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On February 2nd and 3rd, European privacy regulators will meet to decide how to move forward on one of the most important issues to face the transatlantic economic relationship in years: the terms for keeping citizens and businesses connected across the Atlantic. At stake is whether both European and American companies will be able to run their businesses, develop exciting new products and services, [...]
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Newly elected President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo met with President Obama on Monday in Washington DC. Widodo traveled to the United States for the first time with the primary purpose of promoting Indonesia as a good destination for U.S. investment. Although the haze and forest fire crisis in South East Asia cut President Widodo’s trip short, the two presidents managed to agree on a wide range of policy [...]
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Last week I was in Istanbul, Turkey, to participate in the G20, B20, and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) meetings related to the digital economy and the importance of addressing data localization requirements and other types of forced localization measures. The news concerning the Safe Harbor ruling by the European Court of Justice colored all of the discussions at these meetings, as business [...]
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I’m on the ground in Geneva, Switzerland, as negotiators discuss the time periods for eliminating tariffs on technology products listed under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA). Many critics say the WTO cannot keep up with evolving business and consumer dynamics around the world. The WTO’s Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations are increasingly irrelevant [...]
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On October 8, 2014, information communications technology (ICT) industry representatives and governments from Japan, the United States, and Europe held a meeting to discuss problematic policies known as “Forced Localization Measures.” Dozens of representatives from some of the world’s leading technology companies gathered in Tokyo to discuss the challenge of forced localization measures, which harm [...]
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DATELINE BRASILIA -- Brazil’s Congress has delayed a vote yet again this week on a bill that could have some decidedly negative ramifications for the Internet and the global digital economy. In the months following the NSA surveillance revelations, Brazil’s Marco Civil da Internet, originally a type of constitution for Internet users, has been peppered with provisions that could cripple the growth [...]
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As the Brazilian lower house of Congress, Camara de Deputados, prepares to vote on the Internet Framework bill, ITI joined a coalition of nearly 50 global business groups urging in a letter to congressional leaders to reconsider proposed in-country data storage requirements. The proposals come from the Rousseff Administration and aim to secure Brazilian citizens’ data in response to NSA surveillance [...]
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Yet another partisan budget showdown and potential government shutdown eclipsed a recent significant event in Washington that has the potential to drive innovation, economic growth, and job creation in the United States -- namely, last week’s visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh provided an opportunity to return our historic bilateral relationship to a firmer footing with significant positive [...]
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This week, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Washington for meetings with President Obama and top Administration officials. Their primary topic: economic growth. But several key policies being pursued by the Indian government would work to restrict the import of innovative products and services into India, setting back that nation’s economy with ripple effects globally. We’ve written [...]
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The news of the last several weeks has been dominated by storylines on government surveillance programs and the level of access that security agencies have into people’s daily lives. While these reports have continued to develop, there has been little attention focused on solutions. What limits should there be on government programs? What are the ramifications of these programs on the global flow of [...]