response needed - d5-cyberlaw
Discussion 1:
Question:
describe an instance where a government has taken some action the result of which is influence on commerce.
Government regulation affects the financial services industry in many ways, but the specific impact depends on the nature of the regulation. Higher regulation norms are directly proportional to increased workload for the people working in the financial services, as it takes time and effort to new business practices that follow the new regulations promptly. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed by Congress in 2002 in response to multiple financial scandals involving large conglomerates such as Enron and WorldCom. The act held senior management of companies accountable for the accuracy of their financial statements, while also mandating internal controls be established at companies to prevent such occurrences of fraud and misrepresentation. As expected, these regulations increased financial spending for the companies in a short term but gave an assurance for investors and improve overall corporate confidence and investment flow.
In addition to the financial side of a business, such as the audits, accuracy and controls, the SOX Act also outlines requirements for information technology (IT) departments regarding electronic records. The SOX Act does not set forth a set of business practices in this regard but instead defines which company records need to be stored on file and for how long. It does not specify how a business should store its records, only that the IT department is responsible for storing them, according to standards outlined in the SOX Act.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) often replace current infrastructure to more expensive and efficient one’s to reduce environmental impact. These types of regulations often create a ripple effect with increased investments from businesses to meet the regulations. These reflect directly on stock market performance and general availability of funds for future projects. Companies often try to shift their increased costs to their consumers or customers, which is another reason why environmental regulations are often controversial. Government regulation has also been used in the past to save businesses that would otherwise not survive.
Discussion 2:
Question:
describe an instance where a government has taken some action the result of which is influence on commerce.
The federal government has different arms that have a say in the policy-making process across industries and sectors of the economy. That is possible through government agencies which emanate from the various divisions of the government. There are several instances when policies that the governing body makes have affected commerce in the country. One of these is President Donald Trump’s ban on immigration that has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Even though it is a decision that is appealing to most of the voters and the political class, it has negative impacts on commerce (Schmermund, 2018). The American economy has for a long time been depending on the talent, energy, and determination of various immigrants. Apart from creating a market for various goods and services that different industries in the country produce, they also provide a cheaper source of skilled labor as compared to workers from the United States or Europe. In an era when everyone depends on technology for improved performance of businesses, it is important to note that immigrants are responsible for keeping the country competitive. Examples of these individuals consist of Intel Company’s Andy Grove, Sergei Brin of Google, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, among others (Schmermund, 2017).
The reduction in the number of immigrants thus denies the United States economy both the market for various goods and the skills required in different industries (West, 2018). That is because diversity is inhibited yet it enhances innovation. This policy has ensured that businesses have lost their customers and creative individuals, who can revamp enterprises and improve their competitive edge, have been denied entry into the United States. Because of the impacts of this policy, it is crucial that the government considers its policies effects on commerce even as it considers taking care of the political consequences.