www.sharexxx.net - free books & magazines
www.sharexxx.net - free books & magazines
www.sharexxx.net - free books & magazines
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
36 Sharma and Gupta<br />
2000). In this section, we briefly discuss some major adverse societal impacts of<br />
e-commerce.<br />
Widening Digital Divide<br />
The term Digital divide means a lack of equal access to computer technologies<br />
and the Inter<strong>net</strong> in particular, creating a gap between those who have and those<br />
who have not. One dimension of the digital gap follows demographics of gender,<br />
race, and social class. Another dimension follows the economic gap between<br />
wealthy and poor countries. Millions of technologically disenfranchised have-nots,<br />
who cannot afford the cost of that technology and training, are walled off from<br />
potentially life-changing tools and knowledge. Therefore, they feel isolated in the<br />
virtual world. For example, although growth has been very strong in Europe,<br />
particularly in Sweden and Finland, the United States still accounts for more than<br />
three-quarters of all e-commerce transactions. Despite the promise of “borderless”<br />
trade, most e-commerce is still national or within the continents (Bassols & Vickery,<br />
2001).<br />
The digital divide gap between the technology haves and have-nots presumably<br />
is also across white, wealthy, and urban Americans with computers and<br />
Inter<strong>net</strong> access on the one hand and minority, poor, and rural Americans who lack<br />
computers and Web access on the other (Quay, 2001). Today the real digital divide<br />
is the chasm between those who use Inter<strong>net</strong> technologies to improve their lives and<br />
those who do not. Another digital divide is based on geography. Disparities in the<br />
location and quality of Inter<strong>net</strong> infrastructure, even the quality of phone lines, have<br />
created gaps in access (Quay, 2001). Hindered by poverty and a poor telecommunications<br />
infrastructure, Inter<strong>net</strong> pe<strong>net</strong>ration rates in the developing regions<br />
range from less than 1 percent to 3 percent, which is far below the 25 percent to<br />
50 percent pe<strong>net</strong>ration rates seen in many wealthy and developed nations (Rombel,<br />
2000). E-commerce and access to the Inter<strong>net</strong> create an enormous disparity in<br />
wealth and a great need to spread and disperse this wealth and connectedness for<br />
a socially sustainable benefit.<br />
A Threat of Information Warfare<br />
In information warfare, hackers, by controlling an organization’s computer<br />
systems, obtain a significant advantage by changing the flow of information, altering<br />
information, or shutting down a system completely. A computer system may not<br />
only be shut down, but also could be destroyed by infiltration and distribution of<br />
various computer viruses. The breakdown of major information systems such as<br />
banking <strong>net</strong>works or electricity grids could be a devastating event, altering the<br />
economy of a nation and the daily life of its population. While the online<br />
Copyright © 2003, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written<br />
permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.