Global Information Summit 2000

Net Conference

Session 2 - "Electronic Commerce in the Digital Divide Era "

Digital Divide 5
From: Waichi Sekiguchi (41) Nikkei - Close of the Online Conference
Dear Global Information Summit Online Conference members, This is Waichi Sekiguchi from Nikkei. Thank you very much for your aggressive discussion. The GIS conference is scheduled on March 3rd in Tokyo. So we would like to close this online conference at 12:00 p.m.at Tokyo time. If there is anyone who did not speak yet,please give us your comments immediately. Mr. Johnson, Mr. Tanemura, thank you very much for your great coordination. If you could sum up the discussion by that time, we would be really grateful.
From: Jim Johnson (42) Summary
It is a very Japanese characteristic to try to summarize a discussion or discourse of thoughts. The Japanese, our hosts for this discussion, are the world's masters of the art of wrapping things up! However, it is a very Internet characteristic to realize that summarization is sometimes impossible. The very nature of the Internet is to allow everyone, yes, everyone to be his or her own publisher, and without editors! Everyone's voice can be heard throughout the world - without any intervening editing or shaping or modification. To try to combine and distill meaning from these multiple voices is a challenge for both our short discussion, but even a greater challenge for those who envision making the Internet a useful tool in an increasingly democratic world that needs tools for collective and thoughtful decision making. (Many political states are looking at Internet voting in elections, for instance.) One theme that emerged in our discussions was that such freedom of expression is both essential to the success of the Internet, and one of the areas of Internet culture that causes many, even large parts of nations, to shy away from embracing the Internet and the world wide web. We found that you can be assaulted verbally through the web/net. And words, even words through the net, have meaning and power and can inflict harm. Another theme that was laid on the table, indirectly, was the idea that maybe there should emerge a civil culture surrounding the global community of the Internet that says there are valuable and tested ideas, or ethics, or a philosophy of behavior that should guide individuals with wisdom on the best and most mutually beneficial uses of this incredibly powerful tool for global change. Maybe there are behaviors, such as massive spamming, and denial of access attacks, and theft of another's private data, that do damage to others (who are individual people with identify and rights of there own); and that this behavior should be unwanted and not encouraged and sanctioned. One jurist said long ago, "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins!" During our discussion some history was made: NTT announced a reduction in certain of its Internet access charges. More is needed. Nikkei should editorially campaign for greater reduction in costs for access. We also had the Japanese Ministry of Finance tell the world that it wants to tax incoming digital products delivered over the Internet. This in the face of the WTO moratorium on the collection of tariffs on all electronic transmissions crossing international boundaries. I can remember in our earliest G7 nations' discussions on electronic commerce, the MITI representatives insisting that each nation should have a "Home Page" through which all entrants into the country would have to pass, like coming into Narita airport. That idea was dropped in the face of reality. Let's hope that the Finance Ministry does not get itself out too far on the limb! We also heard a striking description of the limitations on entrepreneurial developments on the Internet through the controls placed on domain name registration in Japan. The shadow of the kereitsu extends into cyberspace! Suggestions on alternatives, avenues for changing this old system, the role of the ICANN - are all areas where we still need your contributions to NIKKEI. Our significant contributors produced much useful information on developments from around the world on issues such as this theme of taxation of electronic commerce, and the definitions for digitally delivered products, goods and services. These debates are ongoing in many international fora. You all can continue to move the thinking along. The Governors of the states in the USA just met in Washington, D. C. and, while claiming that they are losing revenues to e-commerce, nevertheless, acknowledged that they need to completely streamline their current tax collection system to fit into the real world of the Internet. NIKKEI can be a champion, through its business reporting and editorial policies, for getting Japan to re-think its own tax system for the 21st century (which is here now). Privacy of information was a central theme. Those online want to maintain the privacy of information which they share over the Internet. The sense of being violated in your person by having sensitive information lost in cyberspace, or worse yet, stolen and used without your permission, or to your detriment, is central to the reason many still remain outside of the global digital community. This is another "digital divide." Broadband - a "pipe" big enough to carry the massive amount of data which we will all demand in an information rich environment - was a theme raised. The problem is more economic and regulatory than it is technological, we seemed to agree. Governments and certain business combinations and models seem to be causing this "digital divide." We heard a clarion focus on the struggles of developing countries around the world, and their need to understand the economic development potential for their own economies arisen from the digital and information economy. We also saw the importance for multi-language materials to be placed on the Internet to enable even the smallest culture and language group to find its own identity in cyberspace. The underlying assumption of world literacy was brought into sharp focus. Being online presumes that everyone is and can be literate in their own language, and literate in the uses of the technology. Those who make the technology should be continuously pressed for simplification, humanization, increasing empowerment, and of course, cost reduction. You are all a fascinating and stimulating collection of great people. Imagine what our parents would think of being able to conduct a correspondence instantly around the world with such a great group of people who are changing the world, and all at once in real time. Now, Imagine the world that our children will be building for themselves in this century. Thank you for your sigificant contributions of thought and imagination! Jim Johnson Moderator, retired return to Digital Divide 4