[atlarge-discuss] FYI: Discussion re: ITU's proposed Intl Cyberspace Treaty atWSIS

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From: "Michael Gurstein" <mgurst@vcn.bc.ca>
To: <cpi-ua@vancouvercommunity.net>,
   "Broadband-Wireless@Vancouvercommunity. Net"
<Broadband-Wireless@vancouvercommunity.net>
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 13:02:51 -0500
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Subject: [CPI-UA] FW: [wsis-prep1] ITU To Propose Intl Cyberspace
Treaty at WSIS


More
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Adam Peake <ajp@glocom.ac.jp>
>To: dave@farber.net
>Subject: Re: [IP] ITU cyberspace treaty
>Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2003 23:02:56 +0900
>
>Dave,
>
>Seems the story is following up on a speech Utsumi made at a
>regional meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society
>(WSIS), November 7-9, in Bucharest.  See <http://www.itu.int/wsis/>
>--  WSIS will be the UN Summit of 2003 (and 2005.) ITU is the lead
>agency for the Summit within the UN family.
>
>And WSIS is a messy business. Launched with much promise of being a
>new type of UN Summit, with government, civil society and private
>sector working as partners, the outcome has been pretty much to
>marginalize civil society (with China and Pakistan in particular
>adamant that NGOs should not have a significant role in the Summit.)
>The original themes of the summit were well meaning an appropriate
>for a UN summit: to raise awareness of information society, and
>address the digital divide. Utsumi's speech in Bucharest introduced
>a new theme: "to develop new legal and policy frameworks,
>appropriate to cyberspace".
>
>Rumor is that the new theme was added to the Summit agenda at the
>request of the US and Russia. US, in "homeland security" mode, had
>until then been quite dismissive of the Summit (as might have been
>be expected of the Bush administration), and Russia just emerging
>from the Moscow hostage/gassing tragedy.
>
>I think we should be very concerned that such issues will be
>discussed at head of state level in such a fora.  Not quite sure
>what the intention is -- ITU as a new policy-maker for cyberspace?
>Not a happy thought.  Particularly as Civil Society has been quite
>significantly excluded from the WSIS process and has little or no
>interaction (unless you pay over $10,000 ITU membership) with the
>ITU. The Summit "PrepCom" process is well advanced, opportunities
>for comment and discussion are not great.
>
>Partial text of Utsumi's speech in Bucharest below (full document at
><http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/bucharest/speech_utsumi.doc>)
>
>I hope EFF, CDT, etc., will take a look at WSIS and get involved.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Adam
>
>Adam Peake
>GLOCOM Tokyo
>
>
>(Yoshio Utsumi - Bucharest, European regional preparatory meeting of
>WSIS.)
>
>Given that the information society covers virtually every aspect of our
>lives, there will be many different views as to what should be
>achieved by
>the World Summit. Let me give you my own personal view of why we need a
>World Summit. I believe that there are essentially three reasons:
>
>1. To raise awareness among political leaders, at the highest level, of
>the implications of the information society and the new challenges it
>will
>bring.
>
>2. To tackle the injustice of the digital divide.
>
>3. To develop new legal and policy frameworks, appropriate to
>cyberspace.
>
>Let me take each of these in turn, beginning with the need to raise
>awareness of the challenges of the information society. The industrial
>revolution brought many new labour-saving devices into the workplace
>and
>home. Those who could afford them, and knew how to use them, gained
benefits
>in terms of higher productivity and increased leisure time.
>
>In the information revolution, we use ICTs to support and enhance our
>ability to see, hear and communicate. We use them to enhance our
>learning,
>our knowledge base and our creativity. Again, those who can afford
>these
>tools, and can use them effectively, will reap the benefits. Wise
>politicians already know how to use television and the media to win
>elections, but many do not yet know how to make the best use of ICTs
>to run
>the government, or to extend the reach of educational programmes or
>medical
>services.
>
>Despite the fact that activities based around the creation, processing
>and
>dissemination of information already account for more than 80 per cent
>of
>employment in the developed world, in the mind of political leaders,
>issues
>concerning ICTs are not yet high on their political agenda.
>
>For developing countries, the dawn of the information society poses the
>opportunity to leapfrog ahead; to be free of the constraints imposed
>by the
>distribution of natural resources or the terms of trade. ICTs can help
>too
>in nation building for those countries emerging from a troubled
>history.
But
>how many political leaders in the developing world are seriously
>seeking
>these opportunities for their people?
>
>The information society will also pose new ethical challenges for our
>political leaders which are similar in nature to those posed by genetic
>engineering in that the information we generate and collect will give
>us
>much more power to control our environment.
>
>We must help our political leaders develop a common vision of how to
>turn
>these challenges into opportunities, by using ICTs.
>
>The second reason to hold a World Summit is to tackle the injustice of
>the
>digital divide.
>
>Between 1995 and 2000, the volume of Internet traffic grew by four
>times,
>but available capacity grew by 200 times. And the "dark fibre"
>available on
>the most popular routes, such as across the Atlantic, grew by several
>thousand times. Haphazard, overzealous planning has led to
>overcapacity,
>which in turn has led to falling prices and falling profits for
>telecommunication operators and manufacturers.
>
>Yet, in other parts of the world, investment just can't seem to keep up
with
>demand. There are still millions of villages that do not even have a
>basic
>telephone connection. It is not a question of lack of resources. It is
>a
>lack of a global policy perspective.
>
>In the year 2000 alone, the telecommunications industry invested more
>than
>200 billion US dollars worldwide. But much of this investment has not
>paid
>dividends, either financially or socially, because we were
>super-serving
the
>rich few, rather than providing basic services to the many.
>
>In recent years, we have seen many initiatives designed to tackle the
>digital divide, such as the G8 DOT Force, the UN ICT Task Force, the
digital
>opportunity initiative, and long before that, the Maitland Commission
>in
>ITU. We must learn from these initiatives, but we must not make the
>same
>mistakes. We must be inclusive of all stakeholders. We must seek
>innovative
>ways of mobilizing investment, by seeking a global perspective and
>securing
>justice. We must develop programmes of sector reform based on
>competition,
>private sector participation and, most importantly, with truly global
>policies and effective regulation. Otherwise the digital divide will
>widen
>further.
>
>The third issue that the Summit should address is the need for a new
>legal
>and policy framework for cyberspace. Cyberspace is a new land, without
>frontiers and without a government yet. Cyberspace is not a parallel
>universe: it interacts with our own world and poses many new
>challenges for
>policy-makers. For instance:
>
>·	We are increasingly dependent on cyberspace, but how can we protect
>against international cyber-terrorism?  Who can police cyberspace and
>how?
>·	If we pay taxes in the real world, should we also pay them for our
>transactions in cyberspace? And to whom?  How?
>·	How can we control crimes conducted in cyberspace?  Which
>jurisdiction should take precedence?
>·	How can freedom of expression or other fundamental human rights be
>guaranteed in cyberspace? Is there a danger that some would seek to
>control
>content?
>·	How can we build user trust and confidence in cyberspace?
>
>There may well exist national policies and laws on these issues, but
>their
>effectiveness is limited by the fact that they only apply within
>national
>borders. Yet many of our economic transactions and our intellectual
>activities are already conducted in cyberspace, without clear rules and
>regulations.
>
>We need a new global governance framework. Developing policy
>frameworks for
>cyberspace-to deal with issues of cyber-crime, security, taxation,
>intellectual property protection, or privacy-is something like
>establishing
>a new government in the New World. I recall the early history of
>colonial
>states in the USA or the story of El Dorado in Spanish America. But
>cyberspace is an invisible world and much more complex. Its
>inhabitants are
>not only individuals but include corporations, governments and even
>sovereign states. They require new mechanisms for coordination. We
>need a
>much more stronger political will to solve the issues than our
>ancestors
did
>in establishing a state in their newly conquered territories.
>
>END
>
>
>
>>------ Forwarded Message
>>From: Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>
>>Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2003 05:40:17 -0500
>>To: Peter Harter <harter@attglobal.net>
>>Cc: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>>Subject: Re: ITU cyberspace treaty
>>
>>they really work fast, don't they?
>>
>>Shocking notion:
>>
>>"If countries have different rules, some countries will gain a
>>commercial
>>advantage over others, fair competition will be hindered due to the
>>spread  of illegal products, and countries without rules could become
>>a
>>hotbed
>>of crime, according to Utsumi."
>>
>>What kind of "offensive material" will constitute a crime, do you
>>think?
>>
>>Esther
>>
>>(Dave, sorry, a little old, but FYI.)
>>
>>At 01:02 AM 1/4/2003, Peter Harter wrote:
>>>FYI Esther -- you probably have already seen this article.
>>>
>>>SNIP
>>>Cheers,
>>>peter
>>>
>>>ITU To Propose Intl Cyberspace Treaty At Information Summit
>>>279 words
>>>14 November 2002
>>>Nikkei Report
>>>English
>>>(c) 2002 Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
>>>TOKYO (Nikkei)--The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) will
>>>propose at the World Summit on the Information Society in December
>>>2003
>>>the
>>>creation of an international cyberspace treaty to set forth basic
>>>rules
>>>on
>>>Internet taxation, copyright protection and crime prevention,
>>>according
>>>to
>>>Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi.
>>>In an interview with The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Utsumi said the ITU, a
>>>United
>>>Nations agency, believes that different rules among countries will
>>>hamper
>>>cross-border e-commerce and lead to more Internet crimes. The ITU
>>>announced
>>>a basic plan for the treaty at a preparatory meeting for the summit
>>>held
>>>in
>>>Europe in early November. It will seek cooperation from the Japanese
>>>government at a preparatory meeting in Asia in January.
>>>The union hopes to incorporate plans to sign the treaty in an
>>>actionprogram
>>>to be compiled at the world summit, which will be attended by heads
>>>of
>>>state.
>>>The treaty will cover taxation of international e-commerce; copyright
>>>protection for content; prevention of Internet crimes, such as
>>>cyberterrorism and release of offensive material; security measures
>>>such
>>>as
>>>prevention of illegal access and data tampering; and privacy
>>>protection.
>>>It
>>>will set forth uniform domestic and international guidelines to
>>>handle
>>  >problems that occur.
>>  >If countries have different rules, some countries will gain a
commercial
>>  >
>>  >advantage over others, fair competition will be hindered due to the
>>  >spread
>>  >of illegal products, and countries without rules could become a
>>hotbed
>>  >of
>>  >crime, according to Utsumi.
>>  >The ITU believes the international rules will be helpful for
>>developing
>>  >countries in Africa and Asia when they draw up their information
>>  >technology
>>  >policies.
>>  >(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Thursday morning edition)
>>  >21/20/02 DIARY - POLITICAL AND GENERAL
>>  >398 words
>>  >21 November 2002
>>
>>
>>
>>Esther Dyson                    Always make new mistakes!
>>chairman, EDventure Holdings
>>writer, Release 3.0 (on Website below)
>>edyson@edventure.com
>>1 (212) 924-8800    --   fax  1 (212) 924-0240
>>104 Fifth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets; 20th floor)
>>New York, NY 10011 USA
>>http://www.edventure.com
>>
>>The conversation continues..... at
>>http://www.edventure.com/conversation/
>>
>>PC Forum 2003 - March 23 to 25, Phoenix
>>Who? what? where? Data comes alive!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>------ End of Forwarded Message
>>
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>
>
>--
>-- Dave
>
>-------------------------------------
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>
>I have issues with Yoshio Utsumi's statement that a "basic plan for the
>treaty" was presented at the European Meeting held recently in
>Bucharest. I was there and I didn't hear any word or mention of this
>proposal.
>
>Does anyone know anything more about the ITU's proposal? If true, we
>need to quickly movilize to make sure civil has a meaningfull say in
>the
>drafting and discussions.
>
>
>If they chooe to ignore us - than it will be no better than the
>european convention on cybercrime which was negotiated in secrety.
>
>
>This news really upsets me. If the ITU, nor the conference organizers
>haven't the decency to involve civil society from the start in
>initiatives like this one - then , it's clear we don't have no
>meaningfull nor important role to play.sigh.
>
>
>
>regards
>
>Robert
>--
>
>


  [duplicate cut]

>
>
>------ End of Forwarded Message
>
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>
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##########################################################
Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
##########################################################
"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
"Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."
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