Cooperation among China-Japan-Korea to Be Strengthened Further --Results of the Fourth China-Japan-Korea ICT Ministers' Meeting--
MIC will, in line with results of this ICT Ministers' Meeting, implement measures for strengthening collaboration among the three countries, aiming at making Asia the information hub of the world.
Attended the ICT Ministers' Meeting were:
[Japan]
Dr. TAKENAKA Heizo, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications; Mr. ARITOMI Kan'ichiro, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination; Mr. ISHIDA Naohiro, Director-General of the International Affairs Department, MIC; and other officials
[China]
Mr. WANG Xudong, Minister of Information Industry; and other officials
[Korea]
Mr. RHO Jun-hyong, Minister of Information and Communication; and other officials
Outline of the Ministers' Meeting
The first China-Japan-Korea ICT Ministers' Meeting was convened in Marrakech, Morocco, in September 2002, since then, the second Meeting in Chejudo, Korea, in September 2003 and the third Meeting in Sapporo, Japan, in July 2004, respectively. This time, hosted by China, the fourth China-Japan-Korea ICT Ministers' Meeting was held in Xiamen, China.
At this Meeting, the three Ministers signed a document stating that cooperation among China, Japan and Korea shall be further promoted upon collaboration with ASEAN, and in such ICT fields as network and information security (including countermeasures against spam), next generation IP networks and the fourth-generation mobile communications (4G). MIC will, in line with results of this ICT Ministers' Meeting, implement measures for strengthening and enhancing collaboration among the three countries.
Furthermore, in addition to the existing tripartite cooperative areas, the three Ministers agreed to promote collaboration on specific programs, including further information exchanges. It is anticipated that through such a collaborative scheme, ICT will develop not only in the three countries but also in Asia.
Report on the Fourth China-Japan-Korea ICT Ministers' Meeting (Outline)
Background and Goals
The establishment of director general level working groups among China, Japan, and Korea, based on the cooperative agreements reached at the past and current China-Japan-Korea Ministers' Meetings, has yielded some significant results in the ICT field from the cooperation between the three countries. And so, cooperation between China, Japan and Korea will now shift from an information exchange basis to concrete programs that are tied in to mutual benefit. There will also be research and cooperation in the field of next-generation IP networks (NGN).
Actual proposals
(1) ICT Human Resource Development Program for ASEAN Countries
(2) Strengthening Network and Information Security Information-Sharing Mechanism
(3) Exchanges and Cooperation on Electronic Tag Technology and Application
(4) International Internet Connectivity (IIC) Tariff Settlement Model Study
(5) Joint Development, Optimization and Upgrading of Open Source Software
(6) 4G Key Technology Standardization Study
Other
Reviews will be conducted on the state of progress of each program by the international working groups, and these will be presented at the next ministers' meeting. The next ministers' meeting is planned to be held in Korea.
Estimate of Internet traffic in Japan
--Announcement of figures as of November 2005--
In order to understand the actual status of Internet traffic in Japan, MIC has estimated domestic Internet traffic with support from seven Internet service providers (ISPs) and those in academia. The results have been compiled as per the attached sheet and are now being announced.
Note 1: IIJ, NTT Communications, K-Opticom, KDDI, SoftBank BB, Japan Telecom, PoweredCom
Note 2: Professor ESAKI Hiroshi of Tokyo University, Assistant professor KATO Akira of Tokyo University, Mr. CHO Kenjiro, researcher at IIJ (Internet Initiative Japan), and Mr. FUKUDA Mitsuhiro, researcher, assistant professor at NII (National Institute of Informatics/JGN2 (Japan Gigabit Network 2).
Main points
- The total volume of traffic calculated from broadband subscribers in Japan as of November 2005, reached 468 Gbps on average.
Note 3: This calculation is of subscribers to DSL and FTTH broadband services
Note 4: A renewed detailed analysis of broadband traffic data (DSL and FTTH) as of May 2005 shows the total traffic volume of broadband subscribers for May 2005, published on July 27, 2005, to be at 424.5 Gbps.
- In comparison to the 324 Gbps figure as of November 2004, this represents an increase of 1.5 times over a one year round.
Traffic that was collected from ISPs
A. Subscriber traffic
A1 Broadband (DSL/FTTH) subscriber traffic
A2 Other subscriber traffic (dial-up, leased line, data center)
B. Traffic exchanged between ISPs
B1. Traffic exchanged with domestic ISPs at the main domestic IXs
B2. Traffic exchanged with domestic ISPs at other than the main domestic IXs
(Private peering transit, public peering at other IXs)
B3. Traffic exchanged with overseas ISPs
The total volume of broadband subscribers in Japan was estimated by calculating the ISPs' share based on the total volume of the main domestic IXs and B1 data, and dividing this proportionally with A1 data.
Note 5: NSPIXP, JPIX and JPNAP (IX: Internet Exchange)
Detailed data is available at the following URL:
http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/Statistics/pdf/Internet_Traffic_060310.pdf
System Development and Demonstration toward the Practical Use of a Safety Mark on Website Content
MIC, to deal with the increase of illegal and harmful content on the Internet, has developed a system to display a mark that indicates the expression level of Internet content based on self-rating. This mark will make it possible for people accessing websites to easily judge whether the content is safe or harmfulness of relevant website contents. MIC performed demonstration experiments on March 2006 toward the practical use of this mark system, in cooperation with a private sector association, and some of the results were announced online.
Background
Although the rapid development and prevalence of the Internet over the past few years has brought great convenience to people, users have also found themselves with easy access to illegal and/or harmful content regardless of their intention.
Under such circumstances, there has been an ongoing effort by the public and private sectors to address the issue of safe use of the Internet, with a view to protecting users, in particular children, students and their parents, such as promotion of filtering software, and educational activities relating to the safe use of the Internet.
Currently, a completely new approach toward the safe use of the Internet is being investigated by a private-sector association, in other words the mark scheme. In concrete terms, webmasters who provide the information would self-rate the expression level of contents, and they can display this rating mark once they have received an examination and approval from a third-party. By doing this, web users can determine each website's safety and/or harmfulness at a glance. In addition, the rating information is included as metadata on the website, so that it is possible to control Internet access in conjunction with some of the web browser's functions.
In order to give technical support to this type of private-sector activity, MIC carried out the necessary development and demonstration of the systems needed for the practical use of such a mark, and widely announced the results.
Outline of demonstration experiments
The relevant process from application to approval of the mark is as shown below, where (A) is a virtual webmaster (the source of the information), (B) is a virtual mark-operating organization (an examination organization), and (C) is a user on the Internet (please refer to figure 1 below for an outline of the system).
(A) self-rates its own content and applies for the results to (B).
(B) examines the application from (A) and proceeds with issuing the mark (visible mark plus metadata) and controls it (cancellation etc.)
(C) may recognize the mark, verify its genuineness and use access controls.
Through these processes, the efficiency and effectiveness of operating this mark system can be verified technically.
Outline of Demonstration Experiments System
Virtual website displaying mark
Example of mark display of and approval authorization information (Recommended for under 12 years of age) (displayed in the upper right portion)
