Chapter 10 : Public Policy : From Legal Issues to Policy

7/30/2019 Chapter 10 : Public Policy : From Legal Issues to Policy

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Chapter 10

Public Policy: From Legal

Issues to Policy

www.prestonians.webnode.com


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Legal and Ethical Issues

Privacy

Intellectual PropertyDifficult to protect since it is easy and inexpensiveto copy and disseminate digitized information

Free SpeechInternet provides the largest opportunity for free

speech; but, some postings are offensive to peopleTaxation

Illegal to impose new sales taxes on Internetbusiness at the present time (U.S. and some other

countries)www.prestonians.webnode.com


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Legal and Ethical Issues (cont.)

Computer crimesUsually refers to computer fraud and computer

abuseConsumer Protection

Many legal issues are related to electronictrade

Other legal issuesValidity of contracts, legality of public keyencryption infrastructures, jurisdiction overtrades, encryption policies



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Ethical Issues

What is considered to be right and wrong?

What is unethical is not necessarily illegal.Whether these actions are consideredunethical depends on the organization,

country, and the specific circumstancessurrounding the scenarios.



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Ethical Issues (cont.)

Code of Ethics

A collection of principles intended as a

guide for its members

Many companies and professionalorganizations develop their own codes

of ethicsA guide for members of a company oran association



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A Framework for Ethical Issues

Privacyregarding information aboutindividuals

CollectionStorage

Dissemination

PropertyOwnership and value of information andintellectual property



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A Framework for Ethical Issues (cont.)

Accuracy of:

Authenticity

Fidelity

Information collected and processed

Accessibility

Right to access informationPayment of fees for the access



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Protecting Privacy

Privacy

The right to be left alone and the right to be free

of unreasonable personal intrusions

Information Privacy

The claim of individuals, groups, or institutions

to determine for themselves when, and to whatextent, information about them is communicatedto others



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Protecting Privacy (cont.)

Two basic rules

The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacymust be balanced against the needs ofsociety

The public's right to know is superior to the

individuals right of privacy



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How is Private Information Collected?

Reading your newsgroups postings

Finding you in the Internet Directory

Making your browser record informationabout you

Recording what your browsers say about you

Reading your e-mail



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Protecting Your Privacy

Think before you give outpersonal information ona site

Track the use of yourname and information

Keep your newsgroupsposts out of archives

Use the Anonymizer

when browsingLive without cookies

Use anonymousremailers

Use encryption

Reroute your mailaway from youroffice

Ask your ISP oremployer about aprivacy policy



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Legislation

The Consumer Internet Privacy Act

The Federal Internet Privacy Protection ActThe Communications Privacy and ConsumerEmpowerment Act

The Data Privacy Act



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Personal Information in Databases

Databases of:

Banks and financial institutions

Cable TV

Telephones

Employers

SchoolsInsurance companies

Online vendors



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Personal Information

in Databases (cont.)

Concerns

Data collectionData accuracy

Data confidentiality



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Protecting Intellectual Property

CopyrightA statutory grant that provides the creators ofintellectual property with ownership of it for 28

years

Trade SecretIntellectual work such as a business plan, which isa company secret and is not based on public

informationPatent

A document that grants the holder exclusive rightson an invention for 17 years (U.S.)



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Copyrights

Protects original expression of ideasLiterary works

Musical worksDramatic works

Artistic works

Sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable

programsPublished editions of literary and musicalworks



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Copyright Protection Techniques

Digital watermarks

Embedding of invisible marksCan be represented by bits in digitalcontent

Hidden in the source data, becominginseparable from such data



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International Aspects of

Intellectual Property

The World Intellectual Property Organization

More than 60 member countries come up with aninternational treaty

Part of the agreement is called the databasetreaty

Its aim is to protect the investment of firms thatcollect and arrange information



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Patents

Patenta document that grants the holderexclusive rights on an invention for 17 years

Satisfy following legal criteriaNoveldoes not already exist as part of thepublic domain

Involves sufficiently inventive step

Capable of individual application (be put topractical use)



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Trademarks

Trademarksgraphical sign used bybusinesses to identify their goods and

servicesGives exclusive rights to:

Use trademark on goods and servicesregistered to that sign

Take legal action to prevent anyone fromusing trademark without consent



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Domain Names

Domain name refers to the upper categoryof Internet address (URL)

Three controversiesWhether top-level domain names (similar tocom, org and gov) should be added

The use of trademark names by companies for

domain names that belong to other companiesIf companies in different countries have thesame name, who can use it as the domainname?



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Defining Freedom of Speech

The Bill of Rights First Amendment to theConstitution of the U.S. of America reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting anestablishment of religion, or prohibiting the freeexercise thereof; or abridging the freedom ofspeech, or of the press; or the right of the people

peaceably to assemble, and to petition thegovernment for a redress of grievances.



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The Debate About

Free Speech on the Internet

Free speech debate

Most citizens are implacably opposed to

censorship in any formexcept censorship ofwhatever they personally happen to findoffensive.

The debate: what restrictions, if any, should

there be on Internet content, and how should itbe monitored?



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The Debate About

Free Speech on the Internet (cont.)

What are the boundaries, and how should they beenforced?

Governments protective of their role in society

Parents concerned about exposing their children toinappropriate Web pages and chat rooms

Federal agencies attempting to deal with illegal actions

Citizen action groups desiring to protect every ounce oftheir freedom to speak

Individuals concerned about their right to information onthe Internet

Organizations seeking to empower the citizens of theearth



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Protecting Children

3 approaches (regarding the protection ofchildren from inappropriate material on theInternet)

No information should be held back and parentsshould be responsible for monitoring their ownchildren

The government is the only one who can truly

protect children from this materialTo hold the Internet providers responsible for allthe material and information they provide, orenable access to it



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Protecting Children (cont.)

Parents governing their own children

Government protecting the children

Responsibility of the Internet providers

Forcing Internet providers to be accountable,or enable access to information



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Legal Perspectives in the USA

Child Online Protection Act

Internet Tax Freedom ActFamily Friendly Internet Access Act

Internet Protection Act

Internet School Filtering Act



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Controlling Spamming

What is spamming, why is it bad?

Spamming

The practice of indiscriminate distribution of

messages (for example junk mail) withoutpermission of the receiver and withoutconsideration for the messages appropriateness

Spam comprised 30% of all mail sent on AmericaOnline (in the past, now less than 10%)

Slows the internet in general

Shuts ISPs down completely



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Legislation, Legal

The Electronic Mailbox Protection ActThe Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act

The Netizens Protection Act

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Controlling Spamming (cont.)



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Controlling Spamming (cont.)

How to cut spammingTell users not to validate their addresses by

answering spam requests for replies if they wantto be taken off mailing lists

Disable the relay feature on SMTP (mail) serversso mail cannot be bounced off the server

Delete spam and forget itits a fact of life andnot worth wasting time over

Use software packages, e.g. getlost.com andjunkbusters.com



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Other Legal Issues

What are the rules of electronic contracting, andwhose jurisdiction prevails when buyers, brokers,and sellers are in different states and/or

countries?How can gambling be controlled on the Internet?Gambling is legal in Nevada and other states.How can the winners tax be collected? By

whom?When are electronic documents admissibleevidence in the courts of law? What do you do ifthey are not?



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Other Legal Issues (cont.)

Time and place can carry different dates for the buyersand sellers when they are across the ocean. Which

time should be considered?

Is a digital signature legal?

The use of multiple networks and trading partners

makes the documentation of responsibility difficult.How is such a problem overcome?



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Electronic Contracts

Uniform Electronic Transactions Act

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)Shrink-wrap agreements (or box-toplicenses)

The user is bound to the license by opening thepackage



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Computer Crimes

Computer crimes refers to computer fraudand/or computer abuse

Computer fraud committed by:

Alteration of input

Alteration of computer data

Alteration/misuse of programs

Destruction/suppression/misappropriation ofoutput



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Computer Crimes (cont.)

Computer abuse committed by:

Misuse of company computerservice/resources by performing unauthorizedprivate work or playing games by employees

Compromise of system integrity by:

Altering company dataIntroducing viruses

Hacking into the system



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Characteristics of computer crimeChronic underreporting of abuse

Security not introduced until abuse has occurred

Organizational size unrelated to severity ofpunishment

Abuses by high-level employees less likely to beprosecuted

Programmers most difficult to identify

Publicity discourages abuse

Security efforts reduce abuse



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Effective measures in deterring computercrime

Make computer security visibleDefine and communicate companys policyregularly

Make staff aware of penalties

Report cases to policePublicize successful prosecution

Deploy security technologies extensively



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Fraud on the Internet

Internet Stocks FraudSEC brought charges against 44 companies and

individuals who illegally promoted stocks oncomputer bulletin boards, online newsletters andinvestment Web sites

Other Financial Fraud

Selling bogus investments, phantom businessopportunities, and other fraud schemes



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Fraud on the Internet (cont.)

Other Fraud in EC

Customers may:Receive poor quality products andservices

Not get products in time

Be asked to pay for things they assumewill be paid for by sellers



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Authentication

If authentication online can be verified

Students will be able to take exams online from

homeFraud of recipients of government entitlementsand other payments will be reduced to a bareminimum

Buyers will be assured who the sellers are andsellers will know who the buyers are with a veryhigh degree of confidence



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Biometric Controls

Matching against a template:Photo of face

Fingerprints

Hand geometry

Blood vessel pattern in the retina of a personseye

Voice

Signature

Keystroke dynamics

Iris



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What Can Vendors Do?

Use intelligent software that signalsquestionable customers

Develop a list of warning signals for possiblyfraudulent transactions

Ask customers to have shipping address

added to their bank account if different frombilling address



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Managerial Issues

Multinational corporations face differentcultures in the different countries in which

they are doing business

Issues of privacy, ethics, and so on may seemto be tangential to running a business, but

ignoring them may hinder the operation ofmany organizations



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Managerial Issues (cont.)

The impact of EC and the Internet can beso strong that the entire manner in whichcompanies do business will be changed,with significant impacts on:

Procedures

People

Organizational structureManagement

Business processes

Documents

Chapter 10 : Public Policy : From Legal Issues to Policy