission

Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA): First majoreffort to adjust copyright laws to Internet age

DMCA implements WIPO treaty that makes it illegal to make,

distribute, or use devices that circumvent technology-basedprotections of copyrighted materials


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Patents: Business Methods and

Processes Patent: Grants owner a 20-year exclusive monopoly on

ideas behind an invention

Most of early inventions that made Internet and e-commerce possible were not patented by their inventors

commerc a eve opmen o n erne , came es refor patents

Business methods patents have been widely sought byInternet and e-commerce companies

Many business methods Internet patents granted are

overbroad, and if enforced, would significantly impact e-commerce


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Trademarks: Online Infringement and

Dilution Trademark: Mark used to identify and distinguish goods, and

indicate their source

Trademarks protect public by ensuring it gets what it paysfor/expects to receive; protects trademark owner againstpiracy and misappropriation

Infringement: Use of a trademark that creates confusion withexisting marks, causes consumers to make market mistakes ormisrepresents origins of goods

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA): Createscivil liabilities for anyone who attempts in bad faith to profitfrom an existing famous or distinctive trademark byregistering an Internet domain name that is identical orconfusingly similar


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Types of Trademark Abuse on Internet Cybersquatting: Registration of infringing domain name, or other

Internet use, of existing trademark, for purpose of extorting paymentsfrom legitimate owners

Cyberpiracy: Involves same behavior as cybersquatting, but with intentof diverting traffic from legitimate site to infringing site

Metata in : Usin anothers trademarks as metata s in a misleadinor confusing manner

Keywording: Using anothers trademarks as keywords on searchengines in a misleading or confusing manner

Deep linking: Bypassing target sites home page and going directly tocontent page

Framing: Displaying content of another site within frame or window

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