At the individual level, what appears as an ethical
issue—”What should I do?”—is reflected at the social and political levels—“What should
we as a society and government do?” The ethical dilemmas you face as a manager of
a business using the Web reverberate and are reflected in social and political debates.
The major ethical, social, and political issues that have developed around e-commerce
over the past 10 years can be loosely categorized into four major dimensions: information rights, property rights, governance, and public safety and welfare.
Some of the ethical, social, and political issues raised in each of these areas include
the following: