Connecting the world: the development of the global information infrastructure.

• Author: Yarbrough, Tanya L.

1. INTRODUCTION

   In 1844, the first message was sent over a telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore.(1) By 1855, people communicating over long distances commonly used telegraphy.(2) As a result, international alliances became important means of creating international telecommunications networks.(3) For example, in 1865, twenty European states signed the first International Telegraph Convention establishing a multinational communications network.(4) The International Telecommunication Union ("ITU" or "Union") was created to make subsequent amendments to this initial agreement.(5) Since 1947, the ITU has been a specialized agency of the United Nations.(6) Today, the ITU carries out its mission to support the rapidly changing telecommunications environment.(7) In the past 130 years, the membership of the Union has increased nine-fold, as countries have sought to streamline, coordinate, and regulate telecommunications on an international basis.(8)

   Although telecommunications technology has become more advanced, many developing countries still do not have access to basic telephonic services. Consequently, the international telecommunications community established the Telecommunications Development Bureau ("BDT"), a division of the ITU(9) designed to further cultivate telecommunications and information technologies available in developing countries.(10) The ITU also seeks to evolve and adapt to the rapidly changing telecommunications environment by establishing committees to deal with technological advances and by partnering with other non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") to achieve its goal of universal telecommunications access.(11)

   The ITU established the ITU Regulatory Colloquium in 1993 to utilize the knowledge of the foremost experts in fields such as technological development, economics, and public policy in an effort to achieve universal access.(12) The Regulatory Colloquium seeks the expansion and the optimum level of regulatory oversight of telecommunications services worldwide.(13) By partnering with leading experts in the telecommunications industry, the Regulatory Colloquium strives to develop the best regulatory policies for its member states.(14) As a result, it has enabled the ITU to lead the world's development and implementation of new policies and regulations for universal access.(15) The Colloquium performs its mission by producing "reports, analyses and recommendations on issues common to national regulators around the World."(16) In 1998, the ITU published the Chairman's Report of the Eighth Regulatory Colloquium,(17) which focused on the goals of facilitating e-commerce, developing a modern information infrastructure, and achieving universal access.(18) The Chairman's Report also reviewed and analyzed the desired means to achieve the goals it set and the roles that the ITU, its member governments, and other NGOs should play to achieve the goals set forth in the report.(19)

   Innovation and development provide the foundation for the advancement of a global society. The telecommunications industry has always existed at the center of progress because communications technology affects the ability to communicate with one another, as well as the ability to transact business in a more efficient manner. To keep pace with the growing world market, the development of the Global Information Infrastructure ("GII") must occur so that every person in every nation has access to telecommunications services and information technology. The ultimate goal is universal access to basic telephone and Internet services, as well as access to the information superhighway's cyber-market. Only by developing and completing the GII can the global community achieve this goal.

   The GII will act as an "information superhighway," connecting every town, city, and locality of every nation in the world.(20) The development of the GII must utilize local, regional, and national computer networks that combine to form a distributed, parallel computer.(21) Because of developing countries' varying levels of existing telecommunications infrastructure, the GII must expand to include satellite and cable technology as necessary elements to its development. If developed correctly, the GII will transform the concept of a global community into a reality.(22)

   This Note analyzes and summarizes the Chairman's Report and Briefing Report of the Eighth Regulatory Colloquium released by the ITU on regulatory issues for e-commerce. The Chairman's Report establishes that an organization such as the ITU must develop and maintain uniform laws and standards for the cyber-market. A uniform body of law will promote consistency and predictability when people and businesses engage in transactions via the Internet. This Note attempts to answer several questions: (1) How should regulators and private businesses facilitate e-commerce at the international level? (2) What components are necessary to achieve a truly global information infrastructure? and (3) What global standards should be established to address the need for regulation while allowing free-market forces to work? Part II discusses the international agencies that play roles in the development of the GII. Part III addresses the feasibility of universal access given the number of developing nations currently without basic telecommunications networks. Part IV describes the regulatory issues affecting the development of the GII. Part V discusses possible ways to implement and regulate the GII. Part VI examines the feasibility of the suggested implementation methods, and Part VII concludes by suggesting the ideal way to implement and regulate the GII.

2. INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GII

   In addition to the work of the ITU, several other organizations have contributed to the development of the GII. For example, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") plays a leading role among international institutions dealing with e-commerce policy development and analysis, as well as the advancement of telecommunications infrastructure in developing countries.(23) The World Trade Organization ("WTO") also plays a significant role in the e-commerce policies of its member states and in the development of the GII.(24)

   Other agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") in the United States, the European Union ("EU"), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ("APEC"), as well as several North and South American countries that border the Pacific and trade in that region, also participate in initiatives to review e-commerce in relation to the trade and economic development objectives of their economies.(25) All of the groups concur that the development of a world cyber-market in which e-commerce thrives depends on the existence of the GII.(26) Each organization has its own approach to solving the problem of global connectivity. Although many international organizations have been and continue to be instrumental to the development of the GII, the following sections focus only on what the OECD and WTO are doing to ensure that universal access becomes a reality.

   1. The OECD

      The OECD provides its thirty member states with a forum to come together and develop policies designed to benefit the world economy through the cross-pollenization of their different ideas and experiences.(27) When governments share ideas, each benefits by gaining the others' perspectives, which leads to more informed decisions about potential policies and regulations to adopt in its own country. In this exchange, a country can learn from the information and experiences of other countries' governments.(28) Also beneficial is that the OECD encourages the adoption and implementation of public policy in a uniform manner through international treaties, as opposed to all thirty members having different policies with respect to common issues such as telecommunications access and e-commerce.(29) Currently, the OECD's member states produce about two-thirds of the world's goods and services.(30) Moreover, the OECD continues to admit member countries, limited only to nations committed "to a market economy and a pluralistic democracy."(31)

      To further its goal of creating a global cyber-market, the OECD has hosted major international telecommunications conferences. The first conference occurred in 1997, in Turku, Finland, and the most recent event was the Ministerial Conference in 1998, in Ottawa, Canada.(32) "The theme of the Turku Conference was `Dismantling the Barriers to Global Electronic Commerce."'(33) The participants in the conference addressed such topics as "(1) access to and use of infrastructure; (2) building user and consumer trust; (3) minimizing regulatory uncertainty; and (4) easing logistical problems."(34) The subsequent Ottawa Conference was titled "The Borderless World: Realising the Potential of Global Electronic Commerce."(35) The OECD intended the Ottawa Conference to follow up Turku by setting telecommunications policies and establishing technological benchmarks for its members to strive to achieve in the future.(36)

   2. The WTO's Basic Telecom Services Agreement and Declaration on E-Commerce

      Like the OECD, the WTO's main goal is an open electronic market where competition can flourish. In 1998, the WTO ratified the Basic Telecom Agreement ("Agreement"), which encompassed "various degrees of liberalized access."(37) The result of the passage of the Agreement was "corporate realignment, multinational expansion, and private international infrastructure investment."(38) The Agreement has been described as a "watershed event," because it resolved the proper regulation of the telecommunications sector, and mandated regulation of the electronic marketplace for the successful implementation of a "modern" information infrastructure.(39)

      In March 1998, the WTO Secretariat conducted a study called Electronic Commerce and the Role of WTO, in which the WTO found...