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Countries meet on Net security
By Reuters
Special to CNET News.com
October 9, 1998, 2:45 p.m. PT
OTTAWA--Much like teachers who scheme to prevent schoolchildren from
cheating on tests, government ministers from around the world toiled on
ways to guard the security of firms and people doing business on the
Internet.
Government representatives from most of the 29 developed countries that
make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
discussed yesterday the need for safety of data and privacy for Internet
users.
They are under pressure to produce standards for taxation, privacy, and
security at the final of three OECD conferences held over the last year
and a half on the subject.
E-commerce is expected to soar from about $32 billion this year to a
mind-boggling $1 trillion in 2002. OECD leaders have agreed to allow the
private sector to help them forge a set of guidelines on e-commerce, which
could prompt other nations to follow.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley, mindful of the fact that more
than 80 percent of e-commerce originates in the United States, argued that
businesses should make the rules. "The private sector should lead and let
the market figure out how to satisfy consumers," he said.
IBM chief executive Louis Gerstner agreed, reminding government leaders
not to create overly strict rules to deal with fraud artists and
mavericks.
"I personally think self-regulation can and will work better, but I'm also
a realist and it may be that the only workable solution will be to respect
each other's differences and hammer out a working relationship," he told
the 700 participants.
However, the 15-member European Union has already adopted a strict data
privacy law that takes effect on October 25.
Daley has argued that the two factions should quickly bridge their
difference in opinion.
"To be frank, we must succeed or millions of transactions between the
United States and Europe may be blocked," he said.
Gerstner also called for standardized rules on privacy worldwide.
The OECD conference also will cover taxation of goods bought and sold over
the Net. Yesterday, an OECD arm adopted a joint declaration, which said no
new taxes should be levied on the Internet.
-o-
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Received on Sat Oct 10 07:46:23 1998