June 18, 2008

Results of OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) called a ministerial meeting on the future of the Internet economy in South Korea (Seoul) from June 17 to 18, 2008, and adopted a "Seoul declaration" incorporating the utilization of ICT to address global challenges such as global environment problems, which was suggested by Japan.

From Japan, MASUDA Hiroya, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, attended the meeting and chaired a ministerial roundtable session, "Benefiting from convergence," where the convergence of communication, broadcasting, and the like was discussed. MASUDA presented the approaches taken in Japan and gave recommendations concerning telecommunications policies in the future and comprehensive consumer protection.

MASUDA held talks with representatives from the United Sates and from the European Commission, shared with them knowledge of a wide variety of issues concerning telecommunications, and confirmed that Japan would pave the way for international approaches through mutual cooperation with the US and with the EC.

1. Seoul declaration
Because ICT has become indispensable to our economic and social activities, the declaration states the participants' common desire to stimulate sustainable economic growth and prosperity by means of policy and regulatory environments that support innovation, investment, and competition in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

In the declaration, the participants shared a vision of using ICT to address global challenges such as environmental issues, to preserve diversity, to reinforce a culture of security, and to implement an information society based on ubiquitous networks, so that the desire can be achieved.

Under the shared vision, the participants declared that they would work together to facilitate the convergence of networks, services, etc., to foster creativity, to strengthen confidence and security, to establish and execute policies for making the Internet Economy truly global, and to evaluate the effects of the use of ICT on the environment.

2. Suggestions from Japan
Based on our understanding that the framework of existing regulations and policies needs to be reviewed as services converge with the spread of broadband networks, we presented our studies on an integrated legal structure for communication and broadcasting in Japan. We suggested a need for a legal system covering a wide range of similar markets, a need for eliminating policies giving preferential treatment to a particular technology, and a need for user protection, and obtained the concurrence of the participants.

3. Talks with Mr. Martin, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and Ms. Reding, a Commissioner of the European Commission
In separate talks with Mr. Martin, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and with Ms. Reding, a Commissioner of the European Commission, opinions were exchanged on shared issues in policies concerning communication and broadcasting, such as the preparation of the grounds of competition and usage for promotion of broadband networks. Future cooperation in the fields of environment and ICT was confirmed.

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