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Array of Global Issues Awaits U.S. Tech Industry
When the dust has settled on this year's presidential and congressional elections, officials in government and the technology industry again will turn their full attention to policy-making, and numerous international issues will be on the agenda. Here is a look at some of the hottest:
International Cyber Crime Treaty
The Council of Europe, a 41-nation body independent of the European Union EU, is developing a treaty that could become the basis for a global agreement on cyber crime. U.S. network and service providers are upset that it might impose burdensome requirements on retaining data, create jurisdictional questions, and make them unfairly liable in criminal cases. The treaty is due to be completed in December, with the penultimate meeting scheduled for next week. Private-sector representatives are preparing comments on the latest draft before the meeting and are seeking a delay of the December deadline to allow for further consideration.
EU Privacy Directive
The Commerce Department this month began accepting applications for "safe-harbor" protection to give U.S. businesses some immunity from an EU data-privacy law. Under the safe-harbor provision, businesses that can certify that they will meet seven self-regulatory principles would be exempt from the EU privacy law, which the European Commission formally adopted in late July. Jim Lewis, director of the Technology Policy Council at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, predicts that tougher EU privacy standards will shape the debate in the United States as U.S. firms strive to meet the EU requirements.
EU E-Commerce Directive
The European Union has proposed extending its value-added tax, the European counterpart to U.S. sales taxes, to electronic goods and services transmitted to Europe. The United States is following the EU move closely out of fear that the directive would treat different forms of commerce inequitably and have unintended consequences. They also fear that the move could harm the growth of electronic commerce. The draft directive is being debated within the European Union, with alternative drafts to be submitted by individual member states. The issue also falls under the rubric of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The Hague Convention on Jurisdiction
The draft Hague convention, which would address jurisdiction and the enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters, has raised e-commerce, intellectual property, employment and other concerns in the private sector. The U.S. Council for International Business has raised several questions with the draft, such as whether it should attach jurisdiction only to where goods or services are received or where a contract is performed. In the United States, a party may choose the jurisdiction. Private-sector concerns appear to have delayed the anticipated completion of the treaty, which initially was targeted for year's end. The United States appears to be backing off its support for the current draft. The next meeting is scheduled for mid-December in Basel, Switzerland, followed by a panel at the World Intellectual Property Organization and a meeting of experts in Ottawa in late February or early March. The two new target dates for completion are either June 2001 or the end of 2001.
Encryption
Rules on exports of encryption products are changing. Internationally, the EU+10, which includes developed countries such as the United States, has liberalized export regulations on encryption products beyond what the United States has done. Congress, meanwhile, passed a temporary restoration of the Export Administration Act governing such exports until August 2001, which the Clinton administration hopes will help thwart a legal challenge that would open business-licensing information to public scrutiny.
World Trade Organization
The next World Trade Organization ministerial meeting is supposed to be held by the end of 2001, and so far only Qatar has submitted an invitation to host it. Mandated negotiations on services and agriculture, which account for two-thirds of the world's economic output, are in the early stages and progressing slowly. Service-sector talks are aimed at expanding the General Agreement on Trade in Services' (GATS) country and sectional coverage and removing market-access restrictions. The next round of services talks is scheduled for Dec. 6, and negotiations are supposed to cover telecommunications, computing, finance and electronic commerce. The launch of a new, broader round of trade negotiations is still on hold despite progress in building confidence among less-developed countries. The longer the new round is delayed, WTO head Mike Moore said Monday, "the bigger the risk that the WTO will be undermined and sidelined."
There are also mandates to review aspects of other WTO agreements. For instance, a debate has arisen on the review of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), which began this year. It is unclear when the review must be completed, but it has become a negotiation-like process, with individual countries advocating changes. The next WTO TRIPs council meeting at the end of November will focus on developing countries' legislation to meet the long-passed Jan. 1, 2000, deadline for transition to the terms of the agreement.
The 1996 Information Technology Agreement, which reduced tariffs on most technology products, is also due to be updated, but negotiations may not move until a new round despite a Japan-led effort to reactivate them. The 1996 Basic Telecommunications Agreement, which opened the majority of the world's markets to competition, is also being reviewed. The United States is pushing to ensure trading partners, such as Mexico and Japan, to adhere to their commitments under the agreement.
Separately, four main committees at the WTO are studying the effect of electronic commerce on various agreements: the services council, goods council, TRIPs council and the committee on trade and development. Moore said that while the WTO is increasingly involved with electronic commerce, its responsibility is limited and specialized. "We are not in the business of regulating the Internet, and we never shall be," he said on Oct. 31. "The huge potential of electronic commerce may be yet stifled by over-regulation and interference by governments. But if that happens, it will be despite, not because of, the WTO."
The WTO also has a controversial mandate to review or revamp the Dispute Settlement Understanding, which could affect how dispute-settlement cases are handled, as well as how members will respond to non-compliance with WTO rulings. An example is how the European Union will handle the U.S. response to the WTO ruling against its foreign sales corporation tax break, which was due to be changed Nov. 1.
China's ascension to the WTO, seen as opening doors to U.S. exports, passed its fever pitch after the congressional vote in the United States, but the battle continues in Geneva. Its bilateral deal with Mexico is still not closed, and the working party on China's ascension has much work to do. Moore said this week "more flexibility and a new burst of political energy are required if China is to join the WTO soon. But it will eventually happen."
 | - by William New |
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