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fyi- NII Advisory Council Letter on GII (12/15/94)
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 1995 16:26:00 -0500
clearly a committee letter (not complaining just observing) djf December 6, 1994 The Honorable Ronald H. Brown Secretary of Commerce 14th and Constitution, N.W. Washington, DC 20230 Dear Secretary Brown: We understand that you will be heading the U.S. Delegation to the upcoming G-7 Conference in Brussels, which will address the emerging Global Information Infrastructure ("GII"). On behalf of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, we are writing to provide you with the recommendations of the Advisory Council concerning the issues to be addressed at the G-7 Conference. We believe that the Administration has laid an important foundation in articulating its basic vision of the GII and challenging the world community to join in the development of the GII. Of course, the process of developing an international consensus on the GII will require resolution of a number of significant issues, and the G-7 Conference represents only an early phase of that process. In addition, we believe that the successful development of the GII will depend on the active participation of U.S. private industry and closer consultation between private industry and the Administration. We are confident, however, that the collaborative efforts of industry and government will ultimately prove successful. As you know, the Advisory Council has been actively engaged in assessing a range of legal, technological, and social issues associated with the development of the National Information Infrastructure ("NII"). After considerable deliberation and debate, the Advisory Council has adopted fundamental principles concerning intellectual property, electronic commerce, and life long learning. We will provide you with these principles shortly, and we will forward principles addressing access, privacy and security, and overall issues once the Council completes them. While some of these principles may be most applicable in the context of the NII, we believe that the objective and spirit of the principles may also be applied in the GII environment. The Advisory Council recognizes that many countries have distinct legal, cultural, and social traditions that affect how the GII may be implemented. The preservation of distinct cultures and national sovereignty are important for all nations; and the GII must accommodate these considerations. However, while there is unlikely to be a common approach to implementing the GII, the Council believes that it is appropriate for the Administration to pursue a consensus among the G-7 nations on GII goals and to work toward agreement and measurable progress in achieving those goals. The Advisory Council commends the Administration's leadership in identifying five basic principles for the GII. The Advisory Council agrees that the keys to the successful development of the GII are private investment and competition. Complementing these two building block principles is the need for a flexible regulatory environment that permits private enterprise to flourish while protecting the public interest. Open access for information providers is also essential to the development of the GII. Finally, while we recognize that universal service may be a desirable long-term goal, its attainment must remain subject to the resources and priorities of each country. In your discussions with the leaders of the other G-7 member countries, the Advisory Council also believes that the following specific matters warrant special emphasis: * National markets should be internally competitive and open to foreign competition. This is a "First Principle" which all global markets should honor. * Intellectual property rights on the GII must be ensured. * The United States should pursue technology trials that are jointly supported by the participating nations and that explore pre-competitive GII technologies. * The harmonization of laws and regulations consistent with the United States' national interest is essential to the successful development of the GII. * The United States should promote the goal of interoperability among national information infrastructures. * The United States should seek to promote the development of the GII through every means possible, including multilateral, bilateral, and, in certain instances, unilateral means. National markets should be internally competitive and open to foreign competition. This is a "First Principle" which all global markets should honor. The building block principles of private investment and competition should apply to national markets as well as to international markets. The telecommunications and computer revolution in the United States over the past twenty-five years is traceable to the adoption of policies aimed at promoting competition and private investment. The Advisory Council believes that other countries will realize similar benefits by taking steps to promote competition and private investment within their domestic markets. Moreover, progress in the development of the GII will depend on the extent to which markets are open to competition. We also believe that procurement decisions should be open, transparent, pro-competitive, non- discriminatory, and based solely on reasonable business decisions and sound commercial principles. To the extent there are limitations on market access derived from cultural or other domestic public interest considerations, the G-7 member countries should pursue ways to accommodate their concerns without merely denying foreign access to national markets. Because of the substantial transmission capacity that the GII is expected to offer, a country might reserve a reasonable portion of its overall total capacity for indigenous or other public interest programming, without effectively denying access to their market to foreign program producers and providers by, for instance, applying these restrictions to individual channels. Intellectual property rights on the GII must be ensured. In an electronic environment offering instant, worldwide communication, the rights of those who own, create, or contribute to intellectual property must be respected and preserved. It is essential to provide meaningful incentives for the creation and dissemination of works in the GII, while ensuring adequate access to and appropriate privileges of use of those works. Complementing the legal recognition of intellectual property rights in the GII is the practical need for technical mechanisms to control the use ofprotected works. Enforcement of intellectual property interests will continue to occur primarily through private means, and the GII will need to offer rights owners the technical means of controlling the exploitation of their works. The United States should pursue technology trials that are jointly supported by the participating nations and that explore pre-competitive GII technologies. While public policy is important to the development of the GII, the adoption of technology will ultimately determine how the GII actually develops. Just as domestic U.S. technology trials have offered invaluable experience with basic NII technologies, the United States should pursue cooperative test-bed ventures with its trading partners. The Council believes that such joint technology trials should focus on innovative applications, such as environmental, educational, library, and electronic commerce applications, should be supported by the participating nations, and should explore pre-competitive technologies. The harmonization of laws and regulations consistent with the United States' national interest is essential to the successful development of the GII. Part of the promise of the GII is its potential capability to enable individuals to share in the diversity of cultures, traditions, and viewpoints around the world. To realize this potential, however, the GII will have to accommodate a variety of legal and social structures. Part of the process will involve efforts to develop common approaches to legal and technological issues. Where agreement on specific approaches to implementing the GII is not achievable, however, the United States should work towards agreement on approaches that are consistent with the national interests of the United States. The United States should promote the goal of interoperability among national information infrastructures. Because of the unique legal, cultural, and social traditions of individual G-7 members, it is essential for the United States to stress the goal of achieving interoperability among national information infrastructures. This goal will be accomplished through a variety of means, including primarily through voluntary industry-led standard setting processes. While the United States and its G-7 partners should support those efforts, the interests of key contributors to the development of the GII must not be sacrificed. Thus, for instance, the goal of interoperability should not be achieved through means that denigrate U.S. intellectual property rights. The United States should seek to promote the development of the GII through every means possible, including multilateral, bilateral, and, in certain instances, unilateral means. The United States currently seeks to promote its legitimate interests through multilateral, bilateral, and, in certain instances, unilateral means. While agreement on fundamental objectives and approaches to developing the GII will depend on multilateral initiatives, such as the G-7 Conference, there will remain a need to utilize bilateral and, in appropriate circumstances, unilateral measures to achieve specific objectives. * * * On behalf of the Advisory Council, we applaud the efforts of you and the Administration in promoting the development of the NII and the GII, and we appreciate the opportunity to offer the Council's views on those matters. Sincerely, The National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council by: Edward McCracken Co-Chair Delano E.Lewis Co-Chair
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- fyi- NII Advisory Council Letter on GII (12/15/94) David Farber (Jan 03)