The Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce (GBDe), a group of the world’s most senior media executives, called for more work from governments after a meeting in Paris yesterday. Electronic signatures, encryption, privacy and the legal responsibility for content of internet service providers and web hosting companies were all areas in which the CEOs of 30 major corporations called for more work from and with governments.
French economy minister Dominique Strauss Kahn, speaking on behalf of his government, said legislation will be presented to the French parliament before the end of this year on the signatures question, while total liberalization of encryption is expected for the first quarter of 2000 (it is currently free of controls up to 128 bits).
On responsibility for content, he said, there is still work to be done, but the one area in which he foresaw longer-term problems was in the area of privacy, particularly with regard to the data of private individuals. He said he understood the concerns of the business community with regard to EU rules, adding however that the French authorities are strongly attached to that legislation; it must still be discussed, he said.
