IP: Agreement on international co-operation with Draft French

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

When you read this you might get some uncomfortable feeling. This and more
is available on the Ministries web page AND IN ENGLISH!!!!
http://www.telecom.gouv.fr/accueile.htm


Dave




Ministry of postal services, telecommunications and space
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES






Agreement on international co-operation with regard to the INTERNET
Draft French contribution to the preparatory work for the OECD ministerial
conference
- 23 October 1996 - 


PREAMBLE : 


The States signatories to this Agreement, hereinafter referred to as the
Signatories, 


Having regard to the international nature of the INTERNET and of networks
using modern communications technologies, hereinafter referred to as
"networks", 


Considering the necessity to lay down the principles governing co-operation
between the Signatories in order to better apprehend the characteristics of
these networks, to enhance their substantial potential, both at an economic
and cultural level, and to combat illegal activities over them, 


Anxious to set out for this purpose a number of principles of procedure to
be approved by the Signatories, 


Anxious to see the Signatories put in place, where appropriate, a
regulatory framework to clarify and complete their national legal
framework, and in accordance with the principle of transparency, exchange
all information on this matter, 


Desiring to establish a list of guiding principles to be used as the basis
for drafting codes of conduct aimed in particular at guaranteeing the
respect of human dignity, the protection of privacy and the improvement of
consumer protection, as well as the security of financial transactions over
the networks, 


Resolved to develop their political and financial co-operation in order to
prevent and suppress the use of networks for purposes contrary to the
public order and public security of the States,  


Have agreed as follows: 


By signing this Agreement, the States shall set forth the principles of
international co-operation aimed at taking into account the specificities
and the inherently international nature of the Internet network. 


This document comprises three parts. 


First it lays down a number of  principles approved by the Signatories:
typology of the players, rules to be applied, principles concerning the
liability of publishers and host service providers. 


Secondly, it sets out a  list of guidelines aimed in particular at
guaranteeing the respect of basic ethical rules and improving consumer
protection. 


Finally, this document sets forth the principles of judicial and police
co-operation between the Signatories. 


. 
I. Principles


I.1. Typology of the players 


A. Operators 


This means operators physically connected to the Internet, and which offer
connection either to service providers or directly to users. 


B. Access providers 


These companies lease transmission capacity from operators connected to the
Internet, and then resell it to users to enable them to have timely access
to the Internet. 


C. Content publishers 


They create or produce content and provide value-added or information
services to users. 


D. Host Service Providers 


They manage the server where data is stored, whether or not the data is
produced by themselves. 


I.2. Rules to be applied 


Each Signatory shall take the necessary provisions to ensure that the
players under its jurisdiction comply with the provisions of national law
when transmitting or disseminating content on the Internet. 


I.3. Accountability 


When defining or calling into question the liability of the players present
on the Internet, other than enforcing national legislation, the national
authorities shall take into account the following factors:  
*  respect of freedom of expression as well as the secrecy of correspondence; 
* 
*  preventive measures taken to enhance consumer protection and the respect
of public order, by making available filtering software;  
* 
*  the players' prior knowledge of illegal activities undertaken by third
parties using their facilities and, where appropriate, the provisions
adopted to suppress such activities;  
* 
*  existence of injunctions or prior warnings issued by the national
authorities;  
* 
*  conformity with the international code of conduct mentioned below;  
* 
*  technical and commercial capability to disconnect the services which do
not conform to the regulation. 
* 


II. Co-operation and harmonisation


II.1. National regulatory frameworks 


The Signatories agree, where appropriate, to adopt regulatory provisions to
clarify or complete their national legal frameworks applicable to the
Internet. 


Other than enforcing compliance with provisions concerning public security
and public order, they shall endeavour in particular to ensure the
effective application to the Internet of general provisions concerning: 
*  Respect of human dignity; 
* 
*  Protection of privacy; 
* 
*  Consumer protection; 
* 
*  Protection of copyright. 
* 


II.2. Principle of transparency 


The Signatories agree to exchange all information on laws and regulations
applicable to the Internet in the fields mentioned in II.1. They shall in
particular inform the other Signatories of any amendments to the
aforementioned laws and regulations. 


II.3. Code of Conduct 


Each Signatory shall agree to promote the establishment by economic players
in the sector under their jurisdiction, on a voluntary basis, of a code of
conduct, with the following guiding principles: 
*  Principle of respect of human dignity and of public order, in particular
by making filtering software available to users, by designing
classification systems or defining a corpus of key words; 
* 
*  Principle of protection of privacy, by which the companies which sign
the code of conduct agree in particular to process personal data in
accordance with its declared purpose; 
* 
*  Principle of truth and fairness, in particular with regard to the
relations with users and competing companies; 
* 
*  Principle of transparency, by which the companies which sign the code of
conduct agree to report to the authorities designated by the States any
illegal practice detected at national level; 
* 
*  Principle of consumer protection, by virtue of which the companies which
sign the code of conduct agree that the services they provide and advertise
do not contain content which could be misleading to users by its ambiguous,
elliptical, exaggerated or deceptive  nature; 
* 
*  Principle of protection of intellectual property rights, in particular
for the allocation of NICs; 
* 
*  Principle of the security of transactions. 
* 


II.4. Approximation of national practices 


The Signatories recognise that, due to the inherently international nature
of the Internet network, its regulation poses problems which would benefit
from a harmonised approach. They therefore agree to co-operate in order to
approximate their national practices with regard to the Internet. 
III. Judicial and police co-operation 


The Signatories agree to co-operate in order to prevent and suppress any
use of networks which contravenes public order and public security (in
particular terrorism, drug trafficking, organised international crime) by: 
*  exchanging information and the experience gained in pursuing offenders,
carrying out investigations and prosecuting them, 
* 
*  developing international co-operation between law-enforcement
authorities and with the competent international organisations, 
* 
*  providing as broad-based judicial mutual assistance as possible. 
* 
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