SEC575 All Weeks Discussions Latest 2019 November

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 1 Discussion

DQ1 JURISDICTION OVER WEBSITES

Read Yahoo v. La Lique (Links to an external site.) and Mink v. AAAA Development LLC (Baumer, pp. 44–46), and then discuss the factors that were used to determine whether each court had jurisdiction over non-resident website operators. What business factors should enter into development of commercial websites and decisions about whether to subject a company to long-arm jurisdiction?

DQ2 IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE LAW

All websites are equally accessible on the Internet, no matter where a site's business sponsor is located. Consequently, foreign websites are accessible to people cruising the Internet.

Suppose a foreign website sells drugs that are not approved by regulatory agencies for sale to citizens of another country. Do you think that website has a duty to be familiar with drug laws throughout the world? Why or why not? In addition, do you think the owners of the website have committed a crime? Why or why not?

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 2 Discussion

DQ1 TO SPAM OR NOT TO SPAM

You have just graduated from Keller Graduate School and decide that you want to start an Internet business. You have limited capital but need to market your product. Someone suggests that you can purchase 500,000 Internet addresses at an extremely low cost. You have always hated spam but realize that this is a great way to reach a half a million potential customers both quickly and cheaply. You recognize that many, if not most, of the recipients will find your spam message a nuisance. Focusing on the legal issues that you believe affect your actions, discuss what you would do.Read the excerpts of the CAN-SPAM Act (Links to an external site.).

DQ2 TAXATION AND THE INTERNET

Class, it always comes down to taxes--the state wants them and you the consumer would just as soon pass on sales taxes if you are ordering online rather than at a brick and mortar store.

What is the state of taxing of Internet sales? Read Case 23-1: National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of the State of Illinois at p. 752 and the accompanying discussion at pp. 750-56 of our Text. Also read the linked 1992 Quill Corp v. North Dakota (Links to an external site.) decision which served as the basis for more than a decade of debate on taxation of Internet transactions.  And, finally, please read South Dakota v. Wayfair (Links to an external site.), a 2018 decision which expressly overruled National Bellas Hess and Quill Corp decisions.

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 3 Discussion

DQ1 SHRINK-WRAP. BOX-TOP, AND CLICK-WRAP AGREEMENTS

Shrink-wrap, box-top, and click-wrap agreements are inherent to e-commerce. How you feel about them often depends on whether you are the vendor or purchaser. What are the best practices to assure shrink-wrap, box-top, and click-wrap agreements are legal? What are the best ethical practices that the e-commerce industry should adopt?

DQ2 ATTRIBUTION IN AN E-COMMERCE WORLD

In a world of one-click acceptance, vendors face real challenges in determining whether the clicker is in fact the offeree to whom the offer is made. What are some steps or procedures vendors can adopt to establish attribution? What happens if a consumer clicks on the wrong button or did not intend to click at all? What legal and ethical defenses should be available to e-commerce customers?

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND BUSINESS

We tend to think of constitutional rights in terms of individuals--our rights to free speech, to worship or not worship as we see fit, our rights to be secure in our homes from unreasonable governmental intrusion and our rights as criminal defendants to a jury trial, to a competent attorney and the right against self-incrimination.

But a lot of these rights have relevance to business. And other rights such as the power of the federal government under the Commerce Clause and the right of governments to seize our property under eminent domain are critical to how businesses can profitably operate.

So let's jump into what should be a fascinating discussion

DQ2 INVASIONS OF PRIVACY IN CYBERSPACE

Americans have a high regard for privacy. This regard is codified in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure.

Is the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 sufficient to guarantee our rights to privacy in Internet and other electronic communications?  Or, in the aftermath of 9/11 and the war on terror, should we reasonably expect government inroads into privacy and the use of snooping tools such as Carnivore?

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 5 Discussion

DQ1 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN AN INTERNET AGE

The Internet revolution brought with it a flood of intellectual property issues. We all know about the rise and fall of Napster and the efforts of next-generation file-sharing programs to build pure person-to-person networks. Our text discusses DeCSS software that can defeat anticopying protections on DVDs. Internationally, the problem has exploded, with knock-off software programs available throughout China and much of the Far East.

What can intellectual property owners, particularly the creators of music and movie entertainment, do to protect their copyrights?

Are international trade agreements likely to be effective in protecting copyright holders?

DQ2 "SUCK SITES," FREE SPEECH, AND METATAGS

The Internet is the new soapbox anyone can use to voice an opinion. With that being the case, can a website that is critical of a business use the trademarked name of the business?   Can those critical of the commercial practices of a business use the business's name and also employ metatags to draw browsers of those who input the business's name in the search engine?

Which value should receive the highest weight—the right of a company to protect its trademark or the right of unfettered free speech in the marketplace?

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 6 Discussion

DQ1 ETHICAL HACKER

Your CEO reads an article that a German firewall company, Securepoint, has hired the author of the Sasser worm. She also reads articles from security experts who are in support of or against the hiring. She concludes that it would be a good idea for your company to hire a local hacker to work for your company. She asks you, the company's Chief Information Security Officer, for your opinion. Please advise whether you agree or disagree with the CEO, specifically addressing the ethical issues involved. (suggested reading: Baumer, pp. 725–726)

DQ2 CYBERETHICS

Using your favorite Search Engine, locate a website devoted to cyber ethics. Provide the URL and a summary of the ethical principles promoted by the website.

SEC575 Information Security Law and Ethics

Week 7 Discussion

DQ1 COMPUTER VIRUSES

Computer viruses can cause havoc when the infection hinders or disables personal or business computers. Naturally, the cost of dealing with viruses impacts major companies whenever an infection occurs and is high in both monetary and manpower expenditures. But even the small businessperson or casual user can experience major inconvenience, anguish, and expense when infected. Does the law deal severely enough with those who spread viruses? Is there anything more that the government could do to protect citizens and businesses that use the Internet that would not be viewed as an invasion of citizens' rights? Now imagine that the next time you went to your personal computer it was useless because of a virus and had to be replaced, or that the next time you went to the computer lab on campus you found that a virus had disabled all computers on your campus for 6 months. Would your answer be different?

DQ2 THE INTERNET, PORN, AND FREE SPEECH

The attempt to regulate pornography and to develop definitions that do not run afoul of the First Amendment is expanding as the Internet becomes the number-one source for the dissemination of pornography. Attempts to regulate online pornography through the Communication Decency Act of 1996 and the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 have been struck down by the Supreme Court. What legal solutions are available to combat pornography? Are site-blocking tools an effective way to monitor the usage of the Internet by children?