Kenneth C. Laudon was a professor of information systems at New York University School of Business. He held a BA in economics from Stanford and a PhD from Columbia University. He authored 12 books dealing with electronic commerce, information systems, organizations, and society. Professor Laudon wrote more than 40 articles concerning social, organizational, and management impacts of information systems, privacy, ethics, and multimedia technology.

At NYU's Stern School of Business, Ken Laudon taught courses on Managing the Digital Firm, Information Technology and Corporate Strategy, Professional Responsibility (Ethics), and Electronic Commerce and Digital Markets. Ken Laudon's hobby was sailing.

Jane Price Laudon is a management consultant in the information systems area and the author of seven books. Her special interests include systems analysis, data management, MIS auditing, software evaluation, and teaching business professionals how to design and use information systems.

Jane received her Ph.D. from Columbia University, her M.A. from Harvard University, and her B.A. from Barnard College. She has taught at Columbia University and the New York University Stern School of Business. She maintains a lifelong interest in languages and civilizations of Asia.

The Laudons have two daughters, Erica and Elisabeth, to whom this book is dedicated.

Carol Guercio Traver is a graduate of Yale Law School and Vassar College. She has had many years of experience representing major corporations, as well as small and medium-sized businesses, as an attorney with a leading international law firm, with specific expertise in technology law, Internet law, privacy law, intellectual property law, and general corporate law. Carol is the co-author of E-commerce. Business. Technology. Society (Pearson), as well as several other texts on information technology, and has been the lead project manager/editor on a number of technology-related projects. Carol is the co-founder and president of Azimuth Interactive, one of the first edtech firms and a provider of digital media and publisher services for the education industry.