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Chapter 4 E-environment 195

Table 4.2 Significant laws which control digital marketing

Legal issue Digital marketing activities affected
1. Data protection and privacy law Collection, storage, usage and deletion of personal information directly
through data capture on forms and indirectly through tracking behaviour
through web analytics
E-mail marketing and SMS mobile marketing
Use of viral marketing to encourage transmission of marketing messages
between consumers
Use of cookies and other techniques for personalizing content and
tracking on-site
Use of cookies for tracking between sites, for example for advertising
networks
Use of digital assets installed on a user’s PC for marketing purposes,
e.g. toolbars or other downloadable utilities sometimes referred to as
‘malware’
2. Disability and discrimination law Accessibility of content such as images for the visually impaired within
different digital environments:
Web site
E-mail marketing
Mobile marketing
IPTV
Accessibility affecting other forms of disability including hearing difficulties
and motor impairment
3. Brand and trademark protection Use of trademarks and brand names within:
Domain names
Content on site (for search engine optimization)
Paid search advertising campaigns (e.g. Google AdWords)
Representation of a brand on third-party sites including partners,
publishers and social networks
Defamation of employees
4. Intellectual property rights Protection of digital assets such as text content, images, audio and
sounds through digital rights management (DRM)
5. Contract law Validity of electronic contracts relevant to:
Cancellations
Returns
Distance-selling law
Errors in pricing
International taxation issues where the e-commerce service provider is
under a different tax regime from the purchaser
6. Online advertising law Similar issues to traditional media
Representation of offer
Causing offence (e.g. viral marketing)

process in which many employees and managers will monitor the environment and will,
perhaps, respond appropriately. The problem with the ad hoc approach is that if there is not
a reporting mechanism then some major changes may not be apparent to managers. En-
vironmental analysis is required to evaluate different information and respond accordingly.
The real-world e-business experiences case at the start of this chapter shows how an organiz-
ation in the music sector has reviewed and exploited changes within the micro-environment.