This is a continual threat to the loss of transaction and credit card data as well. The need for a consistent and comprehensive framework would do much to alleviate the confusion on these areas (Kesh, Ramanujan, Nerur, 2002). Intellectual Property

The Internet has created an entirely different aspect of property validation and rights. The ownership of intellectual property (IP) online, from content and online systems to integration technologies is also an enabler of overall e-commerce. The role of IP is also serving to more clearly delineate how selling and services systems online manage part of the sales process and selling cycle. IP will continue to be an emerging area of law and will eventually become a catalyst of how companies build and support their e-commerce systems over the long-term. IP is also setting the foundation for how content is going to be purposed across systems throughout a given company, network and industry as well.

Free Speech

The role of the Internet as the catalyst...

Free speech however is often controlled by governments through restrictions they place on Internet access. An example is how China uses Internet restrictions to control free speech of the citizens, especially as it relates to the current revolutions throughout the Middle East. All of these restrictions however drastically reduce the total reach of any e-commerce site in nations that do no honor free speech. Having a multichannel strategy to be able to reach consumers through as many means as possible is therefore critical.
References

Someswar Kesh, Sam Ramanujan, & Sridhar Nerur. (2002). A framework for analyzing e-commerce security. Information Management & Computer Security, 10(4), 149-158.

Christopher J. Schafer. (2001). Federal legislation regarding taxation of Internet sales transactions. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 16(1), 415-433.