E-MARKETING MAY BRING OUT WORST IN PEOPLE.

• Position: Brief Article

The Web is a booming marketplace with a bright future, but it may also bring out the worst in people, according to futurist Tim Mack. "In the years ahead, the Internet will continue to shift from a medium of personal communication and expression to a place of economic opportunity," he told the World Future Society, Bethesda, Md., while laying out some key patterns that will shape the development of electronic marketing:

* Underhanded marketing may get even worse. The Internet has plenty of both cooperation and cutthroat competition. Because humans tend to be short-term thinkers, many emarketers will choose highly competitive strategies over cooperative ones.

* Governments will get more involved. The initial high ethical standards on the Web have not held firm. A growing epidemic of fraudulent sales practices...