Mrs. LaDue - Business Department

What do you think the average american family carries in credit card debt?

When you visit a Web site that includes an advertisement, someone probably is recording the fact that you visited that Web site and viewed the advertisement with your browser.  Over time, companies that specialize in tracking who views which online advertisements can amass an enormous amount of information about your online Web surfing habits.  This collection of information is considered to be part of your online profile.  One company claims that through the use of advertisements on Web pages, it can track well over one billion Web page views per day.  Through tracking the Web sites a user visits, the products they buy, and the articles they read, a company may attempt to profile the visitor's beliefs, associations, and habits.  Although a user may think he or she is anonymous while navigating the Web, the company can attempt through various means to link the user's true identify with the user's online profile.  The company can sell online profiles, with or without the user's true identity, to other advertisers or organizations.  Should organizations be allowed to track your Web surfing habits?  Why or why not?  Should organizations be allowed to associate your real identity with your online identity and profit from the information?  Should companies give you the option of not being tracked?  What are the benefits and dangers of online tracking?

The Supreme Court has ruled that merchants can charge state and local sales taxes only when they have a physical presence, such as a store or office building where the purchase is made.  Because Internet merchants often do not have a physical presence in the buyer's state, online purchases often are sales tax free.  One study predicts that by 2011 Internet sales will cost state and local governments more than $54 billion in sales tax revenues, forcing them either to raise taxes or cut services.  In response, many states have enacted "use" taxes that require residents to report, and pay sales tax on, items purchased on the Internet but used at home.  Even a use tax, though, does not address other problems. The sales-tax-free status of some Internet purchases also may have a negative impact on localbusinesses that must charge sales tax and on lower-income families who are less likely to make purchases on the Internet.  Yet, many feel any tax on e-commerce is unmanageable (forcing merchants to adjust to varying sales tax rates) and unjustified.  Should sales taxes be applied to Internet purchases?  Why or why not?  How else can the problems of taxing, or not taxing, Internet purchases be addressed?

If you knew that your neighbor often left her door unlocked while she went to work, you probably never would consider walking in and watching her premium cable channels during  the day without her permission.  But, if you turn on your wireless notebook computer only to see that you can connect to your neighbor's wireless home network and access the Internet for free, you may find yourself in an ethical quandary.  Because of a lack of knowledge about how to secure a wireless home network, many people have accidentally left their networks open to be used by the whole neighborhood and by people driving or walking past.  One study found that 14 percent of wireless network owners have accessed their neighbor's wireless connection.  In some cases, people drive around town until they find a house with an open wireless connection and then park in front of the house for hours at a time while surfing the Internet.  Many are canceling their own costly service and secretly using the stolen connection full-time.  In most areas, the law is unclear or nonexistent regarding such unauthorized use.  Would you borrow your neighbor's wireless home network?  Why or why not?  What would you do if you found out that someone was using your wireless home network?  How should the law handle such abuse, and how should violators be punished?