Legal, Ethical, and Tax Issues - B2b Vs. B2c

Legal, Ethical, and Tax Issues

B2B Vs. B2C

E-Business is growing faster than most predictions and is anticipated to continue to grow. To most consumers, web access is a natural piece of all business and is expected. Some applications, like bill paying over the Internet, have been successful beyond anyone's imagination and it just continues to grow. With growth of possibilities as the Internet reaches higher depths, there are very serious issues for businesses using E-Business to consider. This paper will investigate Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues for both B2C and B2B websites.

Areas of concern to B2B would be Trademark Infringement, Copyright Infringement, or Patent Infringement. There are many laws to protect commerce from those types of Infringement problems. One of the largest concerns is the use of intellectual property. Responsibility for enforcement of intellectual-property law is divided among a range of agencies including the Library of Congress, the Justice and State Departments, and the U.S. Trade Representative. The DSA Code of Ethics ensures that member companies will “make no statements or promises that might mislead either consumers or prospective sales people” (DSA, 1999). It is the responsibility of the web company to be trustworthy; therefore, portrayal and words used in the site must be factual. For example, if a web-based company uses a trademarked object from other company’s websites, they may give the consumer the impression that the company is somehow affiliated with the company that owns the trademarked object.

Some of the more common agreements between B2B and B2C include Terms of Service, Condition of Use, or User Agreements. The authority to form contracts is more common in B2C, than B2B; however both types of E-Business would be subject to jurisdiction issues.

B2B web sites share mutual information with each other as well as B2C web sites, so ethics in this situation are important. Privacy is important and should be protected through whatever technical and legal means possible. In the business environment, there are codes of ethics that are developed by the organizations, such as trade unions, which have developed them.

There is also the issue of opt-in and opt-out in B2C E-Business. Though most consumers prefer the opt-in option, in the United States, “most companies use the opt-out option” (Schneider, 2004, p. 308). For example, once consumers visit a site like Monster, they are asked to fill out a questionnaire with personal information. One of the sections in the page contains an area asking if the consumer would like to receive “updates, newsletters, and partner offers” (Monster, 2005). This particular area has yes checked in all