Ecommerce_Ethics_and_Regulatory_Issues

EBUS/400 E-Business Workshop 3 ECommerce Ethics and Regulatory Issues Integrity and ethics is a quality that every company should demonstrate through policies and leadership. Although, it is equally important that everyone have individual values and positive beliefs. Ethics can be described as the principles governing the conduct of an employee or any member of a line of work. In today’s society ethics in business is very significant in creating a good status with customers as well as developing a relationship with business partners. This paper will discuss how ethical, legal and regulatory issues differ on a B2C site compared to a B2B site. E-business is now considered one of the most popular ways of doing business. Utilizing the business to business and business to customers has assisted in the flow of internet buying and purchasing. To most consumers accessing the web is a standard function, so confidentiality should be a high priority. All e-commerce businesses have the obligation of protecting their customers with the use of privacy policies and procedures. There is increasing acceptance that consumer trust is a key foundation for electronic commerce success, If the consumer cannot develop some sense of confidence in the vendor's competence, predictability, benevolence and integrity, then they are likely to abort the purchase and simply look elsewhere for a more trustworthy alternative. The Code of Ethics for each business sector whether is business to business or business to consumer should be deliberated in a way that would provide requirements and rules for the employees and customers. Each employee should be fully aware of the procedures and polices upon being hired. Similarly customers need to be aware of the online polices when shopping on the internet (Vincent Charles, Camp Jean 2004). One of the main functions of B2B is to share mutual information. Ethics on a B2B site are regulated by formal agreements and are signed by all partners. A customer’s privacy should be protected technically and legally. If a business develops an image for poor business practices or unethical behavior it could damage the relationship between them and the customer. Ethics within B2B are usually set by trade associations and other networking businesses’. For example the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct were created by the Association for Computing Machinery. It is stated in the Preamble that Commitment to ethical professional conduct is expected of every member (voting members, associate members, and student members) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct also include information covering B2C web sites. Ethics within B2C are governed by user agreements and privacy policies. However, B2C sites have to create credibility with their online customers and merchants also have to safeguard their customer’s information. The information that would cover ethical actions that would relate directly to the public is covered in Section 1.2 Avoid harm to others, paragraph 1: Harm means injury or negative consequences, such as undesirable loss of information, loss of property, property damage, or unwanted environmental inmates. This principle prohibits use of computing technology in ways to result in harm to any of the following: users, the general public, employees, and employers. Harmful actions include intentional destruction or modifications of files and programs leading to serious loss of resources or unnecessary expenditure of human resources such as the time and effort required to purge systems of computer viruses (Peslak, Alan R, 2007) As far as regulatory issues are concerned, the internet is not regulated. There are so many things that negatively affect a normal internet customer. For example, many companies send spam to customers that are brought through marketing groups. However, there are filters such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), the Computer Decency Act, Federal Telecommunications Act, and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) that have regulatory codes. Advertising is regulated. For the most part it is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) but the Food and Drug Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) can monitor different segments of advertising. Web site needs to know of other websites that may copy its website to market a product that has not been endorsed. It looks like your website is endorsing a product when in fact you are not, but the organization is making sales dishonestly. In conclusion, privacy and ethical practices within e-commerce are a concern for all who do business over the Web. The main concern is that the information needed for online transactions will be used unethically or in a manner not approved by the consumer. Consumers do not need to lose trust in businesses because a loss of trust means loss of business. References Charles Vincent, Jean Camp. (2004). Looking to the Internet for models of governance. Ethics and Information Technology, 6(3), 161-173. Peslak, Alan R (2007). A Review of the Impact of ACM Code of Conduct on Information: Technology Moral Judgment and Intent. The Journal of Computer Information Systems, 47(3), 1-10.