Revised 8/2007

MKT 283 - Ethical, Legal, and Privacy Issues in Ecommerce (3 CR.)

Course Description

Examines major e-commerce issues which include privacy protection, concerns about censorship, protection of intellectual property and copyright issues, fraud prevention, along with the local, national and international legal framework within which marketing strategies are executed. Lecture 3 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

MKT 283 is a one-semester course designed for an in depth analysis of the Internet and the ethical, legal and privacy issues surrounding electronic commerce in light of the new technological realities that currently confront business managers and will continue to do so in the future. 

Course Prerequisites/Corequisites

An understanding of basic marketing, computer and business activities is desirable. Satisfactory completion of MKT 282 would be beneficial.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

  • Identify and describe the major legal issues related to electronic commerce such as privacy, protecting intellectual property, controlling Internet indecency, preventing fraud, establishing a tax framework, controlling gambling, determining jurisdiction, and protecting both sellers and buyers
  • Understand the difficulties of protecting privacy on the Net, how to protect privacy and whose responsibility it is to do so
  • Describe the issues of intellectual property in electronic commerce and the measures provided for its protection
  • Describe some of the ethical issues in electronic commerce and how companies are handling these issues
  • Understand the conflict between Internet indecency and free speech and the attempts to resolve the conflict
  • Describe the differences between online and traditional contracts
  • Discuss the controls over exporting encryption software and the issues of government policies
  • Describe the security requirements needed for electronic payments
  • Identify and describe current local, national and international laws within which marketing strategies are executed
  • Describe the measures available to protect buyers and sellers on the Internet

Major Topics to Be Included

  • Electronic commerce legal issues
  • Ethical issues
  • Protecting privacy
  • Protecting intellectual property
  • Free speech, Internet indecency and censorship
  • Taxation issues
  • Traditional and electronic contracts
  • Fraud on the Internet
  • Electronic payments and protocols
  • Internet security and encryption policies
  • Laws affecting electronic commerce
  • International e-commerce

Optional Topics

  • Internet Identity theft