Legal, Ethical And Regulartory Differences B2c Vs B2b

The Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Differences B2C versus B2B

E-commerce is growing faster than most predictions and it is anticipated it will 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.

There are many companies that allows e-commerce merchants to connect to their bank through the Internet when selling either B2B or B2C. It essentially supports credit and debit card payments. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) allow for all forms of financial transactions over the Internet, both private and public. For example, when a company transfers money from its bank account to the payroll account and then to the individual banks of its employees it is doing EFT. With all this in mind it is not a wonder that e-commerce is so popular.

While the e-commerce continues to grow there are issues related to the rapid growth as well as simply basic business issues. It wasn't apparent to me, the difference in legal, ethical and regulatory differences between B2B and B2C. I will note a few things that stood out to me in both classifications of commerce.

Of large concern in both B2B and B2C is the level of security in using payment systems online. To date, 90% of consumer payments are made by cash, checks, credit card or debit card. Only 10% of consumer payments are made by ETF. While this is currently a small percentage, it is believed the numbers are growing rapidly.

Merchants routinely contract with a third party for payment card processing. These companies are high tech and their primary purpose is payment processing. They can detect fraud, and provide security. These companies are interacting B2B while the merchant is providing B2C services.

Ethics within B2B is routinely set by trade associations, commercial standards groups. One of the primary functions of B2B is the sharing of mutual information. If the business develops a reputation for poor practices or unethical behavior, it could be end of that commerce. Privacy is protected both technically and legally.

In large part, the Internet is unregulated. While there is anti-SPAM software, various filters, Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Federal Telecommunications Act and the Computer Decency Act, the Internet is left to free operation. As with ethics, the proper behavior of participants are typically set forth in regulatory codes developed by trade associations, commercial standard groups.

Jurisdiction becomes a huge issue as it is governed primarily by the culture in which it exists and does not always correspond with the geographical boundaries. In the cyber

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