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U.S. Officials Watch The Rising Sun
by William New
U.S. trade officials on Tuesday apprised information technology industry representatives of progress on IT trade issues with Japan and identified plenty of work ahead.
Officials at the meeting, who asked not to be named, summarized a December meeting in Tokyo -- the first meeting of the IT working group in the second year of U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative. The initiative is the primary mechanism for the two countries to address bilateral trade issues.
The next meeting is at the end of February in Washington, followed by one in Tokyo (probably in May) that will lead to a report to President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi before the early June summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, an official said.
U.S. officials have outlined IT recommendations for Japan in four main areas: removing regulatory and non-regulatory barriers; strengthening protection of intellectual property rights; promoting and facilitating e-commerce; and expanding procurement opportunities for IT-related goods and services. In addition, the United States wants more private-sector input and transparency in the policymaking process of the Japanese government.
The United States will push for Japan to review laws that hinder e-commerce, such as requirements for face-to-face or paper-based transactions, a U.S. official said. The United States also is seeking changes in Japanese laws to allow electronic notification in areas such as the credit sector, where paper-based requirements remain.
The Japanese Ministry of Economics and Trade issued e-commerce guidelines last year, and U.S. officials would like to see those become more transparent. They voiced specific concerns in December and were told that Japan will revise the guidelines in the spring and allow public comment by the private sector and governments such as the United States.
This spring, Japan will release a new "e-Japan strategy" aimed at boosting the nation's economy, with comments allowed until late spring and a final version planned for release sometime in summer, a U.S. official said. "Of course we will take a very keen interest in that," he said.
"The sense we got when we were there in December is that the e-Japan strategy as a whole seemed a little bit to have lost its direction," the official said. "It's kind of sputtering at this point." That could be in part because the nation has met a primary goal of building an IT infrastructure, he said.
An Eye On Piracy And Privacy
Piracy in China has significantly hurt Japanese industries reliant on intellectual property, and that has helped fuel Japan's interest in protecting intellectual property. The government recently announced a plan for legislative action in the Diet, which started its session on Monday, to extend copyright protection for movies from the current 50 years to 70 years. The United States is pleased by that move but wants the same protection for works copyrighted by foreign firms, too.
Other U.S. goals include getting Japan to allow statutory damages to deter the infringement of intellectual property rights, and improving the government's software management system to ensure appropriate use of only licensed software. After years of resistance on the software issue, Japan has agreed to discuss it with U.S. officials, possibly at the next meeting.
The United States also is working with Japan to clarify the scope of protection for temporary copies of files made on computers, as well as improving its rules on the liability of Internet service providers for piracy committed on their networks and its technological protections. Japan this year established a strategy headquarters on intellectual property similar to one on information technology. The office will outline policies, goals and objectives, as well as necessary regulations to both promote the creation of intellectual property and protect it internationally.
Japan also has a privacy bill pending in the Diet that was first introduced in March 2001. U.S. officials want to ensure no changes to sections of the bill they favor. The U.S. government invited the Japanese Cabinet-level official in charge of privacy to a privacy workshop for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Thailand in February.
Japan is still trying to address civil-liberties issues arising from the legislation, according to a U.S. official who added that the bill is expected to stand with a few possible revisions to address media concerns. The United States wants private-sector input and thinks a privacy task force needs to be in place at the Cabinet level to reduce the burden of varying requirements on industry.
The Facts Of Japanese Tech Policy
The United States also is promoting "alternative dispute resolution," or the push for procedures such as arbitration and mediation to settle disputes without litigation. The official said the concept is in the "infancy stage" in Japan, and the next step is more fact finding.
The U.S. goal on e-signatures is for a framework that recognizes different types by being technology neutral. The United States also wants more information about a new Japanese law for local governments to offer digital certification, which appears to incorporate only the technology known as public-key infrastructure for making transactions secure.
The United States also wants more information on the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's plan to develop information security guidelines by March. The ministry created a public-private committee on the issue.
Japan also released new IT procurement rules in November and is working on changes to criteria for qualifying to bid on government contracts. Japan has created a task force on that issue.
Finally, the two sides are preparing a March symposium on online education.
Europe Assails U.S. E-Surveillance Project
Thirty-eight members from seven parties of the European Parliament this week said that the retention of electronic traffic and location data violates European law and that any proposal mandating data retention should be blocked.
Marco Cappato, a member of the Italian Radical Party, led the initiative. He specifically criticized the U.S. Defense Department's Total Information Awareness project, which would "mine" data from various databases to try to find information on potential terrorists, and European Council proposals requiring data retention.
Canadian Body Favors Internet Retransmissions
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission has ruled that Internet retransmissions of radio and TV content will not replace, but rather will complement, broadcasts. The body also reaffirmed that no licenses are needed for companies that offer such retransmissions.
The commission said the "relative immaturity" of Internet retransmission would lead to "considerable speculation" if a licensing framework is developed now. Internet firms would be obliged to negotiate with copyright holders, the panel said.
Also in Canada, the government unveiled the first mobile systems to inspect cargo in an effort to enhance container security. Canada bought 11 of the truck-mounted, gamma-ray systems for mobile scanning to be installed across the country this year.
Council Of The Americas Names Chief
The Council of the Americas on Tuesday named Eric Farnsworth as head of its Washington office, replacing Ambassador Bill Pryce.
Farnsworth has served as managing director of Manatt Jones Global Strategies since he was policy director in the White House Office of the Special Envoy for the Americas under President Clinton. Farnsworth also served in the State Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and he was a congressional staffer.
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