Legal and ethical issues in Electronic Commerce: a brief note

Legal and ehical issues in Electronic Commerce (EC) are big subjects; these issues are related to computer ethics as well as information management ethics (Spinello, 1997).  In their review of ethical issues in EC, Stead and Gilbert (2001) discussed cybersquatter, disintermediation, privacy and spamming, among others. Kelly and Rowland (2000) examined the legal and ethical considerations in online privacy. Here, I suggest 2 ideas for you to consider when studying them:

1. Barbour (1992) points out three views of technology: (a) as liberator, (b) as threat, and (c) as instrument of power. He then presented 3 views of the interactions of science, technology and society:
(a) linear development: science -> technology -> society;
(b) technological determinism: technology -> society, science
(c) contextual interaction: society, science and technology affect each other mutually.

When you conduct your EC analysis on ethical and legal issues, you need to be aware of your personal stance on these views on technology so as to remain critical.

2. It is useful to conduct the analysis or study on a theory-driven and systematic basis (e.g. Ho (2011): http://josephho33.blogspot.com/2011/08/ethical-analysis-based-on-soft-systems.html)

Here I provide a list of relevant links on these topics for your study:

• Computer crime: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_crime
• Computer ethics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics
• Legal aspects of computing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_aspects_of_computing
• Taxation and ecommerce: http://articles.manupatra.com/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=f3c75cea-57c1-4b7e-a881-3c5a339eddc7&txtsearch=
• Legal issues in eCommerce (pdf): http://www.nishithdesai.com/Research-Papers/Legal_issues_ecom.pdf

You will find the Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society, published by Emerald useful.

References

1. Barbour, I. (1992) Ethics in an Age of Technology, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
2. Kelly, E.P. and Rowland, H.C. (2000) "Ethical and Online Privacy Issues in Electronic Commerce", Business Horizons, May-June, pp. 3-12.
3. Spinello, R.A. (1997) Case Studies in Information and Computer Ethics, Prentice Hall
4. Stead, B.A. and Gilbert, J. (2001) "Ethical Issues in Electronic Commerce", Journal of Business Ethics 34, pp. 75-85.
5. Views on technology (a brief article by Larry Mittag): http://www.eetimes.com/design/communications-design/4139990/Two-Views-One-Technology
6. An academic article by Kracher and Corritore: http://www.jstor.org/pss/3857773