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Cyber-Crime Treaty Gets Last Look
by William New
Foreign ministers from the 43 members of the Council of Europe and officials from the United States, Japan and Canada on Thursday are expected to adopt, without debate, the international treaty on cyber crime they forged earlier this year. The treaty then will be signed later this month.
The Nov. 8 meeting will focus on anti-terrorism but also will address the cyber-crime treaty, though no substantive changes can be made, a council source said. No changes other than proofreaders' marks have been made to the treaty since the deputy ministers approved it Sept. 19. After the ministers approve it, a formal signing ceremony will be held Nov. 22-23 in Budapest, Hungary.
Countries will submit their national reports before the ceremony, indicating where they stand on the new obligations. The reports will be posted on the council Web site before the ceremony. Several ministers will speak at the ceremony, as will European, Canadian and U.S. law enforcement officials. Kenneth Harris of the Justice Department is scheduled to address the assembly, as is a representative from the International Chamber of Commerce.
The treaty will not enter into force until five states, at least three of which are members of the council, have ratified it.
The United States participated in the negotiations as observers, but if it signs, the treaty will be binding on it. Bush administration officials previously have said they would not agree to any document that does not comply with existing U.S. law, but there has been no formal statement from the administration on whether it intends to sign the treaty.
The council's ministers will meet informally with their Secretary General, Walter Schwimmer, and NATO secretary general Lord Robertson on Wednesday.
The Council of Europe, formed in 1949, is based in Strasbourg, France. South Africa also participated in the negotiations of the cyber-crime treaty.
Bush Wants Europe To Retain Data For Criminal Probes
President Bush is pressing the 15-nation European Union to permit the wholesale retention of telecommunications and Internet traffic data for criminal investigations, according to ZDNet. In a letter to Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency, Bush called for a change to a proposed directive on privacy and communications.
Bush's proposal reflects the view of the British government and EU law enforcement agencies. Current EU law prohibits the retention of personal data beyond the time required for billing purposes.
Tech Issues Rank High On WTO Wish Lists
Several members of the World Trade Organization, notably developed nations, have placed high-tech issues on their wish lists for the agenda of a new round of trade negotiations.
The United States, for instance, is going into the Nov. 9-13 ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, with the hope of getting agreement to update WTO rules to reflect the advent of e-commerce. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said last week that "the WTO rules also need to be updated to tap the potential of high-tech innovations and e-commerce. Transactions over networks are providing enormous growth opportunities for any service that can reach customers electronically -- be it retailing, financial [services], information or entertainment services."
Zoellick also made a point of outlining the advantages of e-commerce and lower tariffs on electronic goods to developing countries. Many developing countries view e-commerce in the context of the WTO with suspicion as an item sought by the United States and other developed countries. The United States is working to keep the item from becoming over-politicized.
Canada also is seeking progress on tech issues. In its key objectives for a new round of WTO talks, International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew identified the need for clearer rules on the services trade. Some 65 percent of Canada's gross domestic product and three out of every four Canadian jobs are tied to the services trade. Canada prides itself on its world-class industries in financial services, telecom and information technology.
Canada also wants WTO rules updated to reflect the new economy. "Canada's economy has retooled to become a high-tech economy, but global rules don't reflect this reality," said a government backgrounder on its priorities for Doha.
Other issues important to Canada include reducing tariffs on technology and telecom products, which range from 3.6 percent to 32 percent, and strengthening intellectual property protections through the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs). The Canadian government further said it would like to ensure that e-commerce can flourish and that developing countries can get inexpensive access to the Internet.
In other Canadian news, the government has decided to launch its own Web site on success stories in international trade. It will include examples from the information technology, telecom, research and development, and services areas.
Asia-Pacific Region Gets Serious About E-Learning
With momentum from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit last month, e-learning will be a subject of an APEC technology forum scheduled for Dec. 10-12 in Chiba City, Japan.
The meeting will address approaches to shrinking the "digital divide" through education and training of IT workers. It will focus on the best practices in various countries. Shortly before the meeting, an e-learning alliance of global high-tech businesses will release a white paper on corporate best practices.
The alliance consists of 10 U.S. and Asian firms, including AOL Time Warner, Applied Materials, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems. They will craft ways to boost education and productivity through Web-based learning.
At their recent meeting, APEC leaders approved three e-learning programs, including the alliance. A second one is the APEC Cyber Education Cooperation, a consortium between the United States, Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore that will develop an online knowledge bank of best practices for educators.
The bank will look at the educational uses of technology and at exchanges of people and ideas. For instance, teachers can get Internet access to curriculum materials and lesson plans of teachers in Singapore, the country with the highest scores in international mathematics assessments.
The third program, the E-Language Learning Project, will help students and teachers use the Internet to learn a second language, with an initial focus on English, Chinese and Spanish.
So Much To Do ...
Several technology-related events, including a meeting of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) international committee, are scheduled for the remainder of this week.
The NVTC event on Thursday will involve the Russian National Software Developers Association, which was founded this year by 25 software companies and is headquartered in Moscow. Also on Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department's Business Information Services for the Newly Independent States will bring U.S. technology businesses together with a delegation of 18 IT companies from the former Soviet Union.
Elsewhere, a group of 17 members of the Abuja, Nigeria, Chamber of Commerce and Industry will meet Thursday with U.S. businesses at the International Gateway. The delegation seeks businesses with interest in computer parts, software and information technology, among other things.
And finally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Japan is meeting with key members of the Japanese Diet, as well as cabinet ministers, from Nov. 6-8 in Tokyo. One of the topics the chamber plans to address is the promotion of e-commerce development.
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