IP: White House, hands off the Internet

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: Mark Kuharich <markkuh () microsoft com>
To: "'Dave Farber'" <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 13:18:34 -0800




Professor Farber,


I thought you might be interested in this:


White House: Hands off Internet (Inter@ctive Week)


> From Inter@ctive Week for December 2, 1996 by Will Rodger 


A White House blueprint for the governance of personal and business
transactions over the Internet may mark a watershed in the Clinton
administration's handling of cyberspace policy, signaling its intent to
oppose tariffs on digital goods sold across computer networks as well as
censorship of material found on the Internet.


The document, a product of an 18-agency working group headed by
presidential Senior Adviser Ira Magaziner, also calls for the creation
of a body of international law governing digital commerce. It continues
support for the idea that companies doing business on computer networks
should set aside keys that would unlock encrypted messages for national
security reasons.


The framework is due to be released to government and industry later
this week.


Among its principal goals: boosting U.S. exports via the Internet,
specifically products and services ranging from software to recordings,
motion pictures, consulting and business services.


"We believe there's a tremendous potential to increase trade in
information systems, databases and so on across the Internet," Magaziner
told Inter@ctive Week in his first interview on the plan. "If we could
create a more predictable legal environment, that would accelerate the
growth of that trade dramatically."


The main points cover the waterfront of digital commerce:


* The administration opposes all efforts to place tariffs on goods sold
directly through cyberspace, such as recordings, motion pictures,
software and other digital goods.


* The Clinton administration for the first time actively opposes
censorship on the Internet. Though the administration didn't block the
Communications Decency Act this year, the document comes down solidly on
the side of giving parents the right to block indecency with filtering
software and "V-chip" devices.


* Encryption gets recognition as a technology vital to doing business on
the Internet, but the White House continues to support
government-supervised methods of securing payments in cyberspace.


* Government agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission,
will press to open telecom markets abroad with a special focus on
assuring reasonable access fees for online service companies, such as
America Online Inc. Tariffs abroad are typically far higher than the
cost for such services.


* The Clinton administration will increase lobbying efforts for domestic
and international rules of commerce, including adding rules for
electronic commerce to the domestic Uniform Commercial Code. The paper
pledges support for efforts under way before two domestic groups as well
as the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law.


* Intellectual property, already a contentious issue among online
service providers, would get increased attention. The draft pledges
continued support for the so-called "fair use" doctrine, which allows
consumers to use portions of copyrighted works without paying royalties
to publishers. Many online activists fear that proposed legislation and
international treaties threaten those rights.


* Privacy is due for close examination under the draft, as well. Echoing
principles pushed by privacy advocates earlier this year in Congress,
the administration seems ready to adopt free-market principles of
privacy. Under administration guidelines, data-gatherers would let
consumers know what information they are collecting and how they will
use it; they would also give consumers a "meaningful way to limit use
and reuse of personal information."


Industry representatives said the document gave them hope that usually
strained relations between the White House and cyberspace companies
would improve.


"I have to praise the administration and Ira for reaching out to the
private sector for comments," Computers and Communication Industry
Association President Ed Black said. "There's a great emphasis on the
needs of business here."


Even so, privacy activists remained disappointed with many of the
document's features.


"This isn't anything new," said David Banisar, counsel to the Electronic
Privacy and Information Center. "The privacy stuff is terrible. They say
it's market-driven, but markets don't work with privacy. It's like what
happened with P-Trak."


P-Trak, a database service run by Lexis-Nexis, was recently criticized
for making available personal information to businesses without the
consent or knowledge of the consumers. The Federal Trade Commission is
investigating its activities.


Esther Dyson, board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said
she remained disappointed with the administration's continued love
affair with escrowed encryption technologies. Even so, she praised the
administration for recognizing the importance of electronic commerce.


"This will not benefit just the U.S.; it will benefit trade worldwide,"
Dyson said. "Governments love tariffs because they generate revenue. But
the bad part is they harm local citizens." 
Copyright (c) 1996 Ziff Davis


Mark Kuharich
Applications & Internet Client Group, Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download