A review on post on Legal from My E-Commerce blog.

Cyber cafe or also known as internet cafe is a place where one can use a computer with internet access. Most of these cafes are for a fee either charge per hour or minute.

Based on the post, it is said that there will be new rules that will be imposed on cyber cafes soon. This might be for the good of user but it will also directly affect the business of the cyber cafes. For example on the rule that cyber cafe have to be close by midnight daily, as there will be user that like to go to the cyber cafe for a gaming experience over the night. This rule might be good as it will discourage those people from going out over the night often.

As for the rule of only allowed to operate from the ground floor is unnecessary as some shop spaces is rather small so the cyber cafe will extend to the second floor for their business. If the government thinks that there are illegal activities such as producing pirated cd, the act can also be done in another room in the ground floor when the owner of the cyber cafe design it the way he or she wanted.

In the prohibition from providing gaming activities, gambling, pornography, music and publications with negative element. Normally cyber cafe have already impose the rule on visiting pornography website cause there is a high risk of virus and destroying the server in the cafe. The majority of people visiting cyber cafe is for gaming activities as it is not easy to play with your friends online due to the unstable connection. If gaming activities is prohibited, the cyber cafe is might as well just close the shop. If cyber cafe is mainly for web browsing purposes, users might as well go to places with free wi-fi services such as starbucks or coffee bean where no fees are charged.

Therefore, the government must think twice and do more analysis to figure out which rule that is suppose to be impose and which is to be remain.

Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction.

Check seller's score

One thing that could prevent e-auction is to check the seller’s reputation. Many auction sites have a section where every seller’s feedback score is reflected. Some sites assign a community-ranking system to every user’s profile. Reputable sellers will have positive comments or messages from people they have done business with in the past. On the other hand, if the seller has many negative comments indicating their failure to ship the item on time, then insist on using a method of delivery. Many sites provide buyer protection, such as courier delivery, because if you don’t get what you pay for, you will always get a refund from the website. Besides, if the seller doesn’t have a high rating but you still want the item, check him or her by look them up in the Yellow pages or local directory services. Also, search for their name in Google or Yahoo.

Never disclose your financial details

The website clearly states that one should exercise caution if an email requests personal information such as credit card details or passwords. Despite that there have been cases where people have gone out giving credit card number through email. The important thing to beware of is to make sure that while paying, never lead money to anyone’s account under any circumstances. Use one of the methods authorized by the website, such as paisa pay and also read the rules of insurance before making the purchase.

Check for multiple accounts

While dealing with auctions, Radhika Malhotra, a software professional in Mumbai, has another story to tell. “I uncovered a very clever tactic that sellers use while auctioning off their wares while I was bidding for a music player. Some sellers attempt to drive up the price of their own auctions by using fake accounts -- multiple eBay identities, all controlled by them. “It happened with me too. I got involved while bidding for this player and as two other buyers were bidding neck and neck, I ended up paying much more than I had earlier decided. But when the price went totally out of hand, I decided to check out the other bidders, and only then did I find that it was actually the seller himself who was driving up the price,” she says. This works especially with auctions, since people start getting involved with auctions. So it becomes an ego issue with many to get the product, and they foolhardily fall for the trick and pay extra price for the product. A good way to prevent this happens to you in an auction is to check the seller’s auctions that have already closed and confirm if the same usernames are continually bidding in his or her auctions.

Be wary of ‘too-good-to-be-true’ auctions

If the price you’re being asked to pay for an item is unusually low, it is probably too good to be true. This only applies to ‘Buy it Now’ prices, as opening bids for auctions will often be extremely low before climbing up to a more reasonable level.

Similarly, if you receive an email from a seller shortly after an auction closes telling you that the winning bidder defaulted and that you are now the winner, be cautious. The seller receives a list of all of the bidder’s email addresses when the auction ends, so it is possible that the seller is trying to scam not only you, but some or all of the other bidders. It takes several days to default on a bid, so be suspicious if it is been less than three days since the auction ended.

Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies.

A shift is taking place in corporate communications, which to alter marketing strategies well into the future. Marketing has always been about equalizing company interest with customer interest, but now it is becoming more about opening dialogue and building trust. Blogs, the daily journal format by the nature of medium that have moved beyond individual ranting and into the corporate world, enhancing typical marketing techniques by allowing companies to talk to their customers directly and to listen to what customers are saying.

Blogs are now considered to be an essential component of any company’s marketing, communications, and PR strategy. When properly executed corporate blogs can become the voice of the company, giving the company a vehicle with which to generate an open line of communication with their customers and their employees that build trust and loyalty organically. Corporate blogs create a chain reaction, or viral effect, that cannot be duplicated with any other medium or strategy. The key is to produce well written ethical corporate blog content whether it is important information, new ideas, new products, or assist in a way that engages and stimulates, while providing value to their viewers.

Companies can use blogging to indirectly fine-tune their marketing messages via social interactions. Blogging enables faster feedback and a more strategic understanding of where the market is heading, as companies may be using the wrong language or addressing the wrong viewers with other customer communication avenues. From a competitive viewpoint, blogging demonstrates to customers that a company concerns about its products and customers. Many companies are using blogs for customer and peer support as well, keeping customers up to speed on products and road maps. Employing a corporate blogging strategy allows the company to address people’s comments and concern in a personal and meaningful way.

E-Goverment in Malaysia: Its implementation so far and citizen's adoption strategies.

Nowadays, many countries include Malaysia are implementing electronic government, also known as “e-government”. E-Government is the use of IT and e-commerce that provide access to government information and delivery of public services to citizens and business partners.
The Electronic Government initiative was launched to lead the country into the Information Age. The implementation of e-government started since the initiation of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996 by the Malaysian government. This implementation has improved on how the government operates internally and how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia. It seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses

At the same time, it will improve information flows and processes within government to improve the speed and quality of policy development, coordination and enforcement. This enabled the government to be more responsive to the needs of its citizens. The implementation e-government would bring benefits to the public administration and Malaysian in several ways. It can generate savings on data collection and transmission.

To accelerate the objectives of Vision 2020, a path has already been defined through seven innovative Flagship Applications. These applications are engineered to start the MSC initiative and create a multimedia heaven for innovative producers and users of multimedia technology. The Multimedia Super Corridor offers a Malaysian initiative for the Information Age. Under the e-government flagship, seven main projects were identified to be the core of the e-government applications.

1. Project Monitoring System (SPP II)
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)
4. Electronic Procurement (EP)
5. Electronic Services (E-Services)
6. Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)
7. E-Syariah

Citizen’s Adoption Strategies

Generally, new technologies are forcing governments to be particularly considerate to time. In order to make right decision and avoid falling behind, governments must identify and resolve the different issues that have arisen from the transaction period during which traditional and e-government co-exist. Government should guide and control the transformation of government into e-government rather than just focusing on introduction of ICTs. Meanwhile, the use of ICT to strengthen the involvement of citizens and businesses in public decision must be progress at the same time.

Customer satisfaction

• E-Government adoption requires that citizens show higher levels of satisfaction with the online service provided by the government. A higher level of customer satisfaction will increase the rate of e-Government adoption. The vision focuses on effectively and efficiently delivering services from the government to the people of Malaysia, enabling the government to become more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

Service Quality

• Online service quality for e-Government could be measured in terms of quality of content provided on the website, the speed of the response to the citizens concerns with problem solving approach, and the availability of names. Other important measurement factors are telephone and fax numbers of personnel with whom citizens might need to get in touch, and the integration of an offline channel with online channel so that citizens could interact with government departments through other means if necessary. Higher quality of service will lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and thus can increase the use of e-government services.

Website Design

• E-Government adoption is affected by website design elements that provide perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Personalization of websites, customization of product offerings, and self-care are the three key features that could be used not only to build relationship with the visitors, but also to improve their experience. These features give visitors a sense of control and participation and could potentially enhance their adoption.

User Characteristic

• User characteristics such as perceived risk, perceived control, and internet experience can have a direct impact on internet adoption. Experience influences a citizen’s trust of e-Government. Users with prior experience, especially if satisfied, would be more likely to return to use e-Government services. Perceived risk leads to security and privacy issues that could discourage the use of online services. It is important to ensure that citizens can transact online securely and their personal information will be kept confidential to increase the level of trust and the e-government adoption rate.

The vision of Electronic Government is a vision for government, businesses and citizenry working together for the benefit of Malaysia and all of its citizens. The government should be able to propose an effective strategy to encourage citizen’s adoption of e-government by focusing on these 4 areas.

The application of pre-paid cash for consumers.

A pre-paid ICE Travellers cash card has been launched by International Currency Exchange (ICE), a leading innovator in the world of foreign exchange services. ICE is able to develop similar schemes for other retail organizations based on the pre-paid card principles. The ICE Travellers cash card is set to provide travellers better protection and more convenience when travelling anywhere in the world. In other word, the ICE Travellers cash card gives secure and easy access to currency while travelling abroad. The ICE Travellers cash card offers customers a very real choice to bank credit and debit cards, traveller’s cheques and cash. Accepted at over 25 million ATMs (automatic teller machines), shops and restaurants in over 120 countries worldwide, it carries the MasterCard brand mark and will be accepted wherever travellers see the MasterCard acceptance mark. Moreover, by using a pre-paid card like the ICE Travellers cash card, it will eliminate the risk of the main credit or debit card details being stolen and misused. Customers will find the ICE Travellers cash card online application process easy to complete, without the need for documents to be sent through the post or any copy of documents.

By using the ICE Travellers cash card,

• travellers will be able to access money anywhere in the world without incurring credit card charges, making budgeting easier.
• consumers can avoid the threat of credit card theft and fraud with the PIN protection, for added peace of mind.
• users can benefit by not risking their main account details or credit card details whilst travelling, as the overseas card fraudsters can only access the balance on the card.
  

ICE has integrated the front end application for the Travellers cash card, an application that was fully integrated into one basket with its on-line currency ordering service.

Credit Card debts: Causes and Prevention

A credit card is a small plastic card which is issued by a bank or a credit union to an individual. With the use of credit card, he or she can borrow money to make any payment. Every credit card is provided with certain features (card type, annual fee, credit limit and interest rate). Credit card, if used properly offers a number of advantages. These include the ease of purchasing goods. Also, some of the credit card offers are cash discounts, bonuses, and even insurance cover. However, credit card has certain disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is a lot of credit cardholders land into debt and even bankruptcy.

There are just a few of the causes of credit card debts:

1. Poor money management. Not having a monthly spending plan and not keeping track of the monthly bills.
2. Financial illiteracy. Not understand the workings and growth of money; the savings and investments for a rainy day.
3. Less income, same expenses. Keep on spending as much as they got used to regardless of the reduced income.
4. Saving too little or not at all. Saving seems to be a holdover.

In order to enjoy the maximum benefits of a credit card, the user or credit cardholder should understand the terms ad conditions before using the card. There are just a few of the preventions of credit card debts:

1. Be credit smart. If you and only you are ready to assume the responsibility for paying the credit, then only apply for a credit card.
2. Use credit card wisely and sparingly. Keep in mind that paying goods and services using credit card is more expensive than using cash or cheque. Credit payments include interest and other fees. If there is really the need to use credit card, carry only the card that will actually use.
3. Use credit for money emergency only.
4. Avoid impulse shopping on the credit card.
5. Seek credit counseling as soon as the financial problems are on the horizon.

Set your mind -> Resist the pressures of the credit card society (much easier) -> Start to feel the benefits -> Enjoy the process -> Cash convert for the rest of the affluent

Electronic currency

Electronic Currency also known as e-money, electronic cash, electronic money, digital money, digital cash or digital currency which refers to money or scrip which is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, internet and digital stored value systems

The examples of electronic currency are Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit. EFT refers to the computer-based systems used to perform financial transactions electronically while direct deposit is a banking term used that refer to certain systems used to transfer money.

The main focuses of electronic currency development are being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards and linked bank accounts that would be used over an internet for exchange with a secure micropayment system such as in large corporations.

Characteristics of Electronic Currency:

• Independence - Cash is dependent on its physical condition as it associates the unit-value of money with the storage medium in which it resides. Although the limits of the acceptance of specific cash clearly define different segments within the network, all forms of physical money can enter and exit freely. For example, CDN$ are only accepted inside Canada.
  
• Security - Electronic currency software must be secure. Cash solves this problem based on its physical properties. A bill can be in only one place at any time and therefore it may be duplicated. The transfer of cash is done in the presence of both parties.

• Ease of use - Electronic currency has to be easy to use as the systems aim at the totality of the population addressing all kinds of individual expertise.

• Privacy - What kinds of transactional information are generated and who has access to them? All levels of privacy are technically possible. Privacy is related to the encryption technology used in the security features of the system.



• Transferability - The cash must be transferable between users in all forms of "peer-to-peer payment". With traditional credit cards, transferable of cash may not work because the payee has the privileged merchant status that is not proposed to be available for everyone.


• Divisibility - The size of the units and the number of different units has to be defined. In contrast to cash, the physical properties limit not only the size but also the number of units due to reasons of practicality, these constraints do not apply to electronic currency.

There are two different types of approaches to electronic currency: on-line and off-line electronic currency.

• On-line - On-line means that a need to interact with a bank or third party via modem or network to conduct a transaction. On-line systems prevent fraud by requiring merchants to contact the bank's computer with every sale. The bank's computer maintains a database that can indicate to the merchant if a given piece of electronic currency is still valid. This is similar to the way that merchants currently verify credit cards at the point of sale.
  
  
  
• Off-line - Off-line means that a transaction can be conducted without involve a bank directly. Off-line electronic currency systems prevent fraud in two different ways: hardware and a software approach. The hardware approach relies on some kind of a tamper-proof chip in a smart card that keeps a mini database. The software approach is to structure the electronic currency and cryptographic protocols to reveal the identity of the double spender. If users of the off-line electronic currency know they will get caught, the incidence of double spending will be minimized.
  

On-line or off-line define the problem space that each electronic currency system promoter attempts to solve public acceptance so the system is profitable for those who run it.

The example of Electronic Currency is PayPal. PayPal is an e-commerce business that allows the transfer of payments and money made through the Internet. The service started in the United States but has now spread too many parts of the world. It serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as cheques and money orders. PayPal performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, and other corporate users. It also charges a transaction fee for receiving money. The fees charged depend on the currency used, the payment option used, the country of the sender, the country of the recipient, the amount sent and the type recipient's account.

Electronic currency provides many benefits such as convenience and privacy, increased efficiency of transactions, lower transaction fees, and new business opportunities. However, there are many potential issues with the use of electronic currency. The transfer of electronic currency raises local issues such as how to levy taxes or the possible ease of money laundering. There are also potential macroeconomic effects such as exchange rate instabilities and shortage of money supplies. These issues may only be solved by cyberspace regulations or laws that regulate the transactions.