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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Chile, The High-Tech Wonder
by William New
As Chile and the United States near completion of a bilateral free-trade agreement, Chile is working to keep its technology sector out front in Latin America.
Chile is developing tech-friendly legislation and various tech initiatives, despite suffering an economic slowdown, according to Economy Minister Alvaro Diaz. In an interview after the Business Software Alliance's Global Tech Summit in Washington last week, Diaz outlined several initiatives.
For instance, Chile expects to pass legislation in 2002 to upgrade its patent and trademark law to the standard of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), he said. The country also is developing its legal framework for e-commerce.
An e-signature bill based on a U.N. model has been approved by the Chamber of Deputies and is heading for Chile's Senate, where approval is expected by early next year, Diaz said. He said the government must get recognition for "certification authorities" to ensure that e-signatures are the legal equivalent of handwritten ones. The Chilean government has asked Microsoft and Netscape for assistance in recognizing the authorities and is awaiting their answers, he said.
Diaz said he sees a need for an "international convergence" on e-commerce and an international body to handle disputes. The bilateral U.S.-Chile agreement would be limited to a forum for technology standards, e-commerce, e-signatures and intellectual property, he said.
The next round of bilateral talks is expected in January in Santiago. Diaz said he hopes the January round will finish the talks.
A Full Plate Internationally And Domestically
Chile has not yet signed the WTO Information Technology Agreement, and when asked if the nation was planning to, Diaz said Chile has signed an IT agreement under the Asia Pacific Economic Forum and made it Chilean law, taking tariffs to zero on hardware, though not on software.
From a negotiating standpoint, Diaz said Chile firmly believes that all software is a service that falls under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, whether sold as a packaged product or downloaded. The issue of whether digital trade counts as a good or a service is being debated at the WTO.
Chile has the highest Internet penetration in Latin America and is right behind Spain globally, Diaz said. Its regulatory reform is aimed at encouraging tech growth. "If you get millions of Chileans onto the Net, you will have an outpouring of innovation," he said. The country's population is about 16 million.
Chile expects to compete in the content, software and audiovisual sectors. Diaz noted the opportunity apparent in the 400 million Spanish and Portuguese speakers in the world, including 30 million in the United States.
Domestic initiatives in Chile include a network of community tech centers and a national network linking 90 percent of schools. The nation also is targeting computer literacy at the high-school level and developing a model for paying taxes online.
Through the U.S.-Chile trade agreement, Chile expects to become more attractive for investment and to open the U.S. market for government procurement. Chile is adopting telecommunications standards similar to the United States in hopes of spurring investment opportunities.
Welcome China, And Watch Out
China's membership in the WTO became official Tuesday. U.S. businesses proclaimed the day, as they look forward to great gains in the Chinese market.
The WTO's 143rd member agreed to cut tariffs and non-tariff barriers to foreign goods and investment, and obey international rules in areas such as protecting intellectual property rights. Under the terms of its entry, China will allow trading partners to use special safeguards against surges in Chinese exports, according to Bill Primosch, director for international business policy at the National Association of Manufacturers.
The Bush administration has developed an interagency group to monitor China's compliance with its WTO commitments, sources said. The group will fall under the administration's Trade Policy Staff Committee.
Accession Triggers WIPO Treaty Into Effect
The Dec. 6 accession of Gabon to the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT) means the agreement will take effect in the 30 signatory nations in three months.
"By safeguarding the interests of creators in cyberspace, the WCT opens new horizons for composers, artists, writers and others to use the Internet with confidence to create, distribute and control the use of their works within the digital environment," said a WIPO release.
Eric Smith, the International Intellectual Property Alliance's president, said the WCT news is "truly a milestone development for the continued growth of electronic commerce, for the future of the Internet globally, and for copyright [law]."
A second WIPO agreement, the Performances and Phonograms Treaty, is just two shy of the trigger of 30 parties. The copyright treaty, drafted in 1996, have been implemented by the United States, Japan and Australia, and soon by the European Union.
Prodi Lists European Priorities For 2002
European Commission President Romano Prodi on Tuesday outlined seven top priorities for the commission next year. But technology was not included.
The priorities are promoting citizens' safety and security, successfully launching the euro as Europe's currency, implementing a sustainable development strategy, and emphasizing a new European Union governance and institutional reform. The commission, the EU regulatory arm, also will deliver concrete results on EU enlargement. The European Union is on track to include as many as 25 members by 2004, up from its current 15 members.
Other goals are to strengthen the commission relationship with the Mediterranean and to bolster development policy.
Privacy And Domain News From Down Under
The European Union has said that an Australian privacy code to take effect Dec. 21 is not up to EU standards, but because a resolution of the standoff does not appear to be forthcoming, businesses must show on their own that they comply with the European standard. Otherwise, businesses might be cut off, reports AustralianIT.
Australian businesses ultimately would like a "safe harbor" from the EU standards like the one the United States negotiated with Europe.
In other Australian News, auDA, the nation's domain-name authority, this week announced the award of a contract for registry services to AusRegistry, a subsidiary of RegistrarsAsia. AuDA has licensed AusRegistry as a registry operator for four years, beginning at the conclusion of the test-bed process in early 2002.
The new registry will make Australia the first country to utilize a new technical interface protocol (called EPP) that operators of the .info and .biz domain-name suffixes use.
The Future Fight To Register Mars.info?
Speaking this week on the interplanetary Internet being developed by the U.S. government, Vint Cerf, an Internet founder, said the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) "has already done what it needs to do" to make the interplanetary system a reality.
But there is one possible cause for concern, Cerf said. In November, the ICANN board, which Cerf chairs, agreed to reserve geopolitical domain names, such as africa.info, for appropriate uses. Cerf's concern is that the policy could extend beyond the earthly realm to include domain names for planets, like Mars.info.
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