Law

Introduction

As technology improves over the years, there is an ever-increasing risk of going against accepted codes of conduct. This is mainly because improvements create loopholes that cannot be foreseen. In this respect, various bodies have responded by setting up acts and laws to deal with the issues that arise.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 1991

This was enacted to prohibit any unsolicited advertising by fax, automated recorded telephone messages, advertising calls to cellular telephones, and solicitation after customers have included their names on a no-call list (Twomey & Jennings, 2004). The act is mainly aimed at protecting individual privacy.

Advancements

Some of the major advancements in IT such as telemarketing and the ability to send automated or prerecorded messages to customers led to certain ethical concerns. Generally, new technology redefined the strategies, not to mention, the techniques on how marketers and industries communicated and conveyed information to clients (Twomey & Jennings, 2004).

Ethical issues

One of the major concerns was the intrusive nature of calls made by marketers or sellers. Customers often felt that their privacy was invaded whenever they received calls from companies or firms several times in a day or even at odd hours. Another ethical issue had to do with the risks of using cell phones especially to carry out telephone survey research. This is because cell phones can still be used while doing something else. This property in itself poses a great danger to a respondent especially when driving or walking as there is a great risk for potential physical harm due to distraction.

There are also a number of risks that could arise if other people are in the vicinity of the respondent when a survey call has been made. For instance, such calls could reasonably place one at risk of criminal or civil liability or could otherwise violate their privacy if the topic is sensitive. Not to mention, there is also a potential risk of damage to a respondent’s financial standing or employability (Twomey & Jennings, 2004).

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), 2000

The act is aimed at protecting children from accessing sexually explicit, harmful, or obscene content (Sobel, 2003). Schools as well as public libraries are required to use internet filters as a condition for receiving certain federal funding such as E-rate.

Advancements

In addition to the lower costs of internet use and access to information, more people including children use the internet to play games or research on school work. This ability to access all sorts of information without restrictions as to the nature of the content exposes children to adult content that may have a negative impact on them in the absence of proper guidance. Another advancement is the creation of online communities and the rise of social networks. This has revolutionized communication since people can relate and keep in touch in ways that were not possible before (Sobel, 2003).

Ethical issues

Children were exposed to predators on the internet who were able to prey on them for various reasons. In addition, privacy was also compromised given that children are not trained on the proper use of the internet. Therefore, they are exposed to hacking and cyberbullying. The same also applies to the use of social sites where children were able to interact with strangers without proper guidance on the information they are supposed to share online.

Conclusion

The ethical issues mentioned are among the major reasons why the acts were created. They have served well in addressing the ethical issues that arose. Nonetheless, several amendments have been made to the acts, where deemed necessary.

References

Sobel, D. L. (2003). Internet filters and public libraries. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center.

Twomey, D. P., & Jennings, M. (2004). Business law: principles for today’s commercial environment. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western West.

Introduction

The existence of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear energy is the real threat to the United States and other actors in the international system. The US has various options regarding mitigating the nuclear energy problem, including equipping the medical personnel with adequate skills and tools to respond to biological attacks. This would perhaps entail linking the activities of health care providers, hospitals and other health agencies. A different strategy involves strengthening the country’s nuclear security whereby nuclear detection architecture would be enhanced and nuclear materials would be secure. In this regard, policy makers would be expected to establish strong plans, which would allow coordination of government security activities.

Through this, the country would guarantee a capability that would radically reduce the effects of radiological or any nuclear events (Kay, 2006). Expert analysis and reliable data shows that the US would achieve its national security interests through strengthening nuclear security. This entails enhancing nuclear detection architecture and preventing the distribution of weapons of mass destruction. In this regard, the government has made some progress as far as security homeland security is concerned. Since 9/11 incident, the country has consistently fought terrorism and extremism, which are serious threats to the interests of many Americans.

Current State of Affairs

Some of the measures already in place include distracting manifold potentially lethal plots against the government of the States and its people. The Al Qaeda has not been able to access the country in order to conduct its heinous acts of terrorism due to the present of strong immigration measures. In fact, terrorists admit that the United States is the hardest target to strike in the world hence they resort to harming the American allies, particularly those in the third world. The establishment of the department of homeland security is seen as a milestone as far as mitigating terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction is concerned. The government has improved homeland defence and counterterrorism structural design through establishing the office of Director of National Intelligence, the homeland security council, and the counterterrorism centre.

Through the department of homeland security, the country’s borders are safe meaning that people are cross-examined thoroughly before they are allowed to enter the country. Before any foreigner enters the country, he or she goes through thorough screening at the border to ascertain his intentions in the United States (Binnendijk, & Kugler, 2006). Similarly, goods are checked whenever they enter the country and when they leave to ensure that no weapon of mass destruction leaves or enter the country. Through border checks and screening, the government has been able to monitor and disrupt the activities of international terrorists.

The government came to the realization that terrorism is a complex issue that needs the cooperation of various stakeholders. In this case, the government has been engaging tribal, local, state, and federal agencies in order to institute an active, multilayered approach that would resolve the issue. Through this program, the federal government provided funds to help state and local security agencies in diversifying their training. Moreover, the funds have played a critical role in acquiring equipments that would be used in emergencies. This is based on idea that stable communication equipments are usually necessary when mitigating any security threat. For any policy to work effectively, other arms of the government should always be incorporated in the making process.

The executive has been working with the congress in developing, executing, renewing laws that would help in coping with the terrorism issue, as well as the issue posed by the weapons of mass destruction (Fierke, 2007). The legislature must always be involved in policy formulation since it deals with law enactment. In 2004, the congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act and in 2007, it passed the Protect Act. The two acts of parliament have played a critical role in promoting the security of the country. The legal acts have also helped the government in implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Moreover, the acts have been of great help in implementing the recommendations of the WMD commission.

Challenges

Even though the government has been engaging various stakeholders to strengthen nuclear security, it still faces a number of challenges. One of the challenges is related to information gathering and analyzing. The government has not been able to share information effectively, something that has given terrorists an advantage whereby they capitalize on the reluctance of the government to commit their acts. For the government to prevent nuclear threats effectively, intelligence collection should be strengthened whereby government security agencies are encouraged to share information freely.

Through intelligence collection, the government would have the capability of identifying and interdicting individuals with an intention of harming the innocent citizens. In this regard, the government is encouraged to invest heavily in analytical capabilities. Terrorists take advantage of the existing freedom in information and communication. The government of the United States should secure global digital information since terrorists have been devising methods through which they can access governmental data.

As earlier noted, the government has put in place measures that would allow partnerships between the state security agencies and other stakeholders. However, the relationship has not been strong enough to deter the activities of terrorists. A cordial relationship between the private sector and the state organs at all levels of government would perhaps create an efficient, holistic, and decisive infrastructure protection plan. This plan would indeed focus on business, technology development, civil society awareness, government, and education (Viotti, 2005). The security interests of Americans would be achieved through establishing stable partnerships with the private sector. Therefore, the government should come up with a policy compelling all private investors to cooperate with the government in terms of strengthening nuclear security. In fact, research shows that some private investors and organizations understand the operations of terrorists since some partner with them.

Finally, the government has been advocating for border screening and cross-examination, yet some country’s borders are not secured. In this regard, the government needs to come to the realization that the state is not the only actor in the international. Policy makers in government must try as much as possible to consult other global partners, both state and non-state. The US government has been reluctant over years to employ technology in order to maximize port security. Experts argue that technology would probably cause delays hence affecting economic development. Research shows that technology can be employed to enhance security in major transportation routes without necessarily affecting economic development. Furthermore, the government should aim at designing strong immigration policies that would help in mitigating the major issue of illegal immigration. Whenever any level of government raises security concerns, the government should be willing to listen in order to improve nuclear security.

References

Binnendijk, H., & Kugler, R. L. (2006). Seeing the elephant: The U.S. role in global security. Washington, D.C: National Defence University Press.

Fierke, K. M. (2007). Critical approaches to international security. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

Kay, S. (2006). Global security in the twenty-first century: The quest for power and the search for peace. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.

Viotti, P. R. (2005). American foreign policy and national security: A documentary record. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

A contract is a binding agreement between two parties. The agreement usually lays down the terms and conditions which must be obeyed by both parties. One could be sued if they fail to observe the terms of a particular contract which they are privy to. For a contract to be binding it has to contain various elements including capacity to contract, offer, acceptance, consideration, legality and intention (Barnett, 2003). These elements are discussed in details in this article.

Capacity to contract

This refers to the ability of a party to enter into a binding contract. Those allowed to form binding agreements with other parties are said to have the capacity to contract while those not allowed to enter the contracts are said not to be in a capacity to contract. Commonly most laws do not allow minors, people of unsound mind and partnerships to contract.

A minor is a person defined by the laws of a given land as a person who has not yet attained a particular age. Most laws consider the age of eighteen years and those below do not have the capacity to enter into a contract. Any contracts entered by such a person are not binding unless exceptions exist in this case and they are usually explained by the laws of a given land (Koffman, 2007).

A person of unsound mind is not allowed to contract as they are not in a position to make decisions. It must be ascertained beyond reasonable doubt by a qualified medic that the particular person who is claimed to be of unsound mind is actually in that state. A partnership is not a legal person and can therefore not enter into contracts. Both natural persons and legal persons like companies have the capacity to contract.

Offer

An offer is an essential element of a contract. In almost all contracts one party states the terms to be obeyed by the other party. For instance, one may want to sell a given commodity at a given price within a given duration to a given class of people. Such terms constitute an offer and they must be obeyed in full if one is to accept that offer to make a binding contract. In our example above only the people who are from the mentioned class can take up that offer and they must fulfill all the other terms (Barnett, 2003).

However, one must be keen enough to differentiate between invitation to treat and an offer. Usually advertisements and display of goods in a shop with their prices do not constitute offers but simple invitations to treat. A person deciding to buy goods following a display or an advertisement is the one who offers and the owner of the goods may either accept the offer in full or reject it.

Acceptance

The existence of an accepted offer from the other party must exist for a contract to take place. Acceptance can be defined as the willingness of a party to take up the terms of a given offer in full. As mentioned before for an acceptance to be considered valid one must accept all the terms mentioned in the offer. Failure to accept all those terms results in a counter offer. Counter offer can be looked at as another offer and if accepted also brings to existence a different contract.

There are various rules that must be obeyed for an acceptance to be considered valid. For instance, in most laws a valid acceptance must be properly communicated to the party offering the contract from the other party willing to accept. What constitutes proper communication is also defined by the laws involved. Another important aspect that must be taken into consideration to define an acceptance as valid is duration.

In most cases, the person who offers states the time limit within which an offer remains valid. In situations where the time limit is not stated in the terms then reasonable time is fixed. What is to be considered as reasonable time varies from one situation to another and it may be determined by the courts in relation to the existing laws of the land. If an offer is made to a particular person or class of people, a party that does not fall into the mentioned class cannot accept such an offer. There are other rules governing valid acceptance of an offer and they may vary from one country to another (McKendrick, 2005).

Consideration

This is the price the other party is willing to pay on a contract. Also, for a contract to be a valid between two parties, one of them must accept the terms offered by the other. The party accepting the offer must be willing to sacrifice something to make the contract valid. This sacrifice is what is considered as consideration. A contract consideration has its own elements that make it valid. For instance, past consideration is usually not good consideration and it cannot be considered as valid consideration when contracting between the parties since its timeline may be already expired.

Legality

Legality refers to the state of an act to be considered valid and not to be amounting to a criminal offense in a particular country in relations to its laws. Whenever a contract is brought into existence it must be within the stipulated laws protected under the constitution. Thus, one cannot enter a contract with another person to supply a good that is prohibited in a particular place. An example of these goods is drugs that are banned in most countries as well as other contraband goods. Such contracts are not binding and cannot lead to legal obligations if one fails to uphold the stated terms since they do not have a legal backing and protection (McKendrick, 2005).

Intention

The intention of the parties to enter a contract is also a key element to make a valid contract. One cannot be assumed to have entered a contract if they are forced to sign given documents that constitute an offer. It is expected that to enter a contract both parties must be willing and none should be coerced to enter a contract. Use of unnecessary force or intimidation to form a contract renders the contract invalid and such contracts are not enforceable as they do not exist in the first place (Koffman, 2007).

The terms stated and explained above must be fulfilled for a contract to be valid. A contract that does not take into consideration the essential elements explained above is not enforceable and has no legal consequences if one fails to go by the stated terms. In case of a valid contract if one fails to uphold the terms of the contract then they can be sued for breach of contract.

References

Barnett, R. (2003). Contracts. Richland Hills, TX: Aspen Publisher.

Koffman, M. (2007). The Law of Contract. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

McKendrick, E. (2005). Contract Law – Text, Cases and Materials. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

Introduction

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is one of the recent medical care policies in the United States. PPACA is also popularly referred to as Obamacare. It is one of the most comprehensive health care reforms in the USA. The policy, if enacted fully will see most average and low income earning Americans get affordable medical care. While the bill is advantageous to the poor citizens, the apparent state control of the bill brought a lot of controversies. First the bill mandates all states to enact the legislation by imposing heavy fines on states that fail to implement the law. Secondly the bill imposes that individuals earning should purchase a health insurance policy. These issues are seen by critics as abuse of federal power and are against the constitutional framework. Proponents of the bill however argue that without strict government control, over 45 million US citizens would remain without a health care system.

Thesis statement: The federal government should allow states to develop innovative health care solutions to suit their local situations as well as preserve state flexibility and independence.

Obamacare Bill History

Medicaid expansion which is one of the key issues in the Obamacare bill was initially enacted in 1965. The programs has expanded to cover over 60 million Americans to date. In this program, the national government provides federal funding to states that in turn develop social programs to assist low income earners. Medicaid accounts 43% of the total expenditure of the federal government to individual states. The states on the other hand are allowed to introduce flexibilities but must also meet the minimum requirement by federal government. States determine the least and highest benefits, methods of delivering the health care and the amount paid to the providers. Despite the huge grants given by the federal government, Medicaid still remains the largest expense for individual states.

The Obamacare bill sought to provide adequate health care services to over 45 million Americans. The main incentives of this policy include:

• To expand Medicaid to poor Americans
• To compel individuals to purchase health insurance
• To compel states to expand their Medicaid programs
• To compel states to initiate insurance exchange programs

Tensions between the Federal Government and States

In the US, federalism is a crucial feature in the provision of health care services. Federalism is the constitutional method of dividing power, authority and responsibility between the national government and states (Ryan, 2012). In the US, the health care roles are divided among between the national government and individual states. Medicaid implementation has brought increased the federalism controversies between the states and national government. The main questions lie on who should decide the policies adopted at the state level.

In the bill, the federal government sought to compel states into accepting the legislation or face severe consequences. The federal government imposed that states adopting Obamacare would receive large benefits in form of funding while those that did not would not receive the normal funding of Medicaid. The bill also stipulated that individuals earning should be compelled to purchase health insurance. Individual states on the other hand indicated that this was a direct abuse of power and states should have the flexibility and liberty of developing their own health care solutions. Also, citizens should choose whether or not to purchase heath care insurance.

The government justification for strict control was based on the fact that, absence of strict federal laws, mandated to all the states would mean uneven medical coverage and more so to the poor American citizens. This resulted to tensions between the federal government and local states as well as individuals.

Negative Impacts of Federal Regulations of Obamacare (Cons)

First and foremost, for the policy to be effective, the commitment of the federal government and the respective states is necessary. Both the national government and individual states should participate in the formulation and implementation of these programs. As such, the national government should formulate policies with significant flexibilities so as to allow states to develop innovative solutions around a particular policy.

By vesting a lot of power on the federal government, local states will have no option but to follow policies developed by the government. This would reduce the powers and responsibilities of the state government. This creates a constitutional crisis on the function and limits of the federal and state governments. Thus, individual states should be allowed to develop and regulate their health insurance policies (Gais, 2010).

If the central government limits the state government roles, they would merely be implementers of the government policies. This would transform their roles from governance to administrators. That is, state governments would only implement what the government proposes.

In the court ruling on constrains imposed on Obamacare policy which sought to withdraw the current Medicaid funding for states that did not comply with the new legislation, the court argued that this was a direct abuse of federal power (Landers,2012). Thus, from a legal perspective, the federal government overstepped its mandate.

Another controversial aspect is the refusal by some states to implement insurance exchange programs as stipulated in the bill. The federal government hinted that it would step in and develop these exchange schemes for the state. If this happens, the federal government would have excised greater power and control over individual. This is against the constitutional framework of the US.

The issues of increase in federal power can also be seen in the light of few individuals wanting to shape American government. Strict control would mean that those in power would impose policies to improve their performance at the expense of the state and its citizens.

Whereas the federal government is the policy maker, individual states oversee the implementation of these policies. Forcing states to make decisions based on incentives and penalties is against the constitutional framework of the country.

Another controversial issue is the compulsory health insurance imposed by the bill. The bill mandates that individuals earning above 138% of the federal poverty level must purchase a health insurance policy. Individuals should be given the liberty of choosing whether to purchase the policy or not.

Different states in the US have varying demographic, financials and political issues and hence one policy for all the states is impractical. Imposing a single policy on these states is difficult and impractical. The states should therefore be given the mandate to innovate and develop solutions that best suits their medical needs.

Positive impacts of federalism in the bill (Pros)

The main argument for strict federal government control lies in provision of health insurance to over 40 million poor Americans. Absence of strict federal control would leave poor individuals without adequate health care. However, if the government imposes strict control, most states and individuals will have to comply. Whereas the government guarantees health care for poor Americans in the Medicare expansion programs, the liberty of individuals and states should not be compromised. The right to liberty should be guaranteed and the government should not interfere with it irrespective of the gains to be achieved (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2011). Thus this policy is not consistent with the rule of law and the US constitutional framework.

From the policy supporter’s view, a small increase in federal power for the sake of improving health does not go against the constitution. However, abusing power should not be condoned either for the right and wrong reasons.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper evaluated the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) bill in terms of federalism and the US constitutional framework. The implementation of the bill resulted to huge controversy as it mandated individuals to adopt health insurance and states to expand Medicaid and insurance exchange programs. From the legal perspective, mandating states to expand their Medicaid or individuals to buy health insurance is against the constitutional framework and an excessive use of federal power. Though the central government has power to develop policies, it cannot impose them on individuals and states as this would compromise on their liberty. States and individuals should be free to choose. The federal government should essentially develop policy and provide incentives to encourage the adoption of the new policy. There should be an element of flexibility in the policy allowing states to modernize and manage their health care problems. The government should also not mandate individuals to purchase health insurance policies.

References

Gais, L.T. (2010). Federalism During the Obama Administration. Web.

Jacobs, R., & Skocpol, T. (2011). Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press.

Landers, R. (2012). The Denouement of the Supreme Court’s ACA Drama. New England Journal of Medicine, 367( 3),198-199.

Ryan, E. (2012). Obamacare and Federalism’s Tug of War Within. Web.

Background on the Role of Intelligence in Homeland Security

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the need for closer cooperation between various institutions of security increased significantly. In particular, there has been a special focus on how information is collected, analyzed, and distributed in the process of protecting the homeland from threats posed by terrorists and other sources of insecurity (Logan, 2010). In fact, it has become difficult to make a distinction between external or foreign intelligence and domestic intelligence (Masse & Rollins, 2011).

Duties of the Director of the National Intelligence

It is imperative to review the duties of the Director of National Intelligence as they relate to disseminating information/intelligence to the states, counties, and local units of government officials via the DHS. Specifically, the DNI is established under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act 2004 to perform three major roles that include:

• being one of the principal advisors to the US President, the Homeland Security Council as well as the National Security Council on matters of intelligence;
• being the head of the 16-member Intelligence Community;
• directing and presiding over all the tasks of the National Intelligence Program.

Federal entities comprising the intelligence community

The US Intelligence Community brings together 17 separate government agencies with the aim of conducting intelligence tasks together and separately. The purpose of the community is to ensure that they comprehensively conduct adequate national security activities as well as foreign relations. The federal entities include:

• The Director of National Intelligence, whose purposes have been described above.
• The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent body responsible for collecting intelligence information both on local and foreign grounds and advising the president.
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is responsible for carrying out investigations and collecting information about crime, including terrorism, civil, white-collar, violence and theft, cybercrime, counterintelligence, and organized crime (Masse & Rollins, 2011).
• The national geospatial-intelligence Agency (NGA) provides timely, accurate, and relevant intelligence collected through geospatial technologies with the aim of ensuring national security.
• The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is responsible for monitoring weapons of mass destruction, developing military data for targets and damages of bombs and tracking of international criminals, such as terrorists, drug traffickers, and organizers of crimes.
• The National Security Agency (NSA) is considered to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate intelligence signals and data for counterintelligence and foreign intelligence with the aim of supporting national security.
• The National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) is responsible for analyzing data on foreign airspace and aerospace forces and weapons with the aim of determining their capacities to carry out military work, vulnerability, and intended actions.
• The US Coast Guard is responsible for providing security at the maritime ends, seaports, at sea, and other marine areas around the world.

Information sharing environment

There is the relative importance of local, state, national, and private levels. In addition, there is an increase in the rate of awareness of law enforcement using the information to protect the country at all levels of governance. Moreover, a new field known as Homeland Security Intelligence (HSINT) has emerged, and its importance has increased significantly over the last ten decades (Bullock, Haddow & Coppola, 2011). Thus, it is important to attach intelligence service and its function to the homeland security at the state and local level. HSINT includes both the national and the state collection of intelligence. It includes human intelligence that is collected at the border level through security personnel. In addition, it must include state and local security systems to collect information inside the borders (Hulnick, 2010).

Importance of government

The government is the overall player in providing security at the international, federal, state, and local levels.

• The government is the main source of funding for all the 17 elements of the National Intelligence Community.
• It is responsible for coordinating the activities of these elements in order to ensure that they work hand in hand, though separately, for the common goal of providing security.

To develop a better understanding of the role of government intelligence in homeland security, it is important to understand the dimensions of intelligence in depth. Noteworthy, the dimensions of intelligence have four major components. Homeland security intelligence is the core dimension within the structure. It is closely associated with three other components that make up the structure (Logan, 2010).

Available funding

• The government is the main source of funding for all the agencies and units involved in providing homeland security.
• The Department of Homeland Security provides the government with information on the funding requirements used in the national budgeting for the security system.
• The DHS is responsible for funding the state and local fusion center operations through the Homeland Security Grant Program (Hulnick, 2010). This program is administered by FEMA.
• It is the role of FEMA to provide the annual funds in the form of grants to the state and municipalities to help them build strong and effective methods for responding to security threats.

Challenges and concerns

A number of issues affect the complete sharing of information between the stakeholders of the homeland security initiatives.

• Local funding is sometimes the term information sharing a number of meanings depending on each institution.
• Secondly, the process and responsibility for controlling information dissemination are not effective due to the different missions, visions, and purposes of the members of the Intelligence Community (Bullock, Haddow & Coppola, 2011).

For additional information

Bullock, J., Haddow, G., & Coppola, D. P. (2011). Homeland Security: The Essentials. Washington, DC: Butterworth-Heinemann. Web.

Hulnick, A. S. (2010). Keeping Us Safe: Secret Intelligence and Homeland Security. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Web.

Logan, K. G. (2010). Homeland security and intelligence. New York: Praeger security international. Web.

Masse, T., & Rollins, J. (2011). Information and Intelligence (including Terrorism) Fusion Centers. New York: Nova Publishers Inc. Web.

The four key forms of business organization include sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and limited liability company–each having several distinct characteristics predetermining legal, financial, and other issues. Thus, it is highly important to choose an organizational structure thoroughly as each of them has certain advantages and disadvantages that have to be considered in advance to avoid later complications (Burke, 2017).

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Four Forms of Business Organization

Sole Proprietorship

A Sole Proprietorship is a kind of business that has only one owner who employs workers if necessary. It is the most primitive and widespread form of organization characterized by: a single owner, small size and easy management, unlimited liability, and simplicity in opening and dissolving a business (Burke, 2017).

The advantages are (Burke, 2017):

• It is the cheapest and the simplest type of business that can be easily started and dissolved.
• The owner of the business is free to follow his/her strategy.
• The owner receives the whole profit (if he/she does not employ anyone).
• There are not so many regulations that this business has to follow.
• The owner does not have to pay corporate income taxes.

The disadvantages are (Burke, 2017):

• The owner cannot share responsibility with anyone else.
• The owner must invest his/her savings into the business. Since there are lots of sole proprietors, it is rather hard to raise capital.

Partnership

A Partnership is a form of organization owned by two or more people who are referred to as partners. It has three major types: general partnership (divided liability and responsibilities of partners), limited partnership (with one general partner and one or more partners having limited liability), and limited liability partnership (with no general partners) (Daft, 2015).

The advantages are (Daft, 2015):

• Although a significant amount of time is required to develop a partnership agreement, it is still rather easy to do.
• Since there are several investors, it is easier to make a profit.
• Partners do not have to pay corporate income taxes.
• It is not difficult to find employees as they are attracted by a chance to become partners.

The disadvantages are (Daft, 2015):

• Partners have to reach a compromise in obligations.
• Conflicts and disputes are inevitable and may threaten success.

Corporation

A corporation is an organization with limited liability that has numerous shareholders and is controlled by a board of directors (distinct from its owners). There are several types of corporations: S-Corp (up to 100 investors), C-Corp (any number of investors), and non-profit corporations (Daft, 2015).

The advantages are (Daft, 2015):

• Selling stocks brings additional profit to the organization.
• The ownership can be easily transferred to another person by selling one’s share.
• The value of one’s stock determines this person’s liability.

The disadvantages are (Daft, 2015):

• This form of organization is closely watched by various governmental agencies and has to follow a lot of regulations.
• Shareholders have to pay both personal income taxes and corporate ones.

Limited Liability Company

A limited Liability Company (LLC) is a private organization with owners who bear legal responsibility for its losses only to the extent of their investment (Burke, 2017).

The advantages are (Burke, 2017):

• LLC is more stable than corporations and partnerships.
• In case of losses, liability is limited.
• Ownership can easily be transferred.
• LLC usually attracts investors.
• LLC has few corporate formalities to observe.
• Tax flexibility is greater than in corporations.

The disadvantages are (Burke, 2017):

• It is a lengthy and complicated process to start LLC.
• Owners are subject to double taxation.
• Speculation on the stock exchange may produce a negative impact on stakeholders.

Business in Colorado

The business I am going to start is a network of small shops that will offer consumers organic, chemical- and preservative-free food and beverages (including delivery service), that will make an alternative to products in supermarkets. Since the purpose of the business to provide elite, high-quality products with a short life, it would be reasonable to opt for partnership as it would make it easier to organize delivery services. To start my business in Colorado, I must (Steingold, 2015):

• register it for an unemployment account;
• pay premiums depending on the form of business organization;
• submit premium and wage reports;
• ensure the proper classification of workers (employees or independents contractors);
• verify their compensation coverage;
• verity compliance with minimal wage and pay regulations.

Partnerships in Colorado have to meet the following requirements (Steingold, 2015):

A business name must be chosen before any legal action.

• A Statement of Trade name has to be filed.
• Partners must have a signed agreement.
• All required licenses, permissions, certificates, and zoning clearance have to be obtained.
• Partners must have an Employer Identification Number.
• Partnership requires a business bank account to keep business and individual finances separate.
• Any business has to obtain general liability insurance against unpredicted events.
• After the business is started, taxes have to be paid in due time.

Three alternative forms that I consider are:

• Sole Proprietorship (since it would allow me to avoid excessive red tape and save costs);
• Limited Partnership (as it would be reasonable to limit the liability of a partner by the extent of his/her investment);
• LLC (since according to the laws of the state, it provides personal protection of liability and pass-through taxation).

The only type of business entity that will not suit my idea is corporation since the business is aimed to fill a small niche in the market and has a particular target customer.

References

Burke, W. W. (2017). Organization change: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Daft, R. L. (2015). Organization theory and design. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Steingold, F. S. (2015). Legal guide for starting & running a small business. Berkeley, CA: Nolo.

Introduction

Information technology has become an integral part of modern society because every activity virtually has a component of information technology. The use of information technology has given way to the emergence of legal and ethical issues that govern its use in various aspects of society. Legal and ethical issues include piracy, hacking, vandalism, spamming, plagiarism, and abuse of social sites. For people to use information technology appropriately, they must comply with various legal and ethical requirements lest they risk facing dire legal and social consequences.

According to Waring and Buchanan (2010), when an individual decides to use social networking sites, legal and ethical issues that touch personal and professional life arise in the process. Moreover, the use of pirated music or software has serious legal and ethical implications emanating from copyrighted materials. Hence, one must be extra careful when using information technology because it has serious implications in the aspects of law and ethics. This essay analyses three case studies and examines their legal and ethical implications in the use of information technology.

Ethical Aspect of IT

Information technology has become an integral component of modern society, for everybody is using it in day-to-day activities. Since information technology demands personal details, it raises the issue of privacy and confidentiality. The right to privacy is an inalienable right even in the realm of information technology, and fundamentally, everyone should enjoy it. However, information technology gadgets have unique serial numbers that identify each user. The serialization of gadgets implies that the extent of privacy and confidentially depends on Internet service providers and companies that have websites.

Without proper laws and regulations on the part of the Internet service providers and companies owning websites, privacy, and confidentiality of Internet users is not guaranteed. For instance, in the first case study, the Federal Bureau of Investigation managed to track and monitor what Ferrer was doing through his website. When searching for information on the Internet, one must be careful not to infringe on personal privacy (Waring & Buchanan 2010). Hence, if the Federal Bureau of Investigation has the capacity to track and monitor what people are doing on different websites or social sites, it means that the Internet does not provide essential privacy and confidentiality.

The use of information technology has enhanced the accessibility and use of information in society. Access to the information is a social right that every government is struggling to provide to its citizens. The right to access information has ethical implications because the source of information has copyrights. Moreover, accessibility to information depends on the nature and purpose of the information. Usually, governments collect demographic and economic data and then present it to the public for purposes of planning. Such a form of information is helpful in society; hence, people must have access to it. However, other information like criminal investigation or terrorism data is too sensitive for the public to access.

Although people have the right to access information, they have limited access to sensitive information that can trigger public uproar. In the second case study, although people can freely download music from the Internet, they risk being an accomplice of pirates. Waring and Buchanan (2010) assert that there are no trenchant lines between organizational information and private information. This means that one should exercise discretion in accessing and utilizing information from the Internet.

Intellectual Property

Copyright laws protect information or software that people use based on intellectual property laws. Copyright laws are indispensable as they enable people to earn from their intellectual property. Without copyright laws, pirates would duplicate information or software and use the pirated stuff in business to gain profit, while the owners incur immense losses. In the first case study, Ferrer pirated copyrighted software worth 20 million dollars, thus causing enormous losses to the software companies. Ethically, Ferrer was stealing from the software companies to make personal profits, which is quite unfair. Moreover, Ferrer’s website increased competition in the software markets because he sold pirated software at prices that are considerably below the retail prices. According to Jamil and Zaki (2011), the illegal distribution of pirated software has cost software companies a vast amount of money worth billions of dollars. In this case, Ferrer used the intellectual property of others as his own property to make millions of dollars.

The use of intellectual property as one also pleases unethical because it hurts the property owners. Since music, software, and other forms of information are intellectual properties, only the owners have the right to distribute the music according to market demands while aiming to sell and make a profit. However, when a third party starts distributing copyrighted materials at no cost, it reduces the market demand for the materials. In the second case study, Napster is providing copyrighted music for Internet users to download freely. If Internet users can access music freely by simply downloading, it means that copyrighted music is no longer an intellectual property. Jamil and Zaki (2011) state, violation of copyright laws involves “copying, downloading, sharing, selling, and distribution of copyrighted materials” (p.3467). Therefore, Napster has violated copyright laws by copying, downloading, and distributing copyrighted music.

Software Piracy

Software piracy has legal and ethical implications on the pirates and users of pirated software. Software piracy involves “unauthorized usage or distribution of the software without a license or through over permitted license” (Jamil & Zaki 2011, p.3467). Violation of copyrighted software can result in a civil or criminal case. An individual is liable for a civil case if found using pirated software. The criminal case occurs when a person cracks and produces copies of the software for personal gains. In the first case study, Ferrer is guilty of a criminal offense because he pirated software worth 20 million dollars. Furthermore, Ferrer produced copies of the software, serialized, and packaged them well by including trademarks of legitimate companies to dupe users.

Software piracy has serious consequences on software companies, pirates, and end-users. Since software companies aim at making a profit and controlling their software, piracy robs software owners of billions of dollars. According to Moores and Esichaikul (2010), “global counterfeiting and piracy are estimated to cost the U.S. economy $200-$250 billion a year and subsequently cause loss of over 750,000 job opportunities” (p.1). In the case study, Ferrer made the software companies lose 20 million dollars. However, when the FBI caught him, Ferrer was guilty of piracy, and he faced serious legal consequences since the FBI confiscated his property, received a sentence of six years under community service, and compelled to pay 4.1 million dollars in restitution for massive losses that the software companies incurred.

Music Piracy

Music is an intellectual property that copyright laws and regulations protect from piracy. Despite the fact that copyright laws and regulations prevent piracy of music through copying, sharing, distribution, and selling, individuals violate these legal requirements daily as they download and transfer music from one source to another (Jamil & Zaki, 2011). The second case study shows that Napster is providing free music to Internet users to download freely. Napster operates on the premise that searching and downloading music freely from the Internet is legal so long as the Napster members do not make any profit. Thus, it means that copyright laws allow people to upload and download music from the Internet as long as they do not use the music in profit-making deals.

Napster’s argument that downloading free music from the Internet is legal conflicts with copyright laws and is unethical altogether. Music is an intellectual property that requires protection from abuse by users for the owners to benefit from their artistic knowledge. If it is legal to download copyrighted music freely from the Internet, it means that musicians will not reap much from their talents. Piracy causes enormous losses because it deprives individuals and companies of their intellectual property (Moores and Esichaikul 2010). Thus, allowing third parties to distribute copyrighted music freely will destroy the music industry, as consumers will not have a reason to buy music when they can easily download it freely from a given website on the Internet.

Should Music be Free?

Music should not be free on the Internet as music is a profession that sustains the lives of many people. If music becomes free on the Internet, how will the musicians sustain their lives economically? Musicians who cannot earn from their profession will not perform well. Consequently, the music industry will deteriorate, as it will not be a lucrative business activity for one to venture and make meaningful profits. Thus, making music free of charge on the Internet is one way of destroying the music industry, and musicians will not foster their talents and grow professionally.

Moreover, allowing music to be free on the Internet has legal and ethical implications on intellectual property and copyright laws. Music is an intellectual property that copyright laws should protect. However, making music free on the Internet questions the essence of copyright laws. How can copyright laws protect other intellectual properties and segregate music without condoning inequity? It is impossible to apply copyright laws unfairly to copyrighted music. Hence, music should not be free on the Internet by whatever means.

Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying has far-reaching impacts on the lives of people. By using social sites on the Internet, bullies have perfected their skills in intimidating people even if they are out of reach physical. Bullies usually publish offensive comments or pictures aimed at intimidating their victims. The offensive material is usually traumatizing and can haunt the victim to the point of committing suicide. The third case study confirms that a person can commit suicide following trauma from cyberbullying.

Mostly, cyberbullying affects adolescents because they are the majority of social sites users, and are still naïve. According to Zaidieh (2012, p.18), “social networking has a vital influence on our lives” because it has psychological influence. Cases of bullying are common among youths since bullies are taking advantage of youths’ innocence and vulnerability to bullying. Bullying of young children makes them develop fears about social issues, which ultimately affects their growth and development.

Social Networking Sites

Although social networking sites have many advantages, they also have some disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of social networking sites is that one has no guarantee of privacy after joining the sites. Zaidieh (2012) argues that users of social networking sites have reservations about their privacy. To overcome the issue of privacy, many users register in these sites using fake names to protect their privacy. Although social networking sites have privacy settings, most users are unable to use them appropriately, thus displaying their private information to the public. The third case study depicts a situation where an employee failed to safeguard the privacy of her Facebook postings.

Another disadvantage of social networking sites is that socialization takes much time for the user and causes physical and psychological problems. Zaidieh (2012) states, “social networking sites have an effect on the health of individuals because spending a lot of time browsing these social networks can affect the way the genes operate within the human body, weaken the immune and hormone levels, and affect the function of arteries” (p.19). These effects lead to poor health conditions and consequently cause physical disabilities. Moreover, too much use of social networking sites leads to addiction, which is a psychological problem. Addiction affects the learning abilities of students or productivity workers because people spend much of their time on social sites.

Conclusion

The use of information technology has become an indispensable part of modern society. Although information technology has increased access to information and communication, it has legal and ethical implications as well. Legal and ethical implications emerge as Internet users utilize software, music, and other information, which constitute intellectual property and thus require protection by copyright laws. Moreover, social networking sites are prone to cyberbullying or professional misconduct. Hence, users of social networking sites should be cautious lest they become victims of cyberbullying or guilty of professional misconduct.

Reference List

Jamil, D & Zaki, H 2011, ‘Software piracy does not hurt anyone?’, International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, vol. 3 no 4, pp. 3467-3471.

Moores, T & Esichaikul, V 2010, ‘Socialisation and software piracy a study’, Journal of Computer Information Systems, vol. 12 no. 1, pp.1-9.

Waring, R & Buchanan, R 2010, ‘Social networking websites: The legal and ethical aspects of pre-employment screening and employee surveillance’, Journal of Human Resources Education, vol. 4 no. 2, pp. 14-23.

Zaidieh, A 2012, ‘The use of social networking in education: challenges and opportunities’, World of Computer Science and Information Technology Journal, vol. 2 no 1, pp.18-21.