Friday - July 14, 2000

Lawyers Wrestle with Online Privacy

According to the New York Law Journal

"To bodly go where no lawyer has gone before — this might serve as the motto of e-commerce lawyers these days. And consumer privacy remains one of the virtually uncharted legal frontiers of cyberspace.

Each month it seems Congress turns out yet another bill to regulate on-line privacy, but given the political realities of an upcoming election, none are expected to pass this year. The Federal Trade Commission, buffeted by internal disagreements, has flip-flopped between supporting self-regulation and federal legislation. Last week, the European Parliament took many by surprise by voting down proposed safe-harbor privacy principles by which compliant U.S. companies doing business in EU member states could permissibly transfer consumer data back to the United States.

On-line advertising and other companies are working hard to convince the public and the FTC that self-regulation is the answer..."

Click here for the full story . [Link no longer active]

Reality Check: The State of Ecommerce
According to the E-Commerce Times:

"It is difficult to know whether industry analysts are feeding the media's tendency to dwell on fear, uncertainty and doubt -- or vice versa -- but in the past several months, Internet air space has been crackling with dire predictions regarding e-commerce.

In light of the torrent of anecdotal evidence suggesting that e-commerce firms may be on the endangered species list, the E-Commerce Times investigated the big picture of the industry. What we found may surprise you.

True, there is a whole lot of shaking-out going on. For the e-tailers who are going, going or gone -- and the investors who put their faith in them -- the e-commerce landscape is bleak and barren. But a look at the big picture reveals that the losers inhabit just a small portion of the terrain, and that most inhabitants of the e-commerce world are not only still breathing, but doing brisk business at a PC near you..."

Click here for the full story.

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