Responses to Ethical Challenges of Technology

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Responses to Ethical Challenges of Technology It is commonplace for people in developed countries to have an email account. Most people have more than one between a work email and personal email account. Some of the more well-known providers of free email accounts are Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL. Consider what an extensive database of names, addresses, and other demographic information each of those companies holds. Other companies that have such demographic information available include online shopping venues such as eBay, Amazon.com, and Overstock.com. Less-than-scrupulous companies could sell their databases to marketing companies thereby sharing valuable consumer information without the consumer’s permission. Marketing companies were able to take advantage of those databases and find potential customers by flooding email accounts with spam – unwanted and unsolicited commercial emails. Spam can clog up an individual’s inbox and take a lot of time to sort through. Spam has also spread to wireless devices in the form of unwanted and unsolicited text messages. Unwanted and unsolicited text messages can be costly to an individual who does not have an unlimited text package as part of his or her cell phone account. The Controlling the Assault of Non-solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 was enacted by Congress to combat spam. The Federal Communications Commission [adopted rules that prohibit sending unwanted commercial email messages to wireless devices without prior permission. This ban took effect in March 2005. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted detailed rules that restrict sending unwanted commercial email messages to computers] (www.fcc.gov, n.d.). The CAN-SPAM Act does not apply to email messages from “transactional or relationship” messages, or notices to facilitate a transaction you have already agreed to”

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