Social Issues in Electronic Commerce

The revolutionary development of network technologies launched electronic commerce as a global phenomenon. Consequently, the policy issues that arise from its use create new responsibilities for policy makers world-wide. Apart from the technical (e.g. fast and reliable networks) and regulatory (e.g. legal frameworks and standardization) challenges that need to be tackled there are a number of social concerns that also need consideration. It is important for policy makers to see Internet use and electronic commerce as a social as well as a technical phenomenon. In this paper we examine how social concerns such as trust and digital democracy pertain to all levels of Internet and electronic commerce policy, posing dilemmas and influencing the construction of an effective and socially responsible strategy for electronic commerce.