Legal Issues with E-Business

The realm of e-business is difficult to understand. While some may view its environment as effortless, it can be complex and problematic for others. Seeing as most of our business today is conducted over wires, computers, and the Internet, ethical, privacy, contract, buying and purchasing issues in a traditional storefront business have been modified to support the privacy and the exchange of consumer/business related information in e-commerce.

Unique to e-business, the privacy of individuals and businesses are enforced and protected more considerably. There is more cost to maintain privacy with e-commerce security measures than traditional storefront security. For example, since it is noticeably easier to store masses of private information on a business computer vice a physical safe, we will expend and invest more cost to protect this computerized information than the cost to protect information in a safe. Personally, I have spent more money protecting the privacy of consumer information on computers with electronic security programs. Pros and Cons of e-business? Gathering information on anything e-business related is possible. This information is at your fingertips, so to speak. However, the same pros can be cons; since illegally acquiring private business information is too, possible.

Ethics cover a wide range of topics in e-business. With close ties to privacy, especially for the consumer, e-business organizations have made it ethically clear to protect consumer information and that information will be held in strict confidence. Unique to e-business, consumer information is exchanged and protected electronically in secure websites and databases. Additionally, it is our duty and theirs to be truthful with the information given and provided.

Through the Internet a contract can be formed through a website or through email. Prior to the establishment of a contract, fundamentals of a contract must be fulfilled. An Internet contract must provide something that each party in the contract must benefit from. For example, the most common purpose for a contract over the Internet is the trade of a product for payment through offer and acceptance; whereas, one party will offer a product of information, service, or a tangible item and the party accepting the offer will return a payment for the product. Referencing these fundamentals, an example of an Internet contract through a website would be the purchase of electronic software. The offer to purchase software is displayed. Upon acceptance to purchase the software, the seller and purchaser is bound to the offer and their acceptance, thus creating an Internet contract.

With respect to selling online in the US, Internet advertising is a crucial position and must be in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act. A seller must properly advertise a precise disclosure of details with clear terms and conditions on an offer. Advertising and marketing of an offer must also clearly provide a disclosure of payments and purchase procedures. Aside from appropriate advertising, sellers must be competitively fair with the pricing of an offer and abide by relevant intellectual property laws. On the other hand, consumer protection has been a concern with buying online. With the increase of identity theft, legally, consumers must avoid the fraudulent use of deceptive information when constructing an online purchase. Therefore, one must adhere to the seller’s terms, conditions, rules, and regulations and must complete a purchase upon an agreement of sale.