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Multinational Export Controls Become Focus
by William New
With security and counter-terrorism on the minds of industrialized and developing nations alike, multinational agreements on the control of products with potential military uses are getting a closer look. One of the stated areas of focus in 2003 for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is on strengthening such multilateral agreements, which some in Washington argue have fallen to a "lowest common denominator" level of control.
One such agreement is the Wassenaar Arrangement. Wassenaar members are holding their annual meeting this week in Vienna, Austria. James Jochum, BIS' assistant secretary for export administration, and Susan Burke, the State Department's principal deputy assistant secretary for non-proliferation, are in the negotiations.
U.S. goals for Wassenaar include getting an agreement on denials of export licenses, according to Matthew Borman, BIS' deputy assistant secretary for export administration. Currently, when one Wassenaar country denies an export license, another country can undercut that decision and allow its industry to export the same product.
The United States also is discussing licensing policies with other Wassenaar nations, such as Japan and Sweden, to try to harmonize export policies on microprocessors. Under the arrangement, the policies currently are left to national discretion.
In addition, Borman said U.S. officials are interested in extending the Australia Group, which covers exports of biological and chemical items, to entities outside the realm of government in order to address the terrorist threat.
Congressional Outreach To Brazil
Top bipartisan House members on Monday welcomed Brazilian President-Elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and urged cooperation between the United States and Brazil on trade, terrorism and other matters. "October 27 [Brazilian election day] was a good day for democracy in Brazil," the 17 lawmakers wrote in a letter.
In Washington this week for meetings, Lula is expected to take a tough stance on Brazil's priorities in the talks for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Brazil and the United States are co-chairs of the FTAA negotiation until its planned conclusion in 2005. The House members stressed the importance of cooperation between the two Western Hemispheric giants.
"We understand that any robust commercial relationship has its points of disagreements, but we firmly believe that with your help we can achieve a balanced agreement as part of the FTAA process to maximize the trade relations so we can create jobs and opportunities in both of our countries," they wrote.
Democratic signers included: Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking minority member on the House International Relations Committee and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus; and moderates such as Calvin Dooley and Ellen Tauscher of California, James Moran of Virginia, and U.S.-Brazil Caucus Co-Chairmen William Jefferson of Louisiana and Jim Davis of Florida.
Republican signers included: Jim Kolbe of Arizona, chairman of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee; Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley of Ohio; Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier of California; and Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Phil Crane of Illinois.
Praising The Hard Line On Software Protection
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) this week recognized Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, El Salvadoran Vice President Carlos Quintanilla and Henry Tang, Hong Kong's commerce secretary, with the group's international Cyber Champion Award.
Simitis was recognized for his leadership in establishing strong intellectual property protections. With Greece set to assume the presidency of the European Union, the importance of its example on that front will be heightened, BSA said. Simitis was instrumental in promoting sound software-management programs for governments and the private sector, BSA said. Greece recently became the first member of the European Union to implement the European Copyright Directive. Greece amended copyright law to abolish a 2 percent levy on personal computers.
Tang was credited for Hong Kong's efforts to strengthen laws against piracy. And Quintanilla provided leadership in ensuring the use of legal software in El Salvador.
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans also has received an award: the World Trade Award of the National Foreign Trade Council. The group reinstated its annual leadership award 17 years after it was last given to David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, in 1985. The award, established in 1937, has been given to 47 U.S. government and private-sector leaders.
The Semiconductor Scene In Asia
The International Trade Commission meets Friday to launch an investigation into the South Korean government's possible subsidization of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), the most popular type of memory for personal computers, and of DRAM modules imported into the United States. The investigation will determine whether there is a "reasonable indication" that the subsidy has injured or threatens domestic U.S. industry.
In other news, National Semiconductor Corp. has announced the construction of its first manufacturing facility in China, PR Newswire reported. The approximately 550,000 total square foot plant, located in Suzhou Industrial Park near Shanghai, is expected to open in 2004.
WiFi To Go Rural In India
The government of India has plans to soon lift licensing requirements for the wireless technology known as Wi-Fi when it is to be used for rural telecommunications connections. According to the Financial Express (India), the technology, which allows low-cost wireless communications, already has been de-licensed for indoor or outdoor campus applications.
A test project is being developed. Media Lab Asia, along with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, is setting up an 85-kilometer wireless corridor between the cities of Kanpur and Lucknow. Several villages along the corridor will be connected via Wi-Fi technology.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte, also vice chairman of Media Lab Asia, noted that India has low wireless penetration and uncluttered spectrum, unlike Europe and the United States.
Tech Tidbits From Around The World
The International Chamber of Commerce's Commercial Crime Services this week issued a warning about a new twist on an old e-mail fraud. The warning came after a number of fictitious banking Web sites were discovered to be falsely aligning themselves with respectable offshore financial institutions, the chamber said.
The new scam has its origins in a fraud where people pose as Nigerian politicians via e-mail to solicit funds, or "advance fees," for massive bank transfers that never occur. The new Web sites serve as a front for collecting advance fees from unsuspecting victims who are promised profit upon completion of their part of the deal. The sites claim that the banks are registered in two or three different jurisdictions, but they are not registered anywhere.
In other news, Hunton and Williams, a law firm based in Brussels, Belgium, reports that the European Commission is preparing a paper on binding company policies for the transfer of data, which are commonly referred to as codes of conduct. The paper, to be submitted to a working party in January, will propose a procedure for having such codes approved in European Union nations. Companies have shown interest in using codes of conduct to provide a uniform legal standard for the transfer of personal data from Europe, the law firm said.
And Bellanet International, an organization dedicated to helping developing countries improve information technology use, has named a new executive director. The chief, Ricardo Gomez, previously led a research program on the social impacts and policy implications of digital technologies for development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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