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MICHELE'S PICKS FOR DIGITAL LAW, TAXES & PRIVACY RESOURCES

Following is a list of my favorite resources dealing with the ever-evolving and somewhat tricky field of E-Business Law, Privacy and Ethics. (A continuación se encuentra mi lista de recursos preferidos sobre las leyes, los impuestos y la Jtica sobre el comercio electrónico.)

 Please help me grow this list by sending your suggested e-business and web resources to me at mjb@webpractices.com. (Por favor, ayúdeme a aumentar esta lista de recursos sobre el negocio por Internet, y envíeme sus recursos sugeridos por correo electrónico a mjb@webpractices.com.) I reserve the right to edit or refuse submissions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF 
DIGITAL LAW, POLICY, PRIVACY AND ETHICS RESOURCES

Ethics Privacy Copyrights Digital Law News and Policy Online Taxation Federal and Law Enforcement Sites

Ethics & Privacy

This is a particularly sensitive issue for customers and hence, lawmakers as well. Ethics and privacy are crucial for all e-commerce, but are particularly of importance for areas of high anxiety like health, family, etc. and high-ticket items.

Ethics

• Hi-Ethics Organization, or Health Internet Ethics, is an organization consisting of many consumer health web sites and consumer and government groups. After the recent spate of negative publicity, it has come out with a new online Hi-ethics principles required for all health-related consumer sites, but gives guidelines all consumer web sites should strive to follow. Failure to comply will hurt your business minimally since competitors will be following these and consumers will be watching, and those who don't may be subject to government oversight.

Privacy

• The Privacy Page is a home-grown site with great links.
• EPIC's Guide to Online Privacy Resources is the official site of the Electronic Privacy Information Center with many links and resources.

Copyrights

• The Copyright Website at http://www.benedict.com/ is the master site of these issues.

• Copyright and Digital Protection Technology Site at http://poseidon.csd.auth.gr/~nikos/copyright.html links to site about copyright issues and to digital and visible watermarking technology sites for help in protecting intellectual property.

• Jian Zhao's Index of Digital Copyright Protection & Digital Watermarking Technology at http://www-sal.cs.uiuc.edu/~l-qiao/watermarking.html is another great master list of links, but hasn't been updated in 2 years!

Digital Law  News and Policy

• If you are interested in digital law, you must subscribe to the Bureau of National Affairs' "Electronic Commerce & Law Report" paper newsletter, which lists case law, news, and sources. Visit their website at at www.bna.com.

• Software Patents can be researched at www.softwarepatent.com.

• The Digital Future Coalition at  http://www.dfc.org/ is a clearinghouse for digital policy and legislation.

• The Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy at http://www.law.vill.edu/ keeps track of the many information technology and interactive media-based laws and court decisions.

Online Taxation

• eCommerce Tax News is a comprehensive site covering this issue.
• Affiliate Programs: Here is one article about the possibility of taxes for online affiliate marketing programs. 

Federal and Law Enforcement Sites

• The Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov, the keeper of copyrights.

  The U.S. Copyright Office site can be found at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ and gives all the laws and requirements.

• United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov is where you can register trademarks and software patents.

• Look up past and pending legislation and congressional activities at the U.S. Congress web site at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html.

• U.S. Federal Communications Commission at http://www.fcc.gov regulates telecommunications and web transmission technologies.

• U.S. Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/ protects against consumer fraud.

• U.S. Department of Justice at http://www.usdoj.gov and the Federal Bureau of Investigation at www.fbi.gov investigate computer and other federal crimes.

• The U.S. Postal Service's Postal Inspection Service, http://www.usps.gov/postalinspectors/, investigates and prosecutes mail fraud.

Please send your suggested e-business and web resources to me at mjb@webpractices.com.

PLEASE NOTE The information presented at WebPractices.com is not legal advice. WebPractices.com is not in the business of legal information;this is just a site with suggested resources and ideas on e-business practices. This information is provided to help you understand the issues that we believe e-business people should be aware of. We recommend that you consult a qualified attorney who specializes in trademarks, copyrights, advertising, intellectual property and the Internet for your questions or problem.