This document discusses several key legal issues related to electronic commerce (EC), including privacy, intellectual property, free speech, taxation, computer crimes, and consumer protection. It outlines specific concerns around the collection and use of personal information, cookies, and spam. The principles of notice, choice, access, integrity, and enforcement are presented as important for consumer privacy protection. Intellectual property rights such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks are also covered.

1. Dr. Wisnu Sakti Dewobroto, MSc

2. ¡ The implementation of EC involves many
legal issues :
§ Privacy
§ Intellectual property
§ Free speech
§ Taxation
§ Computer Crimes
§ Consumer protection
§ Other legal issues

3. ¡ If you do something that is not legal, you are
breaking the law. If you do something
unethical, you may not be breaking the law.

4. ¡ Privacy : Collection, storage and
dissemination of information about
individuals
¡ Accuracy : authenticity, fidelity and accuracy
of information collected and processed
¡ Property : Ownership and value of
information and intellectual property
¡ Accessibility : Right to access information and
payment of fees to access it.

5. ¡ Privacy means different things to different
people.
¡ Privacy issues :
How is private information collected :
§ Reading your newsgroup postings
§ Finding you in the internet directory
§ Making your browser record information about you
§ Recording what your browsers say about you
§ Reading your email

6. ¡ Web sites can gather customer information
through filled – out registration
questionnaires
¡ Consequently, users have concerns over
privacy information, although self
registration creates fewer concerns that
cookies.
¡ Make sure end user knows about the
consequences.

7. ¡ A cookie is a piece of information that allows a web
site to record ones comings and goings.
¡ Cookies help websites maintain user status.This
means that web sites can “remember” information
about users and respond to their preferences on a
particular site, process transparent user password and
so on.
¡ However cookies have brought about more concerns
over privacy than self registration because cookies
allow web sites to collect private information such as
users preferences, interests, and surfing patterns on
the web sites user visit.

8. ¡ Users can delete cookie files stored in their
computer. However deleting cookie files
entirely will cause users to start from scratch
with every website they usually.
¡ Use anti cookie software, usually free
software.

9. ¡ The five basic principles :
§ Notice awareness.Consumers must be given notice of an
entity’s information practices prior to collection of personal
information.
§ Choice / consent.Customers must be made aware of their
options as to how their personal information may be used as
well as any potential secondary uses of the information.
§ Access / participation.Consumers must be able to access their
personal information and challenge the validity of the data.
§ Integrity / security.Consumers must be assured that the data is
secure and accurate.
§ Enforcement / redress.There must always be a method of
enforcement and remedy, otherwise there is no real deterrent
or enforceability for privacy issues.

10. ¡ Intellectual property : associated with intangible property
rights, which are created and protected by law :
§ Copyright
§ Patents
§ Trademarks
¡ Copyrights
§ Usually exist in the following works :
▪ Literature works
▪ Musical works
▪ Dramatic works
▪ Artistic works
▪ Sound recordings, film, broadcasts, cable program
▪ Published editions of literary and musical works.

11. ¡ A patent is a document that grants the holder
exclusive rights on an invention for a fixed
number of years.
¡ Trademarks form an important type of
intellectual property. Well known trade marks
are very valuable assets to a business.

12. ¡ A domain name refers to the upper category
of on internet address (URL), such as
www.google.com, www.astaga.com
¡ Top level domain names : .com, .org, .gov,
.edu

13. ¡ Free speech
§ The debate about free speech on the internet
§ Protecting children : One of the major points in the
free speech versus censorship debate is the potential
damage to children
▪ Parent governing their own children
▪ Government protecting children
▪ Responsibility for internet providers
▪ Forcing internet providers to be accountable
§ Responsibility of employers (in office environment)

14. ¡ Spamming refers to the practice of
indiscriminate distribution of messages without
permission of the receive and without
consideration for the messages appropriateness.
¡ How to cut spamming
§ Tell users not to validate their address by answering
spam request for replies if they want to be taken off
mailing list.
§ Disable the relay feature on mail servers so mail
cannot be bounce off the server
§ Delete spam and forget it
§ Use blockers whenever possible.

15. ¡ Electronic CommerceVS Communication
¡ “Should EC business be allowed to operate
without taxing consumers while regular
telephone companies cannot”

16. ¡ Computer crimes usually refer to computer
fraud and computer abuse.
¡ Computer frauds may be committed by mean
of :
§ Alteration of input
§ Alteration of computer data
§ Alteration misuse of programs
§ Destruction / suppression / misappropriation of
output

17. ¡ Online auction fraud : the majority (68%) of
complaints registered at the National Consumers
league deal with auctions. money is collected but the
goods are not satisfactory or not even delivered
¡ Internet stocks fraud. In fall 1998, the securities and
exchange commission (SEC) brought charges against
44 companies and individuals who illegally promoted
stocks on computer bulletin boards, online
newsletters and investment website.
¡ Other financial fraud.
¡ Other fraud in EC :
§ Receive poor quality product and service
§ May not get product in time