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To: Doctorgreenback who wrote (6220)	12/2/1998 11:56:00 PM
From: allen v.w.	Respond to of 40688

Electronic Commerce (9/4/98) Joint US-Ireland Communique ________________________________________________________ Global electronic commerce will be an engine of economic growth in the 21st century, with the potential to invigorate economies by enhancing productivity, streamlining distribution, and revamping corporate structures. Electronic commerce will improve the standard of living of citizens in the United States and Ireland, as well as the rest of the globe, by creating new, high-paying jobs and opportunities. Small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, will benefit from new opportunities to sell their products to a world-wide market. It is recognized that the liberalization of the telecommunications markets plays a key role in the development of electronic commerce. The Governments of the United States and Ireland recognize the importance of global cooperation in the promotion of electronic commerce and the need to reach coherent and effective global solutions in the construction of a seamless environment for electronic commerce and, in this respect, welcome the opportunity of building on the principles and guidelines agreed in the US-EU Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce and, in particular, would emphasize: the key role of industry in developing electronic commerce through the development of new services and by helping to set rules for the functioning of this marketplace; that the role of government is to provide a clear, consistent and predictable legal framework, to promote a pro-competitive environment in which electronic commerce can flourish and to ensure adequate protection of public interest objectives such as privacy, intellectual property rights, prevention of fraud, consumer protection, and public safety; that unnecessary legal and regulatory barriers should be eliminated and the emergence of new ones should be prevented. Where legislative action is deemed necessary, it should not be to the advantage or disadvantage of electronic commerce compared with other forms of commerce; that taxes on electronic commerce should be clear, consistent, neutral and non-discriminatory; that there should be close co-operation and mutual assistance to ensure effective tax administration and to combat and prevent illegal activities on the Internet; the strong desirability of continuing the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transactions; and that it is important to enhance the awareness and confidence of citizens and SMEs in electronic commerce and to support the development of relevant skills and network literacy. The United States and Ireland support and endorse the following fundamental principles which should guide the development of electronic commerce which should be essentially market-led and driven by private initiative: 1. Authentication/Electronic Signatures: Government should support a global uniform commercial legal framework that recognizes, facilitates, and enforces electronic transactions world-wide. A wide variety of authentication methods and technologies are developing rapidly. With respect to authentication and electronic signatures, efforts of the private sector in constructing rules and guidelines should be encouraged. The commercial legal framework should conform with the following principles: the acceptability of electronic signatures for legal and commercial purposes. the propriety and desirability of allowing parties to a transaction to determine the appropriate technological and business methods of authentication for their transaction; and the fostering mutual cross-border recognition of electronic authentication methods and a non-discriminatory approach to electronic signatures from other countries as a necessary step in the removal of artificial barriers to cross-border commercial transactions 2. Privacy: Ensuring effective protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data on global information networks is necessary. 3. Combating Illegal Use and Content: We encourage international cooperation between law enforcement authorities as a means of combating and preventing illegal activities on the Internet and the exploitation and illegal use of electronic commerce by criminal and terrorist organizations. Industry, through self-regulation, should establish effective measures to counter the proliferation of illegal content on the Internet. 5. Access Issues: In instances where users, such as parents, do not wish to receive certain types of content, industry should be encouraged to make available filtering or blocking systems or other tools, as appropriate. Industry should also be encouraged to develop content-rating systems to improve the effectiveness of filtering tools. Governments should not prevent their citizens from accessing information simply because it is posted in another country or in a foreign language. Furthermore, governments can use information technology to become more open, responsive, efficient, and accessible to the public. 5. Electronic Payments: Market-driven developments in this area should be encouraged. 6. Intellectual property Rights: Growth of electronic commerce depends on the adequate protection of intellectual property rights, which will be assisted by ratification and implementation, as soon as possible, of the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. 7. Domain Name System: In order to reach its full potential, the system for registering, allocating and governing Internet domain names should be global and market-based and reflect the geographically and functionally diverse nature of the Internet. 8. Consumer Protection: Electronic commerce should provide at least the same level of protection as in other forms of commerce. 9. Taxes: We will actively participate in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development work toward developing framework conditions for the taxation of electronic commerce. Close cooperation and mutual assistance are necessary to ensure effective tax administration and to prevent tax evasion and avoidance on the Internet. In the furtherance of the principles set out in this statement, the United States and Ireland shall seek to encourage: closer cooperation between the two countries for promoting electronic commerce and to build on the strong US-industry presence in Ireland and the growing base of Irish companies in the United States as a means of developing our mutual interests in this area; further bilateral discussions at expert level, where appropriate, regarding the development of global electronic commerce; dialogue and cooperation among the market participants in both countries, since the market should lead in the development of electronic commerce; close cooperation with a view to encouraging the development of statistical data on electronic commerce; and, enhanced cooperation within relevant international fora to achieve global consensus on an international framework for electronic commerce.