TECHNOLOGY EXECS & CONSUMERS VOICE SUPPORT FOR E-VOTING, INDIFFERENCE TO INTERNET TAXES.Consumers, Hi-Tech Execs Opposed To Govt. Regulation Of e-Commerce A major new study commissioned by CIO CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. (Chief Information Officer) The executive officer in charge of information processing in an organization. magazine reveals what consumers and technology executives think about the Internet and government regulation of this evolving medium. To find out what is on the minds of real people and those charged with developing the Internet, CIO interviewed consumers and business and technology executives about electronic voting Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes. , Internet taxes Before these efforts could gain much headway, however, the United States Congress preempted virtually all conceivable forms of Internet taxation. The purpose of the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act was to nip in the bud these incipient taxation efforts. and other Internet and government-related issues. Findings reveal the majority (56 percent) of consumer respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. would "definitely" vote online in the next presidential election if they could, with 25 percent saying "definitely not," 14 percent "maybe" and five percent undecided. The top reasons for "definitely not" voting online were confidentiality/privacy concerns (32 percent), being old- fashioned (29 percent) and the possibility of fraud and tampering tampering The adulteration of a thing. See Drug tampering. (26 percent). A large majority of IT execs (78 percent) say, if they could, they too would cast their ballot for the next Presidential election over the Internet. The 12 percent who are opposed to online voting cite similar reasons as consumers: being old-fashioned (38 percent); fear of fraud and tampering (33 percent); and confidentiality (25 percent). Study results also show indifference to the much-ballyhooed Internet tax. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the survey, imposing such a tax would make little, if any impact on the online shopping habits of both consumers and business/IT executives. While 35 percent of consumers and 50 percent of executives say "no sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. " is one of their reasons for shopping online, the majority of respondents (71 percent of consumers and 69 percent of business/IT execs) say they would e-shop the same amount if Internet taxes were applied. Only one-quarter of consumers (25 percent) and biz/IT execs (24 percent) would make Internet purchases less often. "Electronic commerce is still in its infancy," says Tim Horgan, CIO's VP of Technology and Executive Director of CIO.COM (1) (Computer Output Microfilm) Creating microfilm or microfiche from the computer. A COM machine receives print-image output from the computer either online or via tape or disk and creates a film image of each page. . "The eagerness of both consumers and tech gurus to engage in electronic purchases, regardless of tax action, is a testament to the staying power and growth potential of e-ventures." Both consumers (57 percent) and tech execs (76 percent) are opposed to government regulation of corporate e-commerce activities. Approximately one-fourth (26 percent) of consumers and one-tenth (nine percent) of business respondents are in favor of government regulation. Of those biz/IT respondents who do want the government to regulate companies' e-commerce activities, 65 percent want government regulation of consumer privacy issues and use of private information. |
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