[kictanet] The 2012 World Conference On International Telecommunications: Another Brewing Storm Over Potential UN Regulation Of The Internet

[Alice Munyua]

Forgot to mention that the views  expressed on the article are also very 
American centric.

Best
Alice



On 29/11/2011 23:15, Alice Munyua wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Something for  us to consider.
>
> The International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) forms a binding 
> international treaty under the International Telecommunications Unions 
> (ITU)and go back to the early days of the ITU when there were two 
> separate treaties, dealing with telegraph and telephone. The ITRs were 
> adopted, as a single treaty, at the World Administrative Telegraphy 
> and Telephone Conference held in Melbourne, 1988 (WATTC-88).
>
> The  ITRs can be amended through a World Conference on International 
> Telecommunications (WCIT), and the next amendment is scheduled for 
> 2012. Before then a process of review of the ITRs, which began in 1998 
> continues.
>
> The ITR comprise 10 articles, which deal with definition of 
> international telecommunication services,  cooperation between 
> countries and national administrations, safety of life and priority of 
> telecommunications and charging and accounting principles. The 
> adoption of the ITRs since 1988 is often taken as the start of the 
> wider liberalisation process in international telecommuniactions and 
> so a very important process for the ICT sector. The ITU 
> plenipotentiary approved aWorld Conference on International 
> Telecommunications (WCIT)  and the  Council constituted an expert 
> group (council Resolution 1312) to pursue PP Resolution 146 (Antalya 
> 2006) among others.
> While its quite a complex legal/political process, (well at least to 
> me) our liberalisation process has led to one of the fastest growing 
> ICT markets and wee therefore need to engage in this process.
>
>
> Below is an interesting article from a legal perspective.
>
> Best
>
> Alice
>
>
>
>     http://www.whoswholegal.com/news/features/article/29378/the-2012-world-conference-international-telecommunications-brewing-storm-potential-un-regulation-internet/
>
>
>     The 2012 World Conference On International Telecommunications:
>     Another Brewing Storm Over Potential UN Regulation Of The Internet
>
> Ambassador David A Gross and Ethan Lucarelli of Wiley Rein LLP 
> consider the possible effects of the renegotiated UN International 
> Telecommunication Regulations.
>
> Ambassador David A Gross and Ethan Lucarelli, Wiley Rein LLP
>
> Ambassador David A Gross and Ethan Lucarelli, Wiley Rein LLP
>
> Once again, many companies in the telecoms and information and 
> communications technology (ICT) sector are facing the spectre of a 
> United Nations agency (in this case the International 
> Telecommunication Union (ITU)) regulating critically important aspects 
> of the internet as well as substantially expanding its jurisdiction 
> over the telecoms and ICT industries.
>
> It is important that telecoms, technology, and ICT lawyers, 
> consultants, and advisers -- both in-house and outside -- carefully 
> monitor the domestic and international preparations by governments 
> leading up to this major international treaty conference as it will 
> potentially have a material impact on companies throughout the entire 
> sector.
>
> Specifically, in December 2012, the ITU will be holding a major 
> treaty-writing conference in Dubai that many countries would like to 
> use to significantly expand the jurisdiction and legal authority of 
> the ITU, even potentially giving this United Nations agency greater 
> influence over internet governance as well as major telecoms issues 
> such as accounting rates and termination charges for next-generation 
> networks, data privacy, cybersecurity, international mobile roaming, 
> and equipment specifications.
>
> For more than two decades, the story of global economic policy has 
> been one of promoting competition and increasing liberalisation across 
> various industries, especially the telecoms and internet sectors. 
> Today, however, significant government and civil society support is 
> developing for a different policy outlook. Driven largely by the 
> global financial troubles of recent years together with persistent 
> concerns about the implications of the growth of the internet for 
> national economies, social structures and cultures, some governments 
> and others are now actively reconsidering the continuing viability of 
> liberalisation and competition-based policies.
>
> The ITU's World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) 
> could signal a shift in the regulatory paradigm on both the 
> international and national levels. At the conference, a major 1988 
> treaty known as the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) 
> will be renegotiated. Some within the ITU and among its 193 member 
> states would like to see major changes to the treaty, particularly 
> with respect to the internet as well as wireless, IP-based, and 
> next-generation networks, which have historically been mostly free of 
> intrusive economic and other regulation. Stating his belief that a 
> substantial expansion of the scope of treaty is necessary, ITU 
> Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré recently asserted that "[w]e need 
> updated ITRs because without them we risk the collapse of the ICT 
> networks which underpin all communications technologies, including the 
> internet." Other countries, however -- notably, the United States -- 
> believe instead that the WCIT should adopt only minor changes to the 
> ITRs as necessary to modernise the existing provisions of the treaty, 
> and that new provisions and authorities are unnecessary.
>
> Because of the ITU's international visibility, decisions made at the 
> conference could signal to both domestic regulators and other 
> international intergovernmental organisations that a move toward more 
> intrusive economic and other regulation is appropriate. It seems fair 
> to say that the decisions made by governments at WCIT will help define 
> the international regulatory environment for the internet and telecoms 
> in the 21st century.
>
> THE ITU AND THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATIONS
>
> The ITU, established more than 100 years ago, is a specialised agency 
> within the United Nations that focuses on telecommunications and ICT. 
> The ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops 
> technical standards to promote interconnection and technical 
> interoperability, and works to improve telecommunications access for 
> underserved communities. The ITU has historically disclaimed any 
> authority to regulate domestic telecommunications, clearly recognising 
> in the ITU Constitution the "sovereign right of each state to regulate 
> its telecommunication."
>
> While the ITU has a limited scope of regulatory authority over 
> international radio-communication issues, it also adopts 
> recommendations on a wide range of topics and facilitates the adoption 
> of international treaties. ITU recommendations do not have the force 
> of law, but rather set forth suggested regulations and requirements 
> for national regulatory authorities. These recommendations address 
> standardisation, economic and technical issues. By distinction, 
> international treaties are generally binding law for all nations that 
> are signatories to the treaty.
>
> The ITRs are a binding 1988 treaty that established important general 
> principles relating to international telecommunications services and 
> transport, interconnection and interoperability of telecommunications 
> facilities, and accounting and settlement of international voice 
> traffic between administrations. While the ITRs provide a general 
> framework for mutual agreements between countries regarding the 
> exchange of telecommunications traffic, the ITRs also allow for 
> private agreements between non-governmental organisations (e.g., 
> telecommunications carriers). This is the typical method for most 
> agreements for the exchange of international traffic today.
>
> THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
>
> Since the ITRs were adopted in 1988, the international 
> telecommunications marketplace has experienced rapid technological 
> change, the development of competitive and liberalised markets, and 
> the privatisation of national telecommunication service providers. As 
> a result, in December 2012, the ITU will host the World Conference on 
> International Telecommunications in Dubai to revise and modernise the 
> treaty for the first time since its adoption.
>
> So far, there is no international consensus about the scope of 
> appropriate modifications to the treaty. For some governments, the 
> WCIT presents an opportunity to significantly expand the jurisdiction 
> and role of the ITU into previously unregulated, lightly regulated or 
> domestically regulated aspects of the emerging digital economy. Some 
> of the proposed changes to the ITRs could position the ITU as a 
> supra-national regulator and require signatory nations to enact 
> conforming domestic laws. ITU Secretary-General Touré has asserted 
> that the recent problems in the financial and banking sectors were 
> caused by "inadequate regulation and regulatory supervision" and he 
> has called for the international community to agree to "a framework 
> that will avoid any catastrophe" in the telecoms sector.
>
> Participation will be limited to representatives of national 
> governments. However, private sector entities generally have 
> opportunities to help inform the policymaking in advance of the 
> conference, such as through meetings with individual governments, 
> participation in working groups or preparatory meetings, and 
> appearances before international or regional organisations. Many 
> governments allow members of the private sector to be on their 
> national delegations to ITU conferences.
>
> PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE ITRS
>
> Typically, international telecommunications issues such as 
> international mobile roaming, internet peering, and internet 
> governance are handled today through a combination of negotiated 
> agreements between private parties, bilateral and multilateral trade 
> agreements, and non-governmental technical or civil society 
> organisations. Some countries, however -- particularly within the 
> developing world -- object to the current situation on the grounds 
> that the system does not pay sufficient regard to their economic and 
> other needs, that it disproportionately favours major international 
> telecom and technology companies, and that the United States 
> government has too much direct influence in decision-making. To 
> address these perceived inequities, several new provisions and 
> modifications for the ITRs have been proposed:
>
> /Internet management/
>
> Several countries have proposed to move oversight or "control" of 
> aspects of the internet and internet development from the 
> non-governmental multi-stakeholder mechanisms such as ICANN and 
> replace them with the ITU.
>
> /Internet charges/
>
> Some governments would also like the ITU to play a greater role in 
> regulating peering, termination charges for data traffic, and other 
> internet-related rate issues to, among other things, potentially lower 
> certain internet backbone costs and to capture for domestic coffers 
> some of the value of international VoIP services entering their countries.
>
> /Mandated application of ITU recommendations/
>
> The ITU has issued non-binding recommendations on topics ranging from 
> accounting rates and tariff issues to the construction, installation 
> and protection of telecommunications cables, to the power flux density 
> of wireless transmitters. While these recommendations are only 
> advisory at the moment, some proposals could transform some or all of 
> these recommendations into mandatory treaty provisions with the force 
> of law.
>
> /International regulation of roaming/
>
> The ITU currently does not have legal authority to directly regulate 
> either retail or wholesale international mobile roaming rates, but 
> WCIT could expand the ITU's authority over international roaming, 
> especially regarding wholesale rates.
>
> /Cybersecurity/
>
> Some countries are seeking to include cybersecurity and cybercrime 
> provisions into this treaty so that the ITU can impose new regulations 
> and establish itself as the organisational home for international 
> cybersecurity policymaking. Included within this could be broad new 
> data privacy, spam, and child protection regulations.
>
> /Developing country issues/
>
> Some developing world countries suggest that the ITRs be modified to 
> allow them to charge carriers from the developed world higher rates. 
> In addition, some countries also would like to modify the ITRs to 
> lower the costs for developing world countries when they bargain with 
> commercial carriers for international telecoms and internet services, 
> as well as to ensure "transparency" for retail and wholesale prices 
> and quality of service.
>
> These and the other changes proposed in the WCIT preparatory process 
> could greatly expand the scope of the ITRs and grant the ITU 
> substantial new regulatory powers, thereby radically changing the 
> regulatory landscape. The effects of these revisions could affect the 
> fundamental economic structure of the entire ICT sector. For example, 
> making the ITU Recommendations mandatory would effectively supersede 
> established industry practice and domestic regulations with respect to 
> core aspects of equipment design and network operations. Similarly, 
> proposals related to how companies can collect and use customer data, 
> cybersecurity, or child protection would interject an international 
> intergovernmental organisation into the relationship between service 
> providers and their customers. Additionally, the combined effect of 
> the proposals would be to bring under ITU authority the core functions 
> of many established and effective international non-governmental 
> organisations such as IEEE, ISOC, ICANN, and W3C, particularly with 
> respect to the design of systems and infrastructure, the development 
> of protocols, and the management of domain and numbering resources.
>
> /Other Proposals for Increased International Regulation of the Internet/
>
> Perhaps even more significant than the specific reform proposals being 
> considered in the run up to the WCIT is what these proposals represent 
> in terms of the broader regulatory paradigm. The outcome of the 2012 
> WCIT may signal to regulators on both the international and national 
> levels what the appropriate role of government should be in the 21st 
> century regarding the internet and telecoms generally. Governments, 
> particularly in the developing world, could interpret the introduction 
> of new interventionist regulations through the ITRs as signalling that 
> increased regulation of the ICT sectors is appropriate, which could 
> ultimately hinder investment and competition in these markets.
>
> Indeed, discussions regarding international internet policymaking are 
> already gaining momentum within the UN and various other international 
> forums. Some of these proposals are more specific than others, and 
> they each have different likelihoods of producing real results, but 
> taken together, they demonstrate the widespread attention these issues 
> are receiving by governments around the world. To illustrate:
>
> /India's proposal for a new UN agency/
>
> In late October 2011, India submitted to the UN a proposal for the 
> establishment of a new mechanism for internet-related public policy 
> activities to be called the United Nations Committee for 
> Internet-Related Policies (CIRP). As proposed, the CIRP would oversee 
> the bodies responsible for operational functioning of the internet and 
> global standard setting, as well as crisis management and 
> international public policy matters.
>
> /International Convention on Cybercrime/
>
> Russia has long sought UN action regarding cybersecurity and 
> internet-transmitted information. In September 2011, Russia, China, 
> Tajikistan and Uzbekistan submitted to the UN General Assembly a 
> proposal for the adoption of an International Code of Conduct for 
> Information Security. Among other things, this Code would commit 
> signatories to cooperating in "curbing the dissemination of 
> information that incites terrorism, secessionism or extremism or that 
> undermines other countries' political, economic and social stability."
>
> /World Technology Policy Forum/
>
> In 2013, the ITU will convene the 5th World 
> Telecommunication/Information and Communication Technology Policy 
> Forum to discuss internet issues related to the ITU's involvement in 
> internet-related public policy. Unlike the WCIT, this Policy Forum 
> will not create binding international treaty documents, and therefore 
> it may be a more comfortable forum for some of these discussions.
>
> /London Conference/
>
> In early November 2011, the United Kingdom hosted an international 
> Conference on Cyberspace in London, which emphasised the development 
> of uniform international norms for private and governmental behaviour 
> online. This conference is expected to become an annual forum for 
> policy discussions among high-level ministers and other governmental 
> representatives, with meetings already being planned for the next two 
> years.
>
> Despite the broad and dramatic scope of various governmental proposals 
> -- which could affect core aspects of running an ICT, telecoms, or 
> internet-based business -- the WCIT preparatory process is not 
> receiving sufficient attention from most businesses and others. The 
> WCIT could lead to new regulations governing how these businesses are 
> run and how such businesses may interact with their customers, 
> partners, and vendors, as well as how they can innovate and provide 
> new and improved services. Moreover, because of the implicit attacks 
> on established mechanisms of internet governance, the WCIT has the 
> potential to destabilise and politicise standardisation processes and 
> the management of the internet architecture in a way that could also 
> hinder innovation and efficiency. Many national delegations are 
> interested in hearing the concerns of industry and others. Interested 
> companies and other groups should take steps to monitor the conference 
> preparatory processes and should be on the lookout for opportunities 
> to inform and influence the debate.
>
> -- 
>
>
>
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