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[FYI] (Fwd) FC: UN summit in Paris next week on Internet taxing & re
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- Subject: [FYI] (Fwd) FC: UN summit in Paris next week on Internet taxing & re
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>
- Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 20:48:59 +0200
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Date sent: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 13:06:36 -0500
To: politech@vorlon.mit.edu
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: FC: UN summit in Paris next week on Internet taxing & regulation
Send reply to: declan@well.com
[This UNESCO confab would be hysterical if the folks weren't actually
serious. Read on for excerpts.]
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32711,00.html
World Tackles Web Regulation
by Declan McCullagh
9:45 a.m. 24.Nov.1999 PST
Every government official worth his
pension plan seems to have his own plans
for Internet regulation these days.
Nigeria wants a "Marshall Plan" where tax
money from wealthy countries would wire
Africa. The Netherlands wants to limit
"commercial influences" on the Net, and
Singapore hopes to convince everyone to
follow its lead in restricting erotica online.
To try to find a common ground,
governments from around the world will
debate the best way to approach
Internet regulations at a United Nations
summit next week in Paris.
A major theme of the "Internet and New
Services" two-day summit of regulators,
hosted by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization, is
whether government pressure on the
computer industry is sufficient -- or
whether more formal regulations are
necessary.
[...]
http://www.csa.fr/html/dos121_1.htm#ang
World Summit of Regulators "Internet and the New Services"
(Paris, UNESCO, 30 Nov.- 1 Dec. 1999)
THIRD PREPARATORY NOTE SUMMARY OF THE FIRST
CONTRIBUTIONS AND DISCUSSION PROSPECTS
The CSA forwarded to all the independent communication regulation
authorities which they knew existed in the world a first preparatory
note at the beginning of 1999, outlining the reflection themes
envisaged and the main sets of problems identified, in order to
collect as many contributions as possible from the regulators in
charge of the audio-visual or both the audio-visual and
telecommunications on the five continents. [...]
According to the OFCOM again, as far as the Web sites are open to
the public, which is potentially large, or even very large, and as
far as this sites actually offer limites possibilities of
interactivity, ' the
setting
up of licences, concessions, and the registrating of the services
concerned have to be entrusted to a public authority, which doesn't
exclude that private bodies can play an important role for the
autoregulation. [...]
3- The reflection on internet regulation must be carried
out at international level but also at the same time at
national level
Another result of the consultation by the CSA is that of the
extreme variety of the tolerance thresholds from one country to
another as to the application of freedom of expression, whether
regarding, among other examples available, the refusal to display
nudity or that of racist remarks. Unsurprisingly, it is therefore
not very reasonable, in fact not very desirable for some, to expect
the advent of a world conception of freedom of expression to
regulate content. [...]
'The Internet is international, and even if
there is regulation, it will be easy to avoid it by setting up in
the
States
which do not take part in such regulation or by transmitting from
such states'. (Norway).
Several contributions however mention the need to find an
international framework suited to an awareness of the challenges of
the internet, going beyond the commercial or economic challenges
only, and taking into account the social, cultural and political
dimension of the changes caused by the existence and the use of the
internet (points mentioned a regular conference of the regulators
on the internet, to compare points of view, or a world conference
on the information society, organised by UNESCO…).
' Given the borderless nature of the Internet', the SBA (Singapore)
is of the view that ' there is a need for more international dialog
and cooperation in tackling the problems mentioned in the CSA
report while we can each attempt to regulate the content providers
within our national boundaries, ther is a need to get together and
develop a common global framework which can help make the Internet
a safer place for our citizens. The World Summit provides an
excellent platform for global dialog and sharing of ideas to take
place.'
§-2 Ways are thus open at a European level, and in all the
international negotiation bodies G8, IUT, OMPI, OMC, UN,
UNESCO, etc. Police and legal co-operations and specialisations at
an international level are also obviously essential. But 'new forms
of regulation' must be invented say the Norwegians [...]
At a third level, the labelling of the sites is envisaged. For the
moment, only the more advanced countries seem to set up reflection
groups for labelling sites (Australia, Canada, Recommendation by
the European Commission). [...]
At a fifth level, there are plans to design, country by country, or
on a multi-national scale, filtering software packages intended for
the end user or for the technical suppliers. [...]
Beyond the adaptation of the penal code for what concerns the
illegal content on Internet (including the possibility of punishing
the expression of revisionism on the net) the german laws about the
information and communication services foresee, in teir second
part, the realization, entrusted to the Federal Office for
Verification of writings threatening
the
minors, of an Index which would register the injurious contents
that are not forbidden. Once they are indexed, these contents can
only be broadcasted if technical devices are settled in order to
prevent minors to read them. The third part of the law concerns the
prejudicial contents
the services suppliers whose offers contain contents which
threaten
the minors are compelled to chose representatives who must protect
the minors. [...]
The way Singapore has chosen is quite original "Internet service
providers (ISPs) ans Internet Content providers (ICPs) are
automatically licensed and they are given a set of broad guidelines
that provides a clear idea of what their responsibilities are. This
approach creates greater transparency and makes it easier for the
industry to operate and grow. ISPs are not required to monitor the
Internet or its users and they only need to limit public access to
hundred mass impact pornographic sites identified by SBA. Primary
responsability for contents lies with the Internet content
providers who are required to comply with the Internet code of
practice which outlines some broad markers of what the community
regards as offensive and harmful to Singapore' s racial and
religious harmony and public morals.' In order to complete this
regulation framework, the SBA encourages and promotes actively the
auto-regulation of industry and public education.
But rather than accepting the American software packages available
on the market, several countries hope to produce national filtering
software, or software specific to a particular type of public, more
suitable to the national contexts, cultures and morals (Australia,
Singapore) or regional contexts, cultures and morals (European
INCORE project). In September 1996, seven member countries of the
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Singapore,
Viet-Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand)
decided to collectively regulate communications on the internet in
order in particular to prevent pornography.
At a sixth level, the responsibility of the technical suppliers is
envisaged in various ways. The trend seems to be removal of the
responsibility of technical suppliers but with exceptions. It is
true that the risks of de-locating accommodating services are quite
actual. In most countries, neither the legislators nor the judges
have either drawn up or clarified a position on this complex legal
problem. Still, the Gabonese CNC, like many others, 'shares the
CSA's reflexions about the necessity to name a responsible person
for edition in the audiovisual services on Internet. [...]
6- The radio-TV Right must be adapted every where in the
world to the technological new deal
In addition to the indispensable respect for the 'major principles'
already quoted (defence and promotion of the cultural values and
contents, pluralism…) the answers the CSA has received justify in a
recurrent way the presence of the Right and of the audiovisual
regulatory authorities in the debate about the Internet Regulation,
at least at three levels first, because Internet certainly
concerns the future of Radio and TV, even if, as it has been seen,
there is no matter of urgency and even if the concrete mode of this
coming hybridization his still hardly known ; second, because some
services conveyed by the Internet Protocol also may be soon
assimilated to the Mass Media ; lastly, because the right of
audiovisual or broadcasting (which depends on the country) seems to
be the best ground for any attempt to adapt a legal frame for the
communication towards the public through Internet.
§-1. The relevance of the right of audiovisual or broadcasting in
the development of Internet is obvious fot what concerns the
publications on the Web (ie the communication towards the public
through the Internet Protocol).
First, many contributions approve the idea of not defining the
audiovisual or broadcasting communication services through their
infrastructure or their technical support. In most of the
countries, the criterion which determines the audiovisual
communication is because of its social dimension, the public, or
the differentiated addressee. [...]
For the
Netherlands Regulation Authority again, ' it is also of importance
that the information is not subject to commercial influences. The
freedom an individual is supposed to have when using a databank on
the Internet is actually rather relative. The provider of the data
service may quite easily guide the user of that service in a
certain (commercial) direction. In that case, the viewers have to
be able to rely on the fact that the information offered by the
broadcasters on the Internet, is objective. In the same way than
the Internet editors ans others professionally involved with the
broadcasters' sites have to be sure that they can gather, compose,
and present information in all editorial independance. Therefore,
we feel that it would make sense to impose the strict division
between editorial and commercial on all services of the
broadcasters on the Internet that are aimed at the general public.'
As a matter of fact, the debate concerns everywhere the range of
the restrictions that could be envisaged for instance, is it
necessary to impose the respect for the forbidden fields of
advertising (alcohol, tobacco…) in the audiovisual programmes
broadcasted on Internet ? Netherlands explains that ' Certain
basic principles of the broadcasters have to be transferred on the
Internet, as for instance the distinctive character of the public
broadcasting organisations, the distinction between editorial and
commercial and the protection of minors. On the Internet to, the
public broadcasters should distinguish themselves from commercial
providers by the non commercial character of the information
offered. It should be perfectly clear, on the Web, wether services
are being sponsored. Illicit advertising and advertising for
tobacco and cigarets should also be prohibited on the Internet.
[...]
§5. For these new intermediary media services, there are
nevertheless some demands identification of a responsible person
for the edition, right to reply, minor welfare, elementary
restrictions about advertising and honesty of information… [...]
Without sacrificing to the traditional prophecies surrounding the
internet 'miracle', sometimes alarmist, at other times idealist,
the duty of the leaders of all countries consists in serenely
setting out the realistic prospects of this new tool. From then
onwards, it is particularly necessary not to deny, without however
exaggerating them, the threats of increasing inequalities that the
internet supports. [...]
3- The solutions envisaged by the various contributions
economic and technological aid and the promotion of the
public domain on the internet
§-1. Economic North-South aid. It is most often the case for the
developing country bodies to apply to the developed countries for
an economic aid enabling the Southern countries, today mostly
excluded, to contribute too to the world wide web and to benefit
from it. According to the terms of a Nigerian delegate to the
RIARC, what is needed is a 'Marshall plan' for the internet in
Africa.
[...]
It is therefore
important that the regulators weigh up their responsibilities in
this field and take a stand on the questions of access (public
domain, free access to the services of general interest, taxation
of the local communications devoted to internet… ). [...]
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