Assignment

Question 1. The FTC considers e-commerce just the same as traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. Describe what the FTC requires regarding claims made by websites.

Question 2. The Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 had a significant impact on the liability of ISPs in its provisions regarding defamation. Detail the act and its impact on state defamation laws.

Question 3. Your company is about to release a highly advertised, highly anticipated software solution that is expected to be financially successful.

i. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using copyrights, patents, and trade secrets to prevent your competitors from copying and selling your software solution.

You wish to license use of each copy of your software solution to one machine, unless licenses for multiple machines are purchased.

ii. How can you contractually prevent customers from using the software on more than one machine and/or require the purchase of multiple licenses?

iii. If you sell the software off the shelf or via downloads online, how would you effect the acceptance of any contractual terms?

Question 4. You have hired a new salaried employee to develop security protocols for your company. The employee is very ambitious. You are concerned that his plans are to collect a salary from you until he develops something he views as commercially viable, then quit and attempt to market the protocols you have paid him to develop.

i. What steps can you take to protect yourself and your company?

ii. What specific contractual language is most likely to protect your company against employee disclosures or theft of confidential information?

Question 5. Most websites contain privacy statements. What are the advantages of privacy statements to the owners of websites? Include in your answer considerations related to choice of law, customer expectations relating to privacy, and fair information practices.

Question 6. Jim is a consultant; small businesses hire him to advise them on their computer needs. Recently, he was hired by a company interested in upgrading its hardware and software to manage customer relations. Jim has been hired to evaluate proposals. Jim concludes that the best alternative is from Customers-R-Us, and he explains why he recommended Customers-R-Us in his report. But Jim fails to mention that he is a silent partner (co-owner) in Customers-R-Us.

i. Did Jim act unethically? Why or why not?
ii. Should he have disclosed his ties to Customers-R-Us? Why or why not?
iii. Should Jim have declined the consulting job once he learned that Customers-R-Us was going to make a bid? Why or why not?
iv. What guidance can you get from any relevant published professional ethics codes?

Question 7. Cybermedicine is a very complicated area of e-commerce. It poses some very difficult legal issues as two industries interface over the Internet. Discuss and substantiate your understanding of the issues currently being faced by cyber medicine providers. What are the major concerns?