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<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;
margin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm;mso-outline-level:2"><span
style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Dear
all, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;
margin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm;mso-outline-level:2"><span
style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Something
for
us to consider. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">The
International
Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) forms a binding
international treaty under
the International Telecommunications Unions (ITU)</span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:
EN" lang="EN"> 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).</span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;
margin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times
New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;
margin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times
New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times
New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">The ITR comprise 10 articles,
which deal with </span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:
EN" lang="EN"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>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 a</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"
lang="EN"> </span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin"
lang="EN-US">World
Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) and
the Council
constituted an expert group (council Resolution 1312) to pursue
PP Resolution
146 (Antalya 2006) among others. </span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><br>
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.</span><span style="font-size:
11pt; font-family: Calibri;" lang="EN"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-top:.1pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:.1pt;
margin-left:0cm;mso-para-margin-top:.01gd;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.01gd;mso-para-margin-left:0cm"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;
mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN"><br>
Below is an interesting article from a legal perspective. <br>
<br>
Best<br>
<br>
Alice<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<br>
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN"><br>
</span>
<h2 id="articlestart"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.whoswholegal.com/news/features/article/29378/the-2012-world-conference-international-telecommunications-brewing-storm-potential-un-regulation-internet/">http://www.whoswholegal.com/news/features/article/29378/the-2012-world-conference-international-telecommunications-brewing-storm-potential-un-regulation-internet/</a><br>
</h2>
<h2 id="articlestart">The 2012 World Conference On International
Telecommunications: Another Brewing Storm Over Potential UN
Regulation Of The Internet</h2>
<p class="articleintro"> </p>
<p>Ambassador David A Gross and Ethan Lucarelli of Wiley Rein LLP
consider the possible effects of the renegotiated UN International
Telecommunication Regulations.</p>
<p></p>
<div class="yui-u first photolayer"> <img class="top"
src="cid:part1.07090603.05020602@apc.org" alt="Ambassador David
A Gross and Ethan Lucarelli, Wiley Rein LLP">
<p class="leadimageinformation">Ambassador David A Gross and Ethan
Lucarelli, Wiley Rein LLP</p>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p style="clear:left;">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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>THE ITU AND THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATIONS</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE ITRS</p>
<p>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:</p>
<p><em>Internet management</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>Internet charges</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>Mandated application of ITU recommendations</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>International regulation of roaming</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>Cybersecurity</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>Developing country issues</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>Other Proposals for Increased International Regulation of the
Internet</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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:</p>
<p><em>India’s proposal for a new UN agency</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>International Convention on Cybercrime</em></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p><em>World Technology Policy Forum</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>London Conference</em></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p>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.</p>
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