 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
WTO Focuses On Tech Products
by William New
The United States this week again complained during a World Trade Organization meeting about Taiwan's customs classification of a technology product component, according to diplomatic sources in Geneva.
A U.S. official told the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) committee meeting on Tuesday that a fuse known as a thermistor device should fall under the ITA and be given duty-free status.
The official said the Harmonized System Committee of the World Customs Organization has agreed with the U.S. position. Taiwan has said the matter is still under review and that it intends to work with the United States to address the issue.
Also at the meeting, Japan complained that Thailand has started imposing duties on digital cameras after reclassifying the tariff lines for those products. And officials discussed differences in the classification of IT products, considering proposals from customs experts and putting the issue off until the next meeting on Dec. 9.
Committee Chairman Frederick Seppey of Canada, furthermore, presented draft guidelines for procedures to assess the conformity of products with electromagnetic standards. Consultations between countries will ensue, as several said they need more time to study the proposal.
The committee meeting was preceded by a two-day symposium on information technology that included the private sector, academics, regulators and government officials. The last such symposium was held five years ago.
The United States said the symposium showed that technology is key to development and that the WTO should try to keep up with the fast pace of technological development. The United States and European Union mentioned issues with customs classification. The Philippines suggested that a list of non-tariff barriers that industry mentioned should be prepared for the committee.
Negotiations to open services markets will be among the issues discussed at a WTO meeting in Manila, Philippines, on Thursday and Friday. At the meeting, senior-level delegations from the public and private sectors of 17 countries will review the potential impact on their economies of agreements in the current negotiating round. The negotiations -- launched in Doha, Qatar, in 2001 -- are entering a critical final stage in 2005.
Telecom Experts Talk Circuits, Packets
Nations attending the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly in Brazil, a weeklong event sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held every four years, decided to create a study group on the evolution of networks from "circuit-switched" to "packet-based" systems, such as those using Internet protocol.
The "next generation" networks are expected to give traditional telephone consumers and mobile users seamless communication, and offer unrestricted access to different kinds of services. The group's first meeting starts Dec. 7 and will go to Dec. 17.
Also at the assembly, the governments decided to ask ITU study groups to work with the independent Internet Engineering Task Force and others to develop technical recommendations for countering unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam. It also called on an ITU group to address network security by evaluating recommendations, raising awareness and promoting cooperation among different entities.
Other issues where ITU asserted its authority included naming, numbering, addressing, routing and identification on networks. That includes protocols for electronic numbering or Internet telephone numbers.
The group also instructed ITU groups to study country-based Internet domains, such as .br for Brazil, and examine ways for making the Internet more accessible to people who use languages that do not incorporate Western-language characters.
The assembly also agreed to study the economic effects of calling practices in developing countries, and to work to increase the participation of the least developed countries in standardization issues. And officials designated the leadership of 13 study groups on a range of issues, from accounting principles to electromagnetic environmental effects.
The United States will serve in the leadership of nine of the 13 groups, according to the leader of the U.S. delegation, David Gross of the State Department.
European Body Issues Opinion On Airline Data
The European Union's working party on protecting personal data published a new opinion that supports providing U.S. security officials with some sensitive data about airline passengers who travel from Europe to the United States. The working party adopted the opinion Sept. 30.
The opinion says that sensitive data may be included when transferred from the European system for airline reservations and departures to U.S. security authorities. It adds that the U.S. customs and border agency "has undertaken that it will not use any sensitive data it receives" and that the agency has not yet installed an automated filtering program to delete sensitive data.
An Appeal For 'Intellectual Wealth'
Organizations and individuals from the free-software movement, including movement founder Richard Stallman, this week called for a "World Intellectual Wealth Organization."
The idea was spawned by groups and people who were uncomfortable in backing a recently released non-governmental "Geneva Declaration" on the future of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which called on the organization to put more focus on the needs of developing countries.
Stallman and others object to use of the term "intellectual property" in the declaration. WIPO "will always, understandably [tilt] towards the pre-selected set of monopolization that it refers to as intellectual property; a term we find to be ideologically charged ... [and] dangerously oblivious to the significant differences that exist in the many areas of the law," critics said.
The new "wealth" organization would conduct research and promote new ways to encourage the production and dissemination of knowledge, supporters said.
Canada Forms Task Force Against Cyber Attack
Canada is creating a high-level task force to improve defenses against cyber terrorism, CTV reports. Keith Coulter, head of the Canadian Communications Security Establishment, said Friday that the group will help Canada catch the United States in securing cyberspace.
The task force is expected to be formed within months and will focus on the Canada's critical infrastructure. The secretive security establishment, a counterpart to the U.S. National Security Agency, shares intercepted communications with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, a new study has found that Finland and Italy have had enormous migration of voice traffic from fixed to mobile networks. The study by Northstream, a wireless industry consulting and research firm, cited three trends speeding the transition to mobile communications across Europe: more mobile lifestyles, decreasing prices and more interest among mobile providers.
In Finland, 46 percent of calls were carried over mobile networks in 2003, while 40 percent of calls in Italy were over mobile networks. Germany's market is "immature," the study said.
In other news, the telecommunications industry in India has called for a new policy framework that could attract investment to help the government meet ambitious targets for 2007. The goals include telephones per capita of 20 percent, mobile-phone penetration of 150 million and at least 9 million high-speed Internet subscribers.
One industry representative said charges for leased lines must decline to improve the costs for accessing broadband services.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
