Deck 8: Ethical Social and Political Issues in E-Commerce

Question 1

Describe the five-step process that can be used to analyze an ethical dilemma. What other guidelines are there to help in understanding a complicated ethical or moral situation?

Answer 1

The five-step process is:
1. Identify and describe the facts. Find out who did what to whom, and where, when, and how. It helps to get the opposing parties involved in an ethical dilemma to agree on the facts.
2. Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved. Ethical, social, and political issues always reference higher values. Otherwise, there would be no debate. The parties to a dispute all claim to be pursuing higher values (e.g. , freedom, privacy, protection of property, and the free enterprise system).
3. Identify the stakeholders. Every ethical, social, and political issue has stakeholders: players in the game who have an interest in the outcome, who have invested in the situation, and usually who have vocal opinions. Find out the identity of these groups and what they want. This will be useful later when designing a solution.
4. Identify the options that you can reasonably take. You may find that none of the options satisfies all the interests involved, but that some options do a better job than others. Sometimes, arriving at a "good" or ethical solution may not always be a balancing of consequences to stakeholders.
5. Identify the potential consequences of your options. Some options may be ethically correct, but disastrous from other points of view. Other options may work in this one instance, but not in other similar instances. Always ask yourself, "What if I choose this option consistently over time?"
Other things to consider when appraising a dilemma include basic ethical concepts such as responsibility, accountability, and liability and how these play into the situation. Additionally, you can judge the situation against candidate ethical principles, such as the Golden Rule, the Slippery Slope theory, Universalism, the Collective Utilitarian principle, Risk Aversion theory, the No Free Lunch theory, the New York Times test (Perfect Information rule), and the Social Contract rule. Actions that do not easily pass these guidelines deserve some very close attention and a great deal of caution because the appearance of unethical behavior may do as much harm to you and your company as the actual behavior.

Question 2

Which of the following basic ethical concepts plays an important role in defining privacy?

A)responsibility
B)accountability
C)liability
D)due process

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which ethical principle asks you to assume that virtually all tangible and intangible objects are owned by someone else unless there is a specific declaration otherwise?

A)the Golden Rule
B)the Slippery Slope
C)the Social Contract Rule
D)No Free Lunch

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which ethical principle asks you to consider the impact of your decision if the principles underlying your decision became an organizing principle of the entire society?

A)the Golden Rule
B)Risk Aversion
C)the Slippery Slope
D)the Social Contract Rule

Question 5

Which of the following e-commerce technology dimensions creates greater opportunities for cyberbullying?

A)information density
B)interactivity
C)social technology
D)ubiquity

Question 6

Which of the following features of e-commerce technology can result in work and shopping invading family life?

A)interactivity
B)ubiquity
C)information density
D)global reach

Question 7

The principle of responsibility means that individuals, organizations, and societies should be held accountable to others for the consequences of their actions.

Question 8

Downloading a music track owned by a record company without paying for it is an example of a violation of:

A)patent law.
B)copyright law.
C)trademark law.
D)privacy law.

Question 9

Which of the following e-commerce technology dimensions has the potential to reduce cultural diversity in products?

A)ubiquity
B)interactivity
C)information density
D)global reach

Question 10

Which ethical principle emphasizes putting oneself into the place of others and thinking of oneself as the object of the decision?

A)the Golden Rule
B)Universalism
C)the Collective Utilitarian principle
D)the Social Contract Rule

Question 11

A social consequence of the richness of Internet information is:

A)an increase in shallowness.
B)an increase in the ease of creating misleading information.
C)very persuasive messages might reduce the need for multiple independent sources of information.
D)an increase in vulnerability to hacking attacks.

Question 12

Discuss in depth one ethical, social, or political issue that is presently in the news surrounding the Internet and e-commerce.

Question 13

Which ethical principle tells you that it is wise to assume perfect information markets?

A)the Golden Rule
B)the New York Times test
C)the Social Contract Rule
D)the Collective Utilitarian principle

Question 14

Which ethical principle states that when confronted with an ethical dilemma, an individual should take the action that produces the least harm, or the least potential cost?

A)the Slippery Slope
B)Risk Aversion
C)No Free Lunch
D)the Collective Utilitarian principle

Question 15

The ethical principle of Universalism states that if an action is not right for all situations, then it is not right for any situation.

Question 16

Which ethical principle states that, when confronted with an ethical dilemma, individuals should take the action that achieves the greater value for all of society?

A)the Golden Rule
B)Risk Aversion
C)the Collective Utilitarian principle
D)the Social Contract Rule

Question 17

Which of the following is not one of the four basic principles shared by ethical schools of thought in western culture?

A)accountability
B)privacy
C)responsibility
D)liability

Question 18

What is the first step in analyzing an ethical dilemma?

A)Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved.
B)Identify the potential consequences of your opinions.
C)Identify the options you can reasonably take.
D)Identify and describe the facts.

Question 19

Liability is a feature of political systems in which a body of law is in place that permits individuals to recover damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations.

Question 20

Which ethical principle states that if an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it's not right to take at all?

A)Universalism
B)the Slippery Slope
C)the Social Contract Rule
D)the Golden Rule

Question 21

Which of the following is not aimed at strengthening the ability of law enforcement agencies to monitor Internet users without their knowledge?

A)USA PATRIOT Act
B)Homeland Security Act
C)Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
D)USA Freedom Act

Question 22

Which of the FTC's Fair Information Practices (FIP)principles requires opt-in or opt-out policies to be in place?

A)Notice/Awareness
B)Choice/Consent
C)Access/Participation
D)Security

Question 23

Which of the following is a core Fair Information Practices (FIP)principle?

A)Choice/Consent
B)Access/Participation
C)Security
D)Enforcement

Question 24

Most adult social network participants do not have any expectation of personal privacy when using a social network.

Question 25

Google owns which of the following, whose data it can use to create what some refer to as super profiles?

A)Experian
B)Acxiom
C)TransUnion Corporation
D)DoubleClick

Question 26

What is the FTC recommendation regarding choice as it relates to personally identifiable information (PII)?

A)Require firms to have consumers affirmatively opt-in before PII is collected.
B)Require firms to allow consumers to opt-out before PII is collected.
C)Make collection of PII illegal.
D)Require robust notice only before PII is collected.

Question 27

Which of the following is not a privacy advocacy group?

A)EPIC
B)TIO
C)CDT
D)EFF

Question 28

Which of the following statements about industry self-regulation regarding privacy is not true?

A)The AdChoices program is an industry-sponsored initiative to encourage websites to be more transparent about how they use personal information and to make it more likely that appropriate ads are shown to users.
B)The NAI offers consumers a global opt-out feature to prevent network advertising agencies from placing cookies on a user's computer.
C)Industry efforts have not so far succeeded in reducing American fears of privacy invasion.
D)Critics argue that the most effective form of industry self-regulation to safeguard privacy are online seal programs that attest to a company's privacy policies.

Question 29

All of the following are required in order for information to be considered a trade secret except:

A)it must have commercial value to its owner.
B)the owner must have taken steps to protect it.
C)it must be unique.
D)it must be something that others do not know.

Question 30

Which of the following is not true about the evolution of Facebook's privacy policies over the ten-year period from 2005 to 2015?

A)The amount of information gathered and monitored by Facebook increased.
B)Facebook's privacy policies improved from 2005 to 2009.
C)Facebook's privacy policy became easier to understand.
D)Facebook's privacy policies have steadily declined since 2009.

Question 31

In the United States, Google is not required to remove results from its search engine if requested.

Question 32

Which of the FTC's Fair Information Practices (FIP)principles requires identification of the collector of data?

A)Notice/Awareness
B)Choice/Consent
C)Access/Participation
D)Security

Question 33

The Spokeo case involved a claim for damages based on which of the following?

A)Fair Credit Reporting Act
B)Digital Millennium Copyright Act
C)Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
D)Defend Trade Secrets Act

Question 34

Which of the following statements about the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)is not true?

A)The GDPR replaces the E.U.'s existing Data Protection Directive.
B)The GDPR applies to any firm operating in any E.U. country.
C)The GDPR eliminate the right to be forgotten.
D)The GDPR limits the ability of companies to use data for purposes other than those for which it was collected.

Question 35

Which of the following can be used to record all keyboard activity of a user?

A)shopping carts
B)trusted computing environments
C)spyware
D)DRM

Question 36

Which of the following technologies allows you to send e-mail without a trace?

A)anonymous surfing
B)P3P
C)anonymous remailers
D)public key encryption

Question 37

"Do Not Track" falls under which of the following principles in the FTC's new privacy framework?

A)Privacy by Design
B)Simplified Choice
C)Greater Transparency
D)Scope

Question 38

Which of the following requires financial institutions to inform consumers of their privacy policies and permits consumers some control over their records?

A)Freedom of Information Act
B)Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
C)COPPA
D)HIPAA

Question 39

According to data from Pew Research Center, which of the following is the action which the highest percentage of Internet users has taken to preserve their privacy online?

A)used an anonymous web browsing service
B)encrypted their communications
C)cleared web browser history and cookies
D)posted comments online anonymously

Question 40

Which of the following tools can companies use to track user statements and views on newsgroups, chat groups, and other public forums?

A)cookies
B)digital wallets
C)search engines
D)shopping carts

Question 41

All of the following are factors that will be considered in determining whether use of copyrighted material is "fair use" except the:

A)nature of the work used.
B)amount of the work used.
C)market effect of the use.
D)free availability of the work on the Web.

Question 42

Describe and evaluate the different methods that are being used to protect online privacy. Which of these methods do you think is or could be the most effective?

Question 43

In what ways has the European privacy environment turned against American firms such as Facebook and Google?

Question 44

All of the following statements about patents are true except:

A)it is more difficult to obtain a copyright than it is to obtain a patent.
B)the four types of inventions protected by patent law are machines, manmade products, compositions of matter, and processing methods.
C)computer programs can be patented.
D)in order to be patented, an invention must be nonobvious.

Question 45

How long does copyright protection extend for corporate-owned works?

A)25 years
B)50 years
C)75 years
D)95 years

Question 46

The opt-in model for informed consent requires an affirmative action by the consumer before a company can collect and use information.

Question 47

Which of the following protects original forms of expression in a tangible medium?

A)trade secret law
B)copyright law
C)patent law
D)trademark law

Question 48

Which of the following situations would not qualify for the fair use exception to U.S. copyright law?

A)A professor clips a newspaper article just before class and distributes copies of it to his class.
B)A journalist quotes a paragraph from a book in a review of the book.
C)A student copies a photograph of his favorite band from a website created by the band's record label and places it on the student's personal website.
D)Google posts thumbnail images of books in the Google Book Search Project.

Question 49

How is it possible to measure the strength of privacy policies?

Question 50

What is the major reason why the Internet has such potential for destroying traditional conceptions and implementations of intellectual property law?

A)the ability to make perfect copies of digital works at little cost
B)the anonymous nature of the Internet
C)the support for instant peer-to-peer communication
D)the use of standards for file formats

Question 51

Describe the fantasy sport business and the issues it raises.

Question 52

All of the following statements about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)are true except:

A)the DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent technological measures to protect works.
B)the DMCA makes Internet Service Providers (ISPs) responsible and accountable for hosting websites or providing services to infringers regardless of whether the ISP is aware of infringement.
C)the DMCA requires search engines to block access to infringing sites.
D)the DMCA allows libraries to make digital copies of works for internal use only.

Question 53

Discuss the Authors Guild's lawsuit against Google with respect to Google's Library Project, and explain why the courts ultimately ruled in Google's favor.

Question 54

Define privacy, information privacy, the right to be forgotten, and informed consent.

Question 55

The TrustArc program is an industry-sponsored initiative to encourage websites to be more transparent about how they use personal information, and to make it more likely that appropriate ads are shown to users.

Question 56

All of the following are possible penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)except:

A)up to ten years imprisonment for a first offense.
B)fines up to $500,000 for a first offense.
C)fines up to $1 million for a repeat offense.
D)restitution to the injured parties for any losses due to infringement.

Question 57

Which case was instrumental in paving the way for Internet business methods patents?

A)Bilski et al. v. Kappos
B)State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc.
C)Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International
D)Ticketmaster Corp. v. Tickets.com

Question 58

Which of the following allows someone to obtain an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years?

A)copyright law
B)trade secret law
C)patent law
D)trademark law

Question 59

Which of the following cases has chipped away at DMCA safe harbor protection?

A)Field v. Google, Inc.
B)Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International
C)BMG Rights Management v. Cox Communications
D)Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al.

Question 60

The Federal Communications Commission's privacy rules, applicable to broadband ISPs, were repealed by Congress in 2017.

Question 61

Net neutrality refers to the idea that Internet service providers (ISPs), including cable Internet and wireless carriers, should treat all data on the Internet in the same manner, and not discriminate or price differentially by content, protocol, platform, hardware, or application.

Question 62

In which of the following cases did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that basic business methods cannot be patented?

A)State Street Bank & Trust v. Signature Financial Group, Inc.
B)Bilski et al. v. Kappos
C)Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International
D)BMG Rights Management v. Cox Communications

Question 63

Disputes over federal trademarks involve establishing:

A)underlying ideas.
B)intent.
C)piracy.
D)infringement.

Question 64

Which of the following cases involved the issue of keywording?

A)Ticketmaster Corp. v. Tickets.com
B)Bernina of America, Inc. v. Fashion Fabrics Int'l, Inc.
C)Government Employees Insurance Company v. Google, Inc.
D)E) & J. Gallo Winery v. Spider Webs Ltd.

Question 65

Google defended its Library Project on the grounds of fair use.

Question 66

All of the following cases involved the doctrine of fair use except:

A)Spokeo v. Robins
B)Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al.
C)Field v. Google, Inc.
D)Kelly v. Arriba Soft.

Question 67

Which of the following is considered one of the most contentious e-commerce patents?

A)patent on streaming video media transmission
B)patent on buyer-driven name your price tools
C)patent on one-click purchasing
D)Google's PageRank patent

Question 68

Describe the purpose of intellectual property law and outline the main types of intellectual property protection.

Question 69

Registering a domain name similar or identical to trademarks of others to extort profits from legitimate holders is an example of:

A)cybersquatting.
B)cyberpiracy.
C)framing.
D)metatagging.

Question 70

Registering a domain name similar or identical to trademarks of others to divert web traffic to their own sites is an example of:

A)cybersquatting.
B)cyberpiracy.
C)framing.
D)metatagging.

Question 71

The display of a third-party's website or page within your own website is called:

A)cybersquatting.
B)metatagging.
C)framing.
D)deep linking.

Question 72

According to the chapter-ending case study, which of the following have content thieves been using recently as repository for pirated content?

A)Dropbox
B)Apple iCloud
C)Google Drive
D)Amazon Web Services

Question 73

The expansion of generic top-level domains recently authorized by ICANN is likely to be disruptive in terms of trademark protection.

Question 74

Registering the domain name Faceboik.com with the intent to divert web traffic from people misspelling Facebook.com is an example of:

A)cybersquatting.
B)typosquatting.
C)metatagging.
D)linking.

Question 75

The Day of Action in July 2017 was a protest to proposed changes in regulations pertaining to which of the following?

A)fantasy sports
B)Internet sales taxes
C)Net neutrality
D)the online sale of prescription drugs

Question 76

Which of the following is not one of the issues complicating the taxation of e-commerce sales?

A)Taxes raised are used for different government purposes.
B)Sales taxes and policies vary by state and country.
C)Retailers are only legally required to charge sales tax if they have operations located in the same state as a consumer.
D)Small online businesses are unable to manage sales taxes to thousands of different jurisdictions.

Question 77

Safe harbor provisions of the DMCA were at the heart of which of the following lawsuits?

A)a lawsuit filed by the Authors Guild and five major publishing companies against Google
B)a lawsuit brought by Viacom against YouTube and Google
C)Government Employees Insurance Company v. Google, Inc.
D)Google, Inc. v. American Blind & Wallpaper Factory, Inc.

Question 78

Copyright protection protects against others copying the underlying ideas in a work.

Question 79

Which of the following involves bypassing the target site's home page and going directly to a content page?

A)cybersquatting
B)metatagging
C)framing
D)deep linking

Question 80

Which of the following handles cybersquatting cases under its Uniform Dispute Resolution procedures?

A)ICANN
B)FTC
C)WIPO
D)USPTO