Ch. 7: Ethical, Social & Political Issues Flashcards
The major ethical, social and political issues that have developed around e-commerce can be divided into 4 major dimensions:
- information rights
- property rights
- governance
- public safety & welfare
information rights
what rights to their own personal info do individuals have in a public marketplace or private homes or about business firms and other organizations
property rights
how can traditional intellectual property rights be enforced in an Internet world where perfect copies of protected word can be made and distributed in seconds
governance
should the Internet and e-commerce be made subject to public laws; what law-making bodies have jurisdiction
pubic safety and welfare
what efforts should be undertaken to ensure equitable access to the Internet and e-commerce channels
ethics
the study of principles that individuals and organizations can use to determine right and wrong courses of action
What are the 4 principles or all ethical schools of thought?
- responsibility
- accountability
- liability
- due process
responsibility
as free moral agents, individuals, organization and societies are responsible for the actions they take
accountability
individuals, organizations and societies should be held accountable to others for the consequences of their actions
liability
a feature of political systems in which a body of law is in place that permits individuals to recover the damages done to them by other actors, systems or organizations
due process
a process in which laws are known and understood and there is an ability to appeal to higher authority to ensure that the laws have been correctly applied
The 8 ethical principles
- Golden Rule
- universalism
- slippery slope
- collective utilitarian principle
- risk aversion
- no free lunch
- New York Times test (perfect information rule)
- social contract rule
Golden Rule
do unto others as you would have them do unto you
universalism
if an action is not right for all situations, then it is not right for any specific situation
slippery slope
if an action cannot e taken repeatedly, then it is not right to take at all (once you start down a slippery path, you may not be able to stop)
collective utilitarian principle
take the action that achieves the greater value for all society
risk aversion
take the action that produces the least harm, or the least potential cost
no free lunch
all in/tangible objects are owned by someone else unless there is a specific declaration otherwise (the owner will want credit)
New York Times test (perfect information rule)
assume that the results of your decision will be on the cover of the NYT the next day
social contract rule
would you like to live in a society where the principle you are supporting would become the organizing principle of the entire society
privacy
the moral right of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals or organizations, including the state
information privacy
the claim that certain info shouldn’t be collected at all and that individuals should control the use of whatever info is collected about them
There are 2 kinds of threats to individual privacy posed by the Internet
- private sector: how much personal info is collected by commercial websites and how it will be used
- public sector: how much personal info organization the federal, state, and local govt. authorities collect and how they use it
(PII) personally identifiable info
any data that can be used to identify, locate or contact an individual
anonymous info
demographic + behavioral info that doesn’t include any identifiers
profiling
the creation of digital images that characterize online individual and group behavior
anonymous profiles
identify people as belonging to highly specific and targeted groups
personal profiles
add a personal e-mail address, postal address & or phone number to behavioral data
Patriot Act
designed to combat terrorism inside the US; permits nearly unlimited govt. surveillance w/o court oversight
4 privacy-related torts defined in US court decisions involving claims of injury to individuals caused by other private parties
- intrusion on solitude
- public disclosure of private facts
- publicly placing a person in a false light
- appropriation of person’s name or likeness for a commercial purpose (mostly concerning celebrities)
informed consent
consent given w/knowledge of all material facts needed to make rational decisions
opt-in model
requires an affirmative action by the consumer to allow collection and use of customer info
opt-out model
the default is to collect info unless the consumer takes affirmative action to prevent the collection of data
What are 3 of the FTC’s functions
- conducts research on online privacy and recommends legislation to Congress
- promotes efficient functioning of the marketplace by protecting consumers from unfair or deceptive practices
- increases consumer choice by promoting competition
FTC’s Fair Info Practices
- notice/awareness
- choice/consent
- access/participation
- security
- enforcement
safe harbour
a private, self-regulating policy and enforcement mechanism that meets the objectives of govt. regulators and legislation but doesn’t involve govt. regulation or enforcement
3 types of intellectual property protection (to balance):
- public interest: intellectual expression
- private interest: rewarding creators
- copy right
- patent
- trademark law
copyright law
protects original forms of expression from being copied by others for a minimum of 70 years
Doctrine of Fair use
under certain circumstances, permits use of copyrighted material w/o permission
-depends on: character, nature, amount, market effect and context of use
Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998
the first major effort to adjust the copyright laws to the Internet age
- practical encryption can now by broken by hackers
- control behavior of ISPs to counter host infringing websites
patent
grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years
- protects the idea not just the expression of the idea
- protects machines, man-made products, compositions of matter and processing methods
trademark
mark used to identify and distinguish goods and indicate their sources
What 2 things do trademarks protect
- the public in the marketplace by ensuring that it get what it pays for and wants to receive
- the owner agains piracy and misappropriation
infringement
- market confusion: use of a trademark that creates confusion w/existing trademarks
- bad faith: intentional misuse of of words and symbols to extort revenue
dilution
any behavior that would weaken the connection between the trademark and the product
Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)
creates civil liabilities for anyone who attempts in bad faith to profit from existing famous/distinctive trademarks by registering an Internet domain “dilutive” to that trademark
cybersquatting
the registration of an infringing domain name or other Internet use of an existing trademark for the purpose of extorting payments from the legitimate owners
cyberpiracy
involves the same behavior as cybersquatting but w/the intent of diverting traffic from the legitimate site to the infringing one
-typosquatting: a form in which a domain name contains a common misspelling of another site’s name
linking
building hypertext links from one site to another
deep linking
bypassing the target site’s homepage and going directly to a content page
framing
displaying the context of another site inside your own website within a frame or window
The evolution of governance
1970-1994: government control
1995-1998: privatization
1995-present: self-regulation
1998-present: government regulation
Can the Internet be controlled?
- monitored and regulated from network access points and through servers & routers + regulated ISPs
- access to nearly all Internet communications
How should online retailers be taxed
in states in which they operate with a physical presence
net neutrality
all internet traffic is treated equality (charged the same rate) by Internet backbone owners (regardless of how much bandwidth is being used)
What 3 pricing mechanisms are used to achieve a rationing of bandwidth?
- tap pricing/speed tiers
- usage-based billing/congestion pricing
- highway (toll) pricing
tap pricing
putting caps on bandwidth usage, charging more for additional usage in tiers of prices
speed tiers
charging more for higher speed Internet service
usage-based billing
charging on the basis of metered units of Internet service
congestion pricing
charging more for peak hour Internet service
highway (toll) pricing
charging service providers (like Netflix) for their use of the Internet based on their bandwidth use
What organizations are intact to protect children
- CDA: Communications Decency Act
- CIPA: Children’s Internet Protection Act
protecting children from online pornography
