[Random-bits] CPTech on the draft APEC Consumer Protection statement

[James Love]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CPTech on the draft APEC Consumer Protection statement
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 11:16:40 -0400
From: James Love <love@cptech.org>
Organization: http://www.cptech.org
To: Andrea DaSilva <Andrea_DaSilva@ita.doc.gov>,Kate Rodriguez
<Kate_Rodriguez@ita.doc.gov>

August 14, 2001 Comments by CPTech on the draft APEC Consumer Protection
statement


Dear 	Kate Rodriguez  <Kate_Rodriguez@ita.doc.gov>
	Andrea DaSilva  <Andrea_dasilva@ita.doc.gov>

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft USG APEC statement
on Consumer Protection for an online environment, which we saw for the
first time yesterday. The Consumer Project on Technology
(http://www.cptech.org) offers these preliminary comments on the draft
statement.
 
1. 	As your cover note indicates, this statement draws heavily from
recent documents from OECD, FTAA and private sector codes of conduct. 
The most important and widely endorsed civil society statements on
E-Commerce and consumer protection are the Trans Atlantic Consumer
Dialogue (TACD) statements.  On the web at:

http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=list&config=admin/docs.cfg&col_docsecid=4  

These should be reviewed and certainly the views of consumer groups
should merit greater consideration in any US government statement on
consumer protection.

2. 	In our view, the statement should say plainly and honestly that self
regulation of privacy and consumer protection has been a massive failure
on the Internet.  There is no privacy for an astonishing wide range of
Internet activities.  There are also large numbers of scams and
anti-consumer activities that have not been controlled by self
regulation alone.  Among those would be Internet spam, which is out of
control at present.

3.	Any statement on E-Commerce from the USG should say something about
the value of free speech.  This is for a meeting in China, and it should
be obvious that this is an issue that needs to be addressed,
particularly as there are constant pushes by the copyright industry to
make privacy enhancing technologies illegal.

4.	Regarding international cooperation on consumer protection, the USG
should support the TACD resolutions to begin discussions on the need for
new global institutions to address norm and standard setting for
consumer protection.  Harmonization of consumer protection norms should
not be left up to the for-profit E-Commerce corporate sector.  Please
review:

http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=53,
and http://www.cptech.org/ecom/cpt-wcpo.html.

5.	With regard to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and industry
codes of conduct, they should follow the standards set out in the TACD
resolutions.  See in particular: 

http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=41
http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=50

6.	With regard to choice of law and jurisdiction, we are very interested
in knowing the specific proposals the USG will be making, if any, and
how the USG intends to protect free speech on the Internet, when such
speech is in fact illegal in many countries, or how the USG proposes to
protect US educators, citizens and businesses from national laws which
do not permit the traditional exceptions and limitations on exclusive
rights under different national copyright laws.  Please also see the
following TACD resolutions:

http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=44
http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=94


7.	A missing discussion concerns the need to address the issue of
contracts of adhesion, or more generally unfair contract terms.  This is
something that needs more global discussion, given the growing reliance
upon contract based legal systems.

8.	Charge-backs.  We think there should be discussions of the US credit
card charge-back systems, and recommend review of this TACD resolution:

http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=95

9.  	We urge the USG to endorse the call for a global convention on
privacy, to use the trade framework to raise minimum standards for the
protection of privacy.

http://www.tacd.org/cgi-bin/db.cgi?page=view&config=admin/docs.cfg&id=97


10.  We are pleased there was no reference to making the ICANN UDRP
mandatory, as was unfortunately included in the FTAA recommendations. 
There are serious flaws with the UDRP, particularly as it relates to
traditional US policies on trademarks and speech, or the need to avoid
trademark policies that are anticompetitive.  

11.	Electronic Signatures.  There is presently an unfortunate lack of
emphasize on the need for greater levels of consumer protection in
electronic signatures of electronic contracts.  Basic issues, such as
the need to obtain accurate copies of "contracts" which are signed or
agreed to, need to be addressed, as do many other issues. 


Sincerely,


James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
Http://www.cptech.org
love@cptech.org