[Random-bits] GBDe meeting in Florida

[James Love]

For those who wonder why we are concerned about the December meeting
regarding ADR and the Hague treaty on jurisdiction, read this story.   
 
  Jamie


Published Wednesday, September 27, 2000, in the Miami Herald

Globe's giants discuss future

BY JOHN DORSCHNER

As leaders of global corporate giants listened in Miami on
Tuesday, government representatives of the United States and
Europe announced that they had serious problems with industry
plans to improve international consumer confidence in e-commerce.

The criticisms concerned industry leaders' suggestions on how to
protect privacy and how to resolve purchasing problems by
bypassing courts in favor of new systems promoting alternative
dispute resolutions.

``I believe your privacy statement this morning falls short,''
said Norman Mineta, U.S. secretary of commerce, speaking at the
second annual meeting of the Global Business Dialogue on
Electronic Commerce, which attracted 350 business and government
leaders from around the world.

   [snip]

Jean-Marie Mesier, chief executive of French communications giant
Vivendi, told the group that the Internet required ``freedom of
information, freedom of trade and the respect of intellectual
property rights.''

What must be avoided, warned Gustavo Cisneros of the Latin
conglomerate Cisneros Group, is a spreading of piecemeal laws
``country by country -- a crazy quilt of regulations that would
hold down the progress of the Internet.''

Started in 1999, the GBDe tries to set standards and institute
self-regulation to keep government interference to a minimum.

For the Miami session, the group produced position papers on
cybercrime, trade and taxation, intellectual property rights and
bridging the digital divide that separates tech-rich countries
from the tech-poor.

Steve Case, chief executive of America Online and one of the
founders of the GBDe, said the group's goal was not to completely
avoid government intervention, but to start a new kind of
private-public cooperation.

``The real challenge of the GBDe is building a framework for
dialogue to answer very complicated questions,'' Case said.
``We're not just building a business. We're building a medium.
It's a global medium, and that means we need global
cooperation.''

MOOD CHANGES

Many of the sessions were studded with mutually admiring comments
from business and government representatives, but that changed
during an afternoon session on building consumer confidence in
which three powerhouses presented the industry's position.

Carleton Fiorina, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, spoke on
`the need for alternative dispute resolutions, or ADRs. Tadashi
Okamura, CEO of Toshiba, explained how Internet companies were
moving to protect users' personal data. And Michio Naruto,
chairman of Fujitsu, talked about how ``trustmarks'' could create
consumer confidence.

The trustmarks were generally well received. ``Kind of like the
old Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,'' observed moderator Wolf
Blitzer, the CNN newsman. Although there are several competing
standards, consumers would know that each stood for particular
rules of conduct concerning such issues as privacy and resolution
of customer disputes.

Reaction was considerably tougher on the issue of protecting
personal information.

POSITION PAPER

The GBDe's six-page position paper said websites should clearly
tell consumers what they planned to do with personal information,
but other provisions were fuzzy.

The proposed GBDe standard would allow websites to use data ``for
a purpose not disclosed in company's notice,'' as long as it
notified the customer and allowed him or her to opt out of the
new use.

What's more, the company would have no responsibilities about
data obtained from a third party and would be able to transfer
personal data to a third party after ascertaining ``the adequacy
of the personal data protection practices of the third party.''

Robert LaRussa, undersecretary for international trade in the
U.S. Department of Commerce, said he thought the privacy standard
``did not go far enough'' on controlling data that went to third
parties and seeking consumers' permission before it did. ``The
industry must do more,'' he said.

John Mogg, a director general with the European Commission, said
Europeans had an ``extremely high'' standard of privacy that was
far above what the GBDe was recommending. He urged the GBDe to
reconsider its position.

ADRs also sparked concerns.

CONFUSING LAWS

Fiorina said ADRs were important for Internet commerce to
simplify life for consumers and businesses. With myriad laws
around the world, consumers need consistent protections,
regardless of which country they're buying from, and businesses
need to know that they can sell to many countries without running
into legal quagmires.

ADRs, she said, ``are a practical way to avoid this dilemma.''

LaRussa said the United States was bothered by the suggestion
that consumers might have to agree to ADRs before they made an
international purchase online.

``Predispute binding arbitration is very controversial,'' LaRussa
said. ``Many countries prohibit such agreements.''

Ana Palacio, a Spaniard who's a member of the European
Parliament, said she was worried that ADRs could turn into a new
bureaucracy.

``It is very important to think cross-border,'' she said, and she
didn't want a new tier of institutions interfering in the
process.

The GBDe discussions will continue. Work groups meet regularly.
The next annual conference is scheduled for Tokyo.


-- 
James Love  mailto:love@cptech.org http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
voice 1.202.387.8030  fax  1.202.234.5176