One of the most troubling things about Internet commerce is that you don't see the people with whom you are doing business. Business is based on trust, and commercial trust is based on a regulatory framework. The closer one is to purchase, the more human interaction is needed,'' says Schoeman Rudman, director of network computing for IBM's global insurance industry unit. He calls it the ''fingers around someone's neck'' impulse. Cyber-necks are elusive on the electronic frontier, but questions about them abound.
Governments have other shortcomings.
They have to deal with each other to make international regulations stick, but differ among themselves as to who controls what. The U.S. government and the European Union have brought together top-level business leaders in a group called the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue. The Electronic Commerce committee of TABD is trying to convince governments in Europe and North America to take a laissez-faire approach to the Internet. They argue that the free market and consumer choice will give rise to the necessary Internet standards and safeguards. Bill Poulos, director of electronic commerce policy for EDS, a computer-services firm, chairs this committee.