[Random-bits] WTO rules on ecommerce

[James Love]

AFAIK, the US government has given no briefings on this to NGOs.  We
have asked to be on the loop on these issues, but this one is news to
me.
Jamie

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U.S. looking to level e-commerce playing field
By Reuters
Special to CNET News.com
October 23, 2000, 3:25 p.m. PT

WASHINGTON--The Clinton administration said Monday it would launch a 
"networked world" trade initiative aimed at creating a set of 
international rules to ensure fair competition in rapidly growing 
e-commerce.

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the initiative 
would be put forward at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and other international 
trade groups.

"This new initiative will create a lasting set of rules and 
agreements which help to ensure that the trading system provides for 
electronic business the same guarantees of freedom, fair competition, 
respect for intellectual property rights, and access to markets that 
more conventional commerce enjoys," Barshefsky told a Washington 
lawyers group.

A set of general principles is needed to protect consumers and 
incentives for innovation, as well as to integrate open markets, she 
added.

E-commerce totaled about $200 billion last year and is expected to 
soar to $700 billion this year, according to industry experts. In 
addition to retail sales to consumers on the Internet, all major 
industries have begun using e-commerce to buy and sell supplies and 
services for internal use.

A global consensus should establish principles that encourage 
technological advances and the proper treatment of digital products 
under WTO rules, Barshefsky said. The WTO has not yet decided how to 
classify products delivered in digital form.

But whatever the WTO decides, it should not place digital products at 
a disadvantage to identical products delivered physically, she said. 
For example, a software program downloaded from an Internet site that 
is identical to a CD purchased in a store should be subject to no 
greater trade restrictions.

The U.S. initiative also aims to liberalize trade rules for existing 
services and ensure similar rules for emerging industries such as 
online auctions.

"We will seek the broadest possible cross-border market access in 
services--building on the financial services and basic telecom 
agreements and moving on to the professions, distribution and much 
more," Barshefsky said.