As e-commerce continues to grow in the United States and abroad, new consumer pr

Question

As e-commerce continues to grow in the United States and abroad, new consumer protection laws are needed. Use the Internet to research recent developments in consumer protection for transactions through cyberspace. (Kubasek et al., 2013, p. 754-5). Consider cyberspace consumer protections that may affect the business in which you work, in which you would like to work, or from a situation you have experienced. Think of this issue from the perspective of a business working with customers; consider how protecting customers may cost your business profits, or, how it might make your business profits by “differentiating” your business from others like it. Then, consider this from the perspective of a legislator or regulator, trying to protect customers from this situation. (Some ideas: identity theft, credit card interest rates, airline baggage fees, etc.). Be creative.

Make a recommendation for a government regulation, or law that you would like to see enacted. Think of the consequences (good and bad) of the proposed regulation or law that you have suggested to businesses, and to consumers. Consider any unintended consequences that might occur. Your paper should have the following sections:

Regulation or law proposal. Be very specific in the wording. (Your own idea and words). (20 points).

What problem did you find in your research online that your regulation plans to address? Include a citation to the article(s) that describes the problem. (10 points)

What consequences might your proposed regulation/law have on affected businesses? Describe one good and one bad consequence. (10 points)

What consequences might your proposed regulation/law have on protected consumers? Describe one good and one bad consequence. (10 points)

Consider unintended consequences. What might one be? Describe it. (5 points).

References

Include a reference(s) from the problem(s) you found in your online research. (5 points)

Explanation / Answer

With the increased use of ecommerce websites like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Target, etc., the threat of cyberspace crime has increased. Therefore, federal government should use more strict laws and regulations to protect the consumers from cyberspace crime.

One of the major causes of concern for users of ecommerce cites is the increasing risk of identity theft and phishing. Hackers or spammers can steal the customers’ data from company websites, browsing devices or software, as well as browsers. In order to protect the customers from such malpractices, government can make the law that each company needs to get a specific certification from the government that would verify that the company has required resources to ensure the safeguarding of their customer information. Companies unable to get the certification would not be allowed to perform the ecommerce transactions.

This law would be very beneficial for the customers as it would save them from phishing and theft identity. Thus, consumers can enjoy their shopping without any fear of data stealing. However, this law might have some negative consequences on the customer. For example, the companies need to pay huge amount to ensure their data safety as well as for getting the certifications. The companies would ultimately add this cost on the price of products. Thus, it would ultimately increase the price of products for the end customers.

Similarly, this law would have some positive as well as negative impact on the affected business. As far as the advantages are concerned, the consumer base of such firms would increase as more number of consumers would be attracted towards the online transactions who were earlier unsure of their information safety. On the other hand, increased cost and price of products would impact the profit margins of the company. Besides this, price sensitive customers might switch to the physical stores due to increased cost of online products. Thus, the e-commerce companies need to face intense competition from the physical retailers.   

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