 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Talks Over Online Jurisdiction Intensify
By William New
Discussions on an international jurisdictional treaty for online disputes are intensifying in advance of formal negotiations in June.
U.S. stakeholders are meeting with greater frequency as the last informal, intergovernmental gathering approaches. That gathering -- on the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments -- will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 25-28.
The treaty is threatened heading into the critical phase, officials said. Despite a sense of some momentum, a U.S. official said, "It's a fragile thing, and it could disappear at this meeting or in June."
Hans Van Loon, secretary general of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, noted in an interview that progress toward consensus has been made in many areas. He said he expects a new draft agreement by the end of June. "It would be a shame if it [a treaty] were not possible given there is so much where people agree," Van Loon said. "But I should not sound overly optimistic. There are still tough nuts to crack."
A key sticking point is whether to include intellectual property issues, such as patents and trademarks, in the convention. Consumer groups would like such issues removed, but governments are reluctant to do so because there is a desire to form some international rules on intellectual property.
One lawyers' group has proposed that the Hague treaty be finalized without comment on patents and trademarks but with the understanding that those issues would be included in a later protocol to the agreement. The United Kingdom, however, is circulating a proposal to include patent language now because it wants that issue covered sooner.
Seizing The Momentum
Delegates in Edinburgh will try to capitalize on a slight gain in momentum toward a treaty since a March meeting in Ottawa, Ontario. Officials at that meeting addressed an array of sticky issues and business and consumer concerns in breakout sessions. A meeting last week at the Federal Trade Commission helped crystallize U.S. thinking on the lines of agreement and disagreement.
Consumer groups, for instance, now are focused on the definition of "consumer" in the draft treaty. Their fear is that the current language would leave loopholes for businesses to end contract disputes if consumers are found to have used a disputed material or product for their profession. An example might be an academic downloading of material for research.
A U.S. official said the new draft of the language on consumer jurisdiction that arose from the Ottawa meeting represents "a real effort to reflect everyone's concerns." Nevertheless, the official said, "there's no question it's not a polished product."
The Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Private International Law will hold a meeting May 16 to consider the draft Hague treaty. The purpose of the meeting is to help the State Department prepare the U.S. negotiating position for the formal meetings in The Hague, Netherlands, from June 6 to June 20.
The last formal treaty negotiation was in October 1999. It produced the preliminary draft text that still provides the basis for discussions. A final formal negotiating session will follow the one in June but has not been scheduled yet.
Don't Expect Much Tech Talk In Quebec
Much attention will be paid this week to the meeting of 34 of the 35 leaders of the Western Hemisphere's nations in Quebec City, Quebec. (Only Cuba is not participating.) But the meeting is unlikely to have a significant impact on high-tech issues, which fall largely in the trade category of the summit agenda. Trade ministers resolved the trade issues about as much as they could at meetings in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week.
President Bush did make a brief mention of the technology industry in a speech before the Organization of American States on Tuesday. He spent more time on trade issues in that speech than on any other summit issue, such as drugs, corruption, education or human rights.
"We want to open global markets so that our farmers and ranchers and workers and service providers and high-tech entrepreneurs can enjoy the benefits of a more integrated world," Bush said. Those will be pursued through a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), he said. FTAA negotiations will resume in May.
Bush goes to the summit with little progress on obtaining the all-critical presidential trade-negotiating authority he would need to get trade concessions from other nations. He hinted this week that he might send to Congress a proposal to give him what the Bush administration now calls "trade-promotion authority," but White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Tuesday that Bush would face a tough fight to win that authority. He also said the president is meeting with key Democrats on the issue.
What Spy Plane?
The recent political-military tension between the United States and China has not discouraged those who see high-tech business opportunities in China.
The U.S. Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the China National Postal and Telecommunications Appliances Corporation, for example, are holding a high-tech event in Shanghai from April 25 to April 28. The event, PT Supercomm Asia 2001, will feature communications and information technology, as well as a multi-track conference on areas such as broadband networks, e-commerce and wireless communications.
The keynote speaker on April 25 will be Federal Communications Commissioner Susan Ness, who will discuss the high-speed Internet. "The Internet and high-speed networks create opportunities that were previously beyond the imagination: opportunities for education, advanced health care, economic development and the building of communities -- local, national and global," Ness said in a statement.
China is the single-largest market for U.S. telecommunications equipment manufacturers, according to TIA.
India's 'IT City'
High-tech issues are gaining attention in India, too. In one recent development, a group of eight companies, including consulting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Arthur Andersen and several major Indian IT firms, joined to draft guidelines and procedures for digital signature certification. The report, which is expected to reduce inconsistencies and improve transparency in digital signature applications, is due in a month, reported the Indian Financial Express.
Also in India, the government has invited Australia to establish an "IT city" in the high-tech area of Bangalore, according to the Indian Economic Times. An Australian team will visit the country later this year, and the two sides will create incubator venture capital for IT facilities. Under a memorandum of understanding, the countries will cooperate on e-governance, distance learning and multimedia, IT Minister Promod Mahajan told a meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
