Term Paper on "Webmd Web Portals Like Webmd, Internet-Based Medical"

Quoted Instructions for "Webmd Web Portals Like Webmd, Internet-Based Medical" Assignment:

Navigate through the WebMD.com Website as a consumer making purchases, joining chat or discussion rooms. Make a detailed list of the specific legal and regulatory issues in the B2C site. Navigate through the WebMD.com Website as a buyer looking to put your company*****s information onto the WebMD.com website. Make a detailed list of the specific legal and regulatory issues in the B2B site for hosting your content on WebMD.com and describe what was found and how it relates to the lecture.

Lecture 4

The Internet was created for government purposes known as ARPANET. The designers had no intention of it becoming a commercial place to perform business transactions. Because of this security was never considered being a U.S. government network.

In the past few years the Internet has seen a growth of new e-businesses. Many of these businesses may not be viewed as legal or ethical. Some examples of these businesses are:

· On-line Gambling

· Prescription Medicine

· Adult Entertainment

The U.S. Government has made On-line Gambling illegal. Many of these businesses setup their web and transaction servers in countries that permit On-line gambling such as Aruba, the Bahamas, and the Caymans. Unfortunately, U.S. regulation has not updated the *****Wire Act***** to include transactions over the Internet. It is this *****loophole***** that companies are taking advantage of. One of the next pieces of legislation to be created in Congress is an update to the 1999 Telecommunication Act that will address these types of activities.

A question is raised. Should U.S. regulation affect businesses outside of the U.S.? Many people view gambling as a legitimate form of business as seen in places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Who is to say what is legal and what is not?

Prescription medicine has grown dramatically over the Internet primarily due to the high cost of non-generic drugs. Many companies have set-up storefronts to sell their medicine. In the U.S. prescription drugs have to be issued by a licensed doctor. To support this law, companies have hired real doctors to write prescriptions immediately over the Internet to full-fill this requirement. These doctors have not seen these customers nor have they fully evaluated their medical condition. Many times a few simple questions are asked prior to creating the prescription. Is this legal? Is this right?

Along with the many positive events the Internet has brought, there have also been some negative affects. One of these affects is SPAM (not the food you eat). Many of us have un-willingly approved third party customers to send us this mail when we have purchased items or registered on-line. Is this legal? An ethics question is raised when a child mistakenly views a pornographic picture for an adult content website. In the U.S. pornography is enforced until the age of 18 in most states. Is the law broken?

As you can see many of us will have different views as to what we believe is ethical and in some cases even legal. A better question needs to be asked that if we believe that laws need to be written to prevent such activity, how is it enforced. This class does not have the answers to these questions, but only raises the questions for discussion.

Below is support information for this weeks lecture. It is to be used as a guide.



OBJECTIVES

Identify the legal, ethical, and regulatory issues of eBusiness



I. Identify the legal, ethical, and regulatory issues of eBusiness

*****¢ Ethics

*****¢ Privacy

*****¢ Intellectual Property

*****¢ Other

*****¢ Accessibility



Ethics

Principles of Right and Wrong used by Individuals

Value Judgements about what Behaviour is *****˜Good***** or *****˜Bad*****

*****¢ Ethical Issues can be categorized as follows:

*****“ Privacy *****“ the 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.



Ethical & Legal Issues

Many of the ethical issues are encountered in the legal aspects of e-commerce. However, There is a difference between the two.

An unethical action is not necessarily illegal.

Ethical Issues of E-Commerce

Electronic commerce policies may include:

A clear, explicit statement of the organization*****s privacy policy

A policy statement addressing situations in which a person*****s permission must be secured before his/her ID, photo, ideas, or communications are used or transmitted

A clear policy stating how the company will inform customers of the intended uses of personal information gathered during an online transaction and how to secure permission from customers for those used

A statement that addresses issues of ownership with respect to network postings and communications

A policy of how the company monitors, or tracks, user behaviors on the Web site.

Legal Issues - Setting up a Website

*****¢ Choosing a Domain Name

*****“ Ensure that other trademarks are not infringed

*****“ Distinguish the domain name by including type of service/product.

*****¢ Selecting the content of the web site

*****“ Documents and trademarks may be protected and rights must be acquired.

*****“ Protect the content of the site and trademarks.

*****¢ Decide whether to allow employees to set up their own Web pages on the company intranet.

*****¢ Decide on standards of acceptable text and graphics.

*****¢ Ensure that the content standards are explicitly clear and are consistent with other company policies on sexist and racist behavior.

*****¢ Encourage employees to think about who should and shouldn*****t have access to information before posting the information on the Web site.

*****¢ Remember that Web site content policies are an extension of other Netiquette guidelines, social etiquette, and common decency.

Legal Issues *****“ Advertising

*****¢ Advertisement and Contractual Content

*****“ The content of the advertisement becomes part of the contract unless specifically excluded

*****¢ Product Quality and Performance

*****“ The product must perform as per described by the seller.

*****¢ Further information

*****“ Should be provided to encourage trust and confidence, e.g details of professional bodies, VAT Reg. No.

*****¢ This information should be available on the site as soon as the consumer enters the site:

*****“ Description of goods and services

*****“ Prices

*****“ Delivery costs

*****“ Get out clause

Legal Issues - The Contract

*****¢ The minimal scheme that matches the best practice and the proposed directive on e-commerce is:

*****“ e-catalogue, presented by the e-supplier.

*****“ first click, drag or similar action for ordering one or more products.

*****“ recapitulative page (Brief summary).

*****“ second click, drag or similar action for acceptance.

*****“ acknowledgement of receipt from the e-supplier

*****¢ Shortening this process could be acceptable, only for professional purchasers, by prior agreement.

Privacy

The Safari text discusses some issues regarding privacy that we should be concerned with:

*****There are valid reasons to be concerned about privacy on the World Wide Web:

· Cookie software: A site visited by a user can add a small text file to the visitor's browser that identifies the user to the site. The cookie is used for password authentication so that people are not required to type in passwords each time they visit sites to which they subscribe. They are also used, if a site has the person's e-mail address, to send personalized research or news leads to users based on their cookie. Sites can track customer behavior based on cookies. The cookie, however, does not divulge site users' e-mail addresses. Those are provided voluntarily via on-line registration, purchases or contests.

· On-line registration and contest forms: Telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and home and business addresses are collected from on-line forms to various sites. These are frequently put into demographic databases and sold to direct marketers.

· Powerful databases: Companies such as Lexis/Nexus and Database Technologies offer on-line services where, for a fee, direct marketers purchase personal data about consumers.

· The "wired" universe: The rise in communicating computers makes databases available to anyone with a modem and a PC. People buy access to lists or they hack into computers containing personal information. As systems acquire more sophisticated security, hackers increase their own break-in capabilities. In 1996, hackers broke into the Department of Defense's computer system. Consumers are aware that computer systems are vulnerable to hackers and are leery of leaving private information on the Internet.*****

But what is Privacy? According to http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/projects/devglossary/_privacy.html

*****Privacy***** is defined as, *****privacy: 1. In a communications system or network, the protection given to information to conceal it from unauthorized persons having access to the system or network at large. Synonym segregation. 2. In a communications system, protection given to unclassified information, such as radio transmissions of law enforcement personnel, that requires safeguarding from unauthorized persons. 3. In a communications system, the protection given to prevent unauthorized disclosure of the information in the system. Note 1: The required protection may be accomplished by various means, such as by communications security measures and by directives to operating personnel. Note 2: The limited protection given certain voice and data transmissions by commercial crypto equipment is sufficient to deter a casual listener, but cannot withstand a competent cryptanalytic attack.*****

Many people have the following view of privacy when using the Internet:

Right to be left alone when surfing

Privacy: people have the right

- Not to receive unsolicited commercial messages. (What about SPAM???)

- To object to the processing of his or her data for commercial purposes.

- Personal data can only be collected if consent has been obtained.

There are others legal issues that need to be addressed when building your website. Many of these legal issues are applicable to advertising and print media. Many of you may have heard of these issues, below is a brief description:

Intellectual Property:

Intangible creations protected by law

Trade Secret:

Intellectual work or product belonging to business, not in public domain

Copyright:

Statutory grant protecting intellectual property from copying by others for 28 years

Trademark:

Legally registered mark, device, or name to distinguish one*****s goods

Patent:

Legal document granting owner exclusive monopoly on an invention for 17 years



Conclusion

The legal issues of the Internet are to be resolved by U.S. court judges. Their judgments can only be enforced within the United States. Because the Internet is global, restricting web sites from other countries that do not comply to US laws will be difficult to enforce. For example, an Internet surfer can telnet (log-in) to a different companies server and view *****illegal***** content or perform *****illegal***** activity that technically is not illegal where that server resides.

It is up to the individual to control what they wish to see and do on the Internet. Until there is a global acceptance on policy, only the surfer can control what is legal and ethical.

*****