At UN Internet Governance Forum Business Emphasizes Need for an Open Internet

Published on October 24, 2011

At the UN’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which took place September 27-30 in Nairobi, USCIB joined business representatives from around the world in underscoring the importance of maintaining an open, multi-stakeholder approach to international discussions of the Internet’s development. Many USCIB members attended the 2011 IGF and participated in a range of substantive sessions on Internet policy.

Heather Shaw, USCIB’s vice president for information, communications and technology policy, participated in a panel discussion aimed at promoting awareness of the OECD’s Principles for an Open Internet. The principles were agreed at a June OECD High-Level Meeting on the Internet Economy.

Ms. Shaw was joined on the panel by: Ambassador Philip L. Verveer, deputy assistant secretary of state and the U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy; Rod Beckstrom, president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), who spoke on behalf of the Internet Technical Advisory Committee to the OECD; Dimitri Ypsilanti of the OECD, who chaired the session; Professor Luis Magalhães, the head of Portugal’s “knowledge society” agency; Alice Munyua of Kenya’s ministry of information and communications; and Anriette Esterhuysen, CEO of the Association for Progressive Communications, who spoke on behalf of the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council to the OECD.

The OECD principles aim to ensure the openness and dynamism of the Internet. Ms. Shaw explained they would be valuable going forward, particularly in the lead-up to the World Congress on Information Technology, to be held in October 2012 in Montreal. She said USCIB was pleased to convey the views of the broader OECD business community to the IGF, which it regards as an ideal place to draw greater awareness of the OECD principles given the IGF’s broad and diverse participation.

Ms. Shaw said the principles “serve as a basis for greater international coherence on these issues, vital for issues related to the internet where there are no borders, although countries will continue to set their own policies and regulations, adapting international principles to suit their individual cultures, legal systems and priorities.” She said another added value of the OECD principles is their broad scope and flexibility, which, she said, “means they can be applied on topics where technology and business models are still evolving and emerging.” Ms. Shaw stressed that interoperability of national policies must be maintained for information flows to continue across borders, promoting greater investment and innovation.

The OECD has been a pioneer in integrating the view of all stakeholders’ in Internet policy discussions. The need for wide stakeholder involvement was further stressed by ICANN’s Mr. Beckstrom, as an essential to drive the Internet forward. “We can look at the multi-stakeholder model as something that’s absolutely essential in this system,” he said. “It’s part of the architecture of the system that, in many ways, reflects the Internet itself,” driving collaboration between different groups.

Ambassador Verveer said that “we in the United States are making it a point to try to recommend these [principles] to other administrations whenever we have the opportunity to do so.”

Also at the IGF, members of the International Chamber of Commerce’s BASIS (Business Action to Support the Information Society) initiative highlighted the essential role of the private sector in driving the Internet’s growth and evolution. BASIS serves as the voice of global business on how the Internet and ICTs can serve as engines of economic growth and social development.

Speaking during the IGF’s closing ceremony, Herbert Heitmann, executive vice president for external communications with Royal Dutch Shell and chair of the ICC Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms, said: “As a dynamic innovator, investor and user, business contributes to the development of the Internet through education initiatives, promoting innovation and creativity, public-private research and development partnerships.”

Staff contact: Barbara Wanner

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Mobile Broadband Spectrum Shortage Requires Immediate Action

Published on October 20, 2011

ICC says that mobile broadband spectrum policy must co-exist with other critical societal priorities such as broadcast services

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today called for governments and regulators to accelerate efforts to allocate and assign adequate spectrum to support the ever-increasing traffic demand for mobile broadband.

In a discussion paper developed by the ICC Task Force on Internet and Telecoms Infrastructure and Services (IT IS), ICC expressed concern about the strain on spectrum supply to meet the demand created by the growing number of subscribers and machine-to-machine technologies, and by the increasing consumption of voice minutes and data capacity ICC emphasized that it does not attach a greater importance to the use of spectrum for one particular mobile technology over another, and said that mobile broadband spectrum policy must co-exist with other critical societal priorities such as broadcast services.

Eric Loeb, chair of IT IS, said: “Given the enormous contribution of mobile broadband to innovation, competition, and job and economic growth in developed and developing countries, it is crucial that the unprecedented potential of mobile broadband is not stifled by a lack of adequate spectrum.”

The speed at which governments implement additional spectrum plans is critical. “The skyrocketing uptake of 3G services and mobile devices is already putting tremendous pressure on the current spectrum allocations,” said Mr Loeb. “As 4G adoption kicks in widely, that pressure will substantially increase. This entirely predictable spectrum shortage needs to be tackled as a priority today.”

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

Staff contact: Barbara Wanner

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USCIB Congratulates U.S. on Signature of Anti-Counterfeiting Pact

Published on October 3, 2011

New York, N.Y., October 3, 2011 – The group that represents American business on the global stage welcomed the conclusion of an ambitious international anti-counterfeiting pact between the United States and several leading nations. The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) signed Saturday in Tokyo an important sign of more aggressive international cooperation to stem rampant counterfeiting and piracy.

“The business community congratulates U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and his team for concluding this important agreement,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson. “Strong action is needed to combat the worldwide proliferation of fake products, which threatens U.S. consumers, jobs and our competitiveness.”

According to USTR, the ACTA negotiations aim to establish a state-of-the-art international framework that provides a model for effectively combating global proliferation of commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy in the 21st century. The agreement also includes innovative provisions to deepen international cooperation and to promote strong enforcement practices. Together, these provisions will help to protect American jobs in innovative and creative industries against intellectual property theft, USTR said.

In addition to the United States, parties to ACTA are Australia, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.

USCIB has a long record of advancing intellectual property rights around the world. It was an early supporter of protecting IPRs in the World Trade Organization via the Uruguay Round. As the U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), USCIB provides American business views to foreign governments and international organizations, including the World Intellectual Property Organization. USCIB also helped launch ICC’s BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) initiative, which coordinates the business community’s response, across industry segments and across national boundaries, in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy.

“Business is working with our partners around the world to keep action against counterfeiting and piracy at the top of the international agenda,” said Mr. Robinson. “We look forward to working with the U.S. and other governments to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of ACTA going forward.”

About USCIB

USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and prudent regulation. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including ICC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.

APEC Completes CrossBorder Data Privacy Project

Published on September 28, 2011

Events on data protection held during the APEC senior officials meeting in San Francisco earlier this month marked the completion of the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Pathfinder project. USCIB and its members have been active participants in the development of the APEC Privacy Framework and its implementation, including the CBPR Pathfinder, which was launched in 2007.

The purpose of the CBPR system, which companies will be able to voluntarily participate in after its launch next year, is to ensure that personal information continues to be protected when it is transferred to another participating APEC member economy, without unnecessarily hindering the flow of vital business information across borders. The CBPR system is based on a four-step process: self-assessment, a compliance review by an accountability agent, recognition, and dispute resolution and enforcement, underpinned by a cross-border enforcement agreement signed by regulators in 2009.

In San Francisco, Heather Shaw, USCIB’s vice president for ICT policy, organized an APEC-funded workshop on the “APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules: The Value Proposition for Industry, Consumers and Governments.” More than 90 participants from across the APEC region joined the workshop, which won high praise from a number of USCIB members. Following upon several capacity-building workshops, held in conjunction with previous APEC meetings, that established an understanding of the purpose of the CBPR, workshop participants examined a cost/benefit analysis of participating in the cross-border privacy rules system, and identified issues to be addressed in its implementation.

Panelists at the workshop called the CBPR system unique, in that its development served as an opportunity for stakeholders to shape a new framework, as opposed to a top-down process imposed by regulators. Initial participants in the CBPR program are expected to be global companies who are early-adopters, have existing company privacy standards in place, and want predictability and mechanisms to demonstrate their programs.

“In general, companies following the development of CBPRs believe that the process holds a lot of promise, especially in its potential to be a stepping-stone to global interoperability across data protection regimes,” said USCIB’s Ms. Shaw.

Panelists considering the system from a consumer perspective saw the key benefits as lowered cost and more efficient processing of data, but mentioned the need for flexibility and an ability for the system to be able to account for new uses of information and technological abilities. Another panel featured privacy regulators from Canada, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and France, who discussed the benefits of certification, confirmation and demonstration of compliance, and their experience with reviewing and approving private sector codes. To them, CBPRs present an opportunity for new spaces for regulators and new ways to encourage compliance.

Future work is expected to consider how to make the CBPR system interoperable with other validation mechanisms, such as the European Union’s binding corporate rules on privacy or sector-specific regulatory examination processes. This could lower costs and mitigate barriers to participation, by allowing companies to build on what has already been done and focus on the gap needed to demonstrate compliance with the APEC framework. Delegates in San Francisco pledged to continue discussions, and to respond to a proposal tabled by USCIB toward this end during the 2012 APEC process.

More on USCIB’s Information, Communications and Technology Committee

USCIB Taxation Update

Published on September 27, 2011

USCIB’s Taxation Committee has undertaken a number of recent initiatives to advance our overarching objective of enhancing U.S. competitiveness by promoting sound, appropriate, and consistent international tax policy at home and abroad.

USCIB’s working groups on the transfer pricing of intangibles finalized an initial paper on the definition of intangible property and submitted it to the OECD and the U.S. Treasury. The OECD’s Center for Tax Policy and Administration, Working Party 6, will hold a meeting, attended by USCIB and other business representatives, to consider issues relating to the definition of intangibles in November. The appropriate treatment of income from intangible property is critical to global companies, making this project perhaps the most important on our tax agenda at the moment.

Carol Doran Klein, USCIB’s vice president for tax policy, attended the September 19 meeting of the Transfer Pricing Subgroup of the OECD Task Force on Tax and Development. The meeting focused on implementation strategies for capacity-building for developing countries, in particular what kind of assistance is necessary and how that assistance can best be provided. Helping developing countries effectively implement the arm’s-length standard is important if business is going to discourage countries from moving to formulary apportionment. Business representatives volunteered to assemble a database of experts willing to provide assistance, along with their areas of expertise and special skills (including language capabilities).

At Internet Governance Forum, Business Calls for Fair and Open Approach

Published on September 27, 2011

At the opening of the UN Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, global business representatives said technologies and services such as cloud computing, social media and mobile Internet have created a fresh new set of policy challenges – which can only be effectively addressed if all relevant stakeholders work together on an equal footing.

This was the key message delivered at the opening of IGF Kenya by Subramanian Ramadorai, vice chairman of Tata Consultancy Services, who chairs Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS), an initiative of USCIB’s affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce.

Heather Shaw, USCIB’s vice president for ICT policy, is joining a number of USCIB members in attending the Internet Governance Forum, which concludes September 30.

Addressing over 1,700 business leaders, government officials, technical experts, academics and civil society representatives, Mr. Ramadorai said: “The explosion of social media, adoption of cloud services and proliferation of mobile devices and smartphones has transformed the Internet governance landscape and created a fresh set of policy challenges that threaten to counteract the benefits delivered by these exciting new technologies. It is vital we continue to work together to make the right governance choices that help to develop the Internet in a way that doesn’t diminish its open spirit.”

Earlier, addressing over 100 ministers and delegates at the Kenyan-ITU Ministerial forum, ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier noted that innovations, investments and economic growth will only occur in partnerships where fair and open approaches to Internet governance are sought.

“Private sector investment and innovation plays an important role in driving such development and growth,” he said. “We recognize that governments are critical allies and investors, and IGOs – including development activities supported by UNDP, development banks and others – create opportunities for advancing the development of businesses and entrepreneurship, through public/private partnerships.”

More on USCIB’s Information, Communications and Technology Committee

Business Applauds UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases

Published on September 26, 2011

USCIB and its affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said the world business community strongly supports the outcome of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases, which took place September 19-20 in New York.

USCIB and ICC representatives said businesses have an interest in curbing non-communicable diseases for a variety of reasons, including having productive employees, providing products, medicines, services, and technical support to manage NCDs, and sustaining a beneficial long-term relationship within the communities where they operate.

“Business understands that NCDs are a societal matter, and therefore require whole-of-society and whole-of-government solutions,” said Louise Kantrow, ICC’s permanent representative to the United Nations. “All companies have an interest in ensuring they have a healthy and resilient workforce, and we welcome the UN’s work on this issue and look forward to taking an active part in continuing the fight against NCDs.”

Industry has taken concrete actions to combat NCDs that include global public commitments to address food reformulation, consumer information, responsible marketing, promotion of healthier lifestyles, and public-private partnerships. In fact, cooperative relationships with industry have already led to many favorable outcomes related to diet and physical activity.

There are ongoing initiatives by the food industry to reduce the fat, sugar, and salt content of processed foods and portion sizes, to increase introduction of innovative, healthier and nutritious choices. Industry is also partnering with governments and nongovernmental organizations to encourage more active, healthier lifestyles, including working to reduce alcohol abuse, which have contributed to health gains worldwide.

USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson said the global business community welcomed the outcomes of the UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases as well as future engagement with the United Nations on this important societal issue. “A multi-stakeholder approach is clearly needed to effectively curb NCDs,” he said. “The private sector will continue to play its role, and we look forward to working closely with governments and other actors in this effort.”

To read the declaration from the High-Level Meeting on NCDs, click here.

More on USCIB’s Health Care Working Group

BASCAP Launches New Initiatives in the Fight Against Fakes

Published on September 20, 2011

Several years ago, in response to the growing threat to business from fake products, USCIB’s affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce launched BASCAP – Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy, which seeks to connect all business sectors and cut across national borders in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy. With senior-level representation from numerous affected companies, industries and countries, BASCAP’s efforts focus on raising awareness and working with governments, law enforcement and international organizations in a joint effort to combat global intellectual property theft.

During the most recent BASCAP steering committee meeting, September 15-16 in New York, BASCAP members discussed its new Pro-IP work stream, which concentrates on developing a strong set of materials to promote the positive aspects of IP protection and its relation to innovation, economic growth/development and employment.

One feature of the work stream is a new BASCAP-IP Blog, which will strengthen the body of public knowledge in the realm of IP protection and create an outlet for BASCAP pro-IP work, including existing products such as the BASCAP IP Powerhouse report and its economic studies. The blog is an online location for commenting on issues of the day and will replace the data-oriented BASCAP Digest, with editorial comment.

BASCAP is preparing a report debunking economic “IP fallacies” related to growth, R&D, employment, and FDI. A number of interest groups have argued that counterfeiting and piracy are not associated with negative effects on society or the economy. Among the key assertions put forward by these groups, some of which made their way into a recent paper by the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization, are that counterfeiting and piracy create employment and provide income to workers, particularly in developing economies, and that counterfeiting and piracy provide competition for big business, spurring increased R&D spending and lower prices.

BASCAP also plans to add two annexes to its IP Guidelines for Business, which have thus far been launched in six languages. The first annex will address government use of software, with the goal of ensuring that governments take action to prevent IPR infringements in their computer systems. The second annex will focus on government procurement, i.e., what happens when governments themselves purchase counterfeit products in several sectors – transportation, medicines and medical supplies, electronics, software, and military and security supplies.

The steering committee also reviewed a scoping paper to address how IP-based businesses use various types of technical protection measures to deter counterfeiting and piracy, how these are or should be protected by regulation, and how the inherent limitations in such technologies militate against mandatory “one size fits all” solutions.

In the coming months, BASCAP plans to move forward with in-country initiatives in Turkey, Chile, Ukraine, Africa, China and India. There are also several reports in the pipeline, including on free trade zones, digital piracy in the U.S., what to do with confiscated goods, and a study on the role of intermediaries in the supply chain.

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

ICC Warns of Harmful Regulatory Proposals for Internet Backbone

Published on September 6, 2011

Market-based incentives are fostering investment in local network capabilities that reduce the need for higher-cost international traffic

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), USCIB’s affiliate, today released a Discussion Paper highlighting how a commercially-driven framework has allowed Internet Backbone Interconnection Agreements to fuel the massive growth of the Internet across the globe.

The paper, written by the ICC Task Force on Internet and Telecoms Infrastructure and Services (ITIS), highlights data from various sources. This includes a 2011 Analysis Mason study that shows how commercial interconnection agreements negotiated in a market-based regulatory environment have resulted in more efficient global network usage, improved network performance, international expansion and investment growth.

One important example analyzed in the paper, is the evolution of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) locations. From international Internet traffic originally being routed through IXPs located primarily in the US 15 years ago, the deployment of large numbers of IXPs quickly spread to OECD countries. Today, IXPs are increasingly being established and expanded in emerging markets.

Despite the huge success of the private-sector driven commercial model for Internet Backbone Interconnection Agreements, there have been proposals to regulate these agreements. Proposals appear to be based on the assumption that regulation would promote further investment within particular countries. The ICC paper explains that this view ignores the pertinent facts and policy options. In turn, the paper demonstrates that the desired new investments are actually being enabled and stimulated by the existing commercially-driven framework. In particular, although current proposals to regulate Internet infrastructure agreements would aim to shift costs between countries, the commercial model already is adapting to, and even enabling, the more fundamental shift in the underlying traffic flows that result in those costs. That is, market-based incentives are fostering investment in local network capabilities that reduce the need for higher-cost international traffic.

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Countries Decline to Ramp Up Disclosure of Product Information

Published on July 8, 2011

USCIB’s Helen Medina at the conference in Chisinau, Moldova

Timely work by USCIB and other business groups around an intergovernmental conference paid off when parties to the Aarhus Convention rebuffed efforts to widen possible public environmental disclosure rules to include proprietary product information.

The scene was the fourth meeting of parties to the convention, which took place June 27 to July 1 in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Attending on behalf of business and industry were Helen Medina, USCIB’s director of life sciences and product policy, attended the meeting in Moldova and was joined by Alessandra Salamini (Monsanto), Michelle Orfei (Croplife International) and Robbie Schreiber (European Crop Protection Association).

Formally known as the UN Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, and named after the Danish city where it was signed in 1998, the Aarhus Convention links environmental protection and human rights, laying our procedures for public access to information, participation and redress in local, national and cross-border environmental matters. Some 40 European and other countries are party to the convention.

“The Aarhus Convention is not just an environmental agreement,” noted Ms. Medina. “It is also about government accountability, transparency and responsiveness. It grants the rights to the public, and it imposes obligations on countries and public authorities regarding access to information, public participation and access to justice.”

Industry representatives were interested in how the convention work program for 2012-2014 would be implemented, especially the work plan for a task force aimed at widening the range of information – including privately held product information – made available to the public. In the end, parties to the convention opted to delete the reference to product information.

“This was a win for us, brought about largely because, prior to the conference, industry did a lot of work on educating the European Union about the slippery slope of giving the public have direct access to product information from the private sector,” Ms. Medina said. “In the end, it was the EU that changed the language.”

USCIB and other industry groups will continue to monitor future discussions to see how this language in the work program translates into practice.

Business also sought to learn how Aarhus Convention principles are being promoted at the global level and in other international environmental discussions. Stakeholders at the Chisinau meeting issued a declaration, “Rio Plus Aarhus – 20 Years On,” which highlights the importance of promoting Aarhus principles of openness, transparency, wide participation and accountability in international environmental decision-making in preparation for the Rio+ 20 Conference in 2012. In this context, the business delegation delivered an intervention which highlighted the need of wide stakeholder engagement in matters relating to sustainable development.

On the last day of the meeting, USCIB’s Ms. Medina delivered a business statement highlighting the positive role companies can play in providing practical solutions to complex global environmental challenges. She stressed the need for improved governance and policymaking, as well as a multi-stakeholder approach, in tackling such environmental challenges as climate change, energy security, waste management, water scarcity and population growth.

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