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Click on a table of contents entry to go directly to the desired title.To return to the tables of contents use Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End. JULY – AUGUST 2000

1. ACCESS TO PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION___________2SPAIN Electronic public documents.....................................................2

2. COMPETITION______________________________________2EU Commission investigates time warner/emi merger........................2FINLAND Access to local exchange by ISPS.......................................2ITALY Football rights leads to abuse of dominant position...................2ITALY New bill on internet service provision.........................................2SPAIN Legal measures enhancing competition....................................3

3. CONVERGENCE____________________________________3INDIA Draft information, communication and entertainment bill...........3

4. DATA PROTECTION_________________________________3SOUTH AFRICA Access to information held by private persons..........3UKRAINE Decree on disclosure of state information............................3

5. DIGITAL SIGNATURES_______________________________3ITALY Interoperability of digital signatures...........................................3US Law on electronic signatures and records......................................4

6. DOMAIN NAMES____________________________________4EU Registering the .eu top level domain...............................................4FINLAND New regulation on domain name registration.......................4THE NETHERLANDS Domain name disputes.....................................4SWEDEN New rules for domain names registration.............................5

7. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE___________________________5EU Proposed value added tax directive................................................5IRELAND New e-commerce bill............................................................5ITALY e-commerce decree...................................................................5LUXEMBOURG E-commerce bill adopted............................................5MEXICO Amendments to e-commerce regulations..............................6THE NETHERLANDS Regulatory developments.................................6

8. INFORMATION SOCIETY POLICY______________________6EU The e-europe draft action plan........................................................6ITALY e-government action plan..........................................................6NORWAY Strategies for developing the knowledge society.................7

9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY__________________________7CANADA On-line transmission of musical works..................................7EGYPT New intellectual property legislation........................................7EU Draft directive on copyrights in the infosociety................................7FINLAND Meta-Tags and Trademarks.................................................8SWEDEN Supreme court rules on liability for linking............................8

10. MARKET ACCESS___________________________________8EGYPT Telecommunications trade commitments................................8FINLAND National roaming and local loop leasing...............................8ITALY 3G licenses................................................................................9IRELAND Access to mobile networks...................................................9IRELAND Supreme court decision on mobile phone licence................9LUXEMBOURG 3G mobile licence award principles agreed................9SPAIN Wireless radio access to local loop...........................................9UK New licence modification procedures.............................................9

11. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY__________________________10ISRAEL Decision on state access to e-mail........................................10THE NETHERLANDS Rules and regulations.....................................10UK Amendment to the regulation of investigatory powers bill.............10

12. TELECOMMUNICATIONS____________________________10BRAZIL Frequency allocation.............................................................10BRAZIL Sharing infrastructure............................................................10EU Parliament adopts resolution on 1999 communications review....11NEW ZEALAND Government considers inmarsat privatisation..........11

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PORTUGAL Carrier pre-selection.......................................................11SPAIN Amended reference interconnection offer...............................11SPAIN Mobile number portability........................................................11SWEDEN Amendments to telecommunications act...........................12UK Decision on unmetered internet access........................................12VENEZUELA New telecommunications law.......................................12

13. WEB SITES_______________________________________1214. BOOKS___________________________________________13

CANADA Computer, internet and electronic commerce law...............13CANADA Communications law...........................................................13CANADA The law of privacy...............................................................13

15. EDITOR / EDITORIAL BOARD________________________1416. TABLE OF CONTENTS BY COUNTRY__________________15

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LUXEMBOURG MEDIAPORT

WHERE

NEW MEDIA CONVERGE

1. ACCESS TO PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION

SPAINELECTRONIC PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

The Spanish Ministry of Justice (the “MOJ”) has initiated the procedure necessary for implementing regulations applicable to electronic public documents. In this regard, the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries, an entity dependent on the MOJ, issued a resolution dated 26 th

April 2000 and published in the Official Gazette on 18 th May 2000, regulating electronic public documents. Pursuant to the said resolution, electronic public documents may be granted if an advanced electronic signature is used and if a notary public intervenes in the granting of the said document.For more information, see:http://www.expansiondirecto.com/2000/06/20/normas/0620anorm.html

2. COMPETITIONEU

COMMISSION INVESTIGATES TIME WARNER/EMI MERGER

The European Commission (the “EC”) has decided to open a full investigation with regard to the recorded music, music publishing as well as digital delivery of music via the Internet aspects of the proposed merger between Time Warner Inc. and the EMI Group plc. In recorded music, the merger will lead to an oligopoly controlling some 80% of the market concerned in the European Economic Area. In music publishing, the merger will control by far the largest number of copyrights in the world and would be considerably larger than the next largest competitor as well as a domination of the digital delivery of music via the Internet.A number of customers, competitors, trade associations and consumer associations have expressed concerns about the merger to the EC, which is obliged to investigate mergers and acquisitions according to a legally binding timetable set out in the EU’s Merger Regulation. The EC is required to make an initial assessment within one month from the date it is fully informed of the details of a transaction. If the EC comes to the conclusion that there are serious doubts whether an operation is compatible with the EU common market competition rules, it initiates a full investigation as a procedural step without prejudice to the final outcome of the case. Consequently the EC has a further four months to investigate the facts and adopt a final decision whether or not to allow the proposed transaction to proceed. For more information, see:http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.getfile=gf&doc=IP/00/617|0|RAPID&lg=EN&type=PDF

FINLANDACCESS TO LOCAL EXCHANGE BY ISPS

On 2nd May 2000 the Finnish operator Elisa Communications was found guilty of abusing its dominant position after refusing to offer access to competing ISPs at its local exchanges. The Finnish Competition Authority found that the Company possesses a dominant market position for the supply of local loop and telecommunication services constituting over 90% of the local loop in the greater Helsinki area. Thus Elisa is obliged to offer access to its local loop and services at any place reasonably required by its competitors on non-discriminatory, transparent and reasonable terms. The Competition Authority’s decision came on the heels of complaints made by Elisa’s competitors regarding the introduction and pricing of Elisa’s new local Internet call service. The call service offered a 20% discount off the normal local call tariff on calls to ISPs connected to it. The discount was claimed to be arbitrary and not based on costs. The

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complainants had opined that they would be forced to switch their services to Elisa’s network. The Competition Authority found that the impact of the new tariff on the ISPs was minimal and justifiable due to cost savings resulting from the utilisation of new technology by Elisa’s Internet network. However the Competition Authority decided that Elisa abused its dominant market position in the way it hastily informed the public and its competitors of its new tariffs for local Internet calls. Thus Elisa’s competitors had not been able to prepare themselves for the rapid changes in the conditions for competition.For more information on the case, cited as No.350/61/99 see:http://www.kilpailuvirasto.fi/english/index.html

ITALYFOOTBALL RIGHTS LEADS TO ABUSE OF

DOMINANT POSITIONFollowing investigations instituted in March 1999, the Italian Competition Authority (the “Authority”) resolved at a meeting held on 14 th June 2000, that Tele+ (the “company”) had abused its dominant position under Article 82 (b) of the EC Treaty. The Authority asserted that since May 1998 the company had implemented a commercial policy for a six-year period, 1999 to 2005, aimed at exclusive acquisition of the rights to encrypted broadcasts for the most important Series A and B football championship matches.The Authority ruled that the company’s conduct restricted competition by extending, and indeed doubling, the three-year period of exclusive broadcasting rights that had been the previous standard practice in football broadcasting contracts. This had prevented its competitors, already in operation or intending new entrants, from being able to offer the most popular programs for a particularly long period of time.The text of the decision can accessed at: http://www.agcm.it

ITALYNEW BILL ON INTERNET SERVICE PROVISION

On 23rd June 2000 the Ministry of Communications provided the Council of Ministry with a new draft law concerning economic conditions for Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). The draft law confers on ISPs the rights to enjoy the same economic conditions provided by significant market powers (SMPs) to licensed telecommunication operators on the basis of Reference Interconnection Offers. Interconnection agreements between ISPs and SMPs are regulated on the basis of an existing Decree of 23 rd April 1998. The new law will come into force for a period of one year from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.The draft law may be found at: http://www.parlamento.it/att/ddl/f_guidata.htm

SPAINLEGAL MEASURES ENHANCING COMPETITION

The Spanish Government has adopted legal measures to enhance competition in several markets including telecommunications, in continuation of the current liberalization process. In this regard, the Royal Decree-Law 7/2000 adopts specific measures affecting telecommunications markets. The Decree-Law provides for:

local loop unbundling by January 2001 through desegregated and shared access;

implementation of pre-selection for metropolitan calls before 15th

November 2000; lowering of metropolitan tariffs as of 1st November 2000.

For more information, see: http://www.sgc.mfom.es

3. CONVERGENCEINDIA

DRAFT INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONAND ENTERTAINMENT BILL

The committee appointed by the Government to address issues on convergence has prepared a Draft Information, Communication and Entertainment Bill, 2000 (the “Bill”) that seeks to merge the communication, technology and telecommunication laws. The Bill proposes to vest the Information, Communication and Entertainment Authority of India (the “ICEAI”) with significant powers, which are greater than powers exercised by the Indian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. The ICEAI would be inter alia responsible for spectrum management, interconnection and ensuring technical compatibility between different service providers.The Bill empowers the ICEAI to:

set license fees for the various information, communication and entertainment (“ICE”) services;

ensure compliance with terms and conditions of licenses; recommend circumstances under which licenses may be revoked; set tariffs for basic services in the broadcasting sector; recommend granting of licenses for broadcast services; regulate revenue sharing arrangements between the different ICE

providers; levy fees and charges on various ICE providers.

For more information, see: http://216.34.146.179/150600/bn03.htm

4. DATA PROTECTIONSOUTH AFRICA

ACCESS TO INFORMATION HELDBY PRIVATE PERSONS

In the March-April edition of the “l.i.n.k.”, the provisions of what was then known as the Open Democracy Bill (the “Bill”) were discussed. That Bill has been redrafted and substantially amended to constitute the Promotion of Access to Information Act, No. 2 of 2000 ("the Act") which is expected to enter into force on a date to be determined by the Minister. The Act gives effect to the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which guarantee the fundamental right of access to all information held by the State or information held by another person where that information is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. Although there is no unlimited right of access to information, the Act has made a significant contribution towards developing transparency in Government actions. The Act’s unique features:

address regulation of access to records held by private bodies, by all persons entitled to request access to such records, which is required to protect any rights, although the private body is entitled to refuse access on specified grounds;

make provision for prescribed forms, procedures and time-periods to be followed by government and private bodies following receipt of a request for access to a record.

It is apparent that the Act will present numerous challenges with which Government and private bodies will be required to comply. These include, regulations to be issued by the Government, guidelines to be prepared by the Human Rights Commission, and any amendments which may be made to the Act from time to time.A copy of the Act is available at: http://www.polity.org.za

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UKRAINEDECREE ON DISCLOSURE OF STATE

INFORMATIONIn April 2000, the President of the Ukraine decreed the creation of the Department of Special Communications Systems and Defense of Information (the “Department”) under the auspices of the State Security Service. The Department is expected to guard against unauthorized disclosure of confidential State information on the Internet. Thus, all agencies and enterprises that process, transmit, gather or store governmental information deemed confidential shall comply with instructions of the Department. The new project came on the heels of a series of reports in western media on Ukraine’s alleged misuse of International Monetary Fund aid, which had been triggered by unauthorized disclosure of secret information. In this regard, at a conference held on 24th March 2000, a government representative referred to a confidential parliamentary report on the Ukrainian National Bank's operations with its reserves, which described the alleged aid misuse scheme, that became available to western media after it had been posted on the Internet by a local news agency.The latest presidential decree is the Government's second attempt in the past six months to monitor the circulation of information on the Internet. Last fall, parliament rejected a Government bill that would have required Internet providers to purchase and install, at their own expense, special equipment that would monitor information traffic. As Ukrainian legislation regarding media and communications does not expressly regulate the Internet, judging from the Presidents latest decree the Government will effectively allow the creation of regulations for the Internet without risking any failure during subsequent debates in parliament.For more information, see: http://kpnews.com/main.php?arid=171

5. DIGITAL SIGNATURESITALY

INTEROPERABILITY OF DIGITAL SIGNATURESOn 19th June 2000 the Italian Authority for Information Technology (the “IAIT”) issued a Decree concerning interoperability between e-signatures. The regulatory framework concerning e-signatures had been completed, with the relevant technical requirements, pursuant to a Decree of 8th

February 1999. However, each certification authority applied different software for the generation of e-signatures, thus the recent IAIT Decree provides for technical guidelines in order to assure interoperability between e-signatures.The full text of the Decree may be accessed at: http://www.aipa.it/attivita[2/gruppi[18/firma[2/index.asp

USLAW ON ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES AND

RECORDSThe United States has enacted its first comprehensive federal electronic signature and records law (the “Law”). Although the Law does not mandate the use of electronic documents or signatures, it inter alia:

states that documents or signatures that are required to be in writing, with some exceptions, may be provided, signed and retained electronically if consumers agree;

allows for the receipt of appropriate disclosures; permits, consumer consent to be withdrawn at any time and electronic

contracts entered into or signatures made prior to the time consent is withdrawn would not be affected;

provides that if a document provider does not advise a consumer of changes in hardware or software requirements, it may constitute a withdrawal of the consumer’s consent.

Within specified limits, states may modify, limit or supersede provisions of the Law by adopting the National Conference on Commissioners Uniform State Laws Uniform Act on Electronic Transactions or by enacting legislation specifying alternative procedures or requirements on the acceptance or use of electronic records or signatures, subject to certain restrictions. The law takes effect from 1st October 2000, except that the record retention requirement is effective from 1st March 2001 if federal or state law imposes record retention requirements, or 1st June 2001 if a federal or state record retention proposal is pending on 1st March 2001.For a more detailed summary of the act and related legislation see:http://thomas.loc.gov (Public Law 106-229)http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc_frame.htmhttp://www.ffhsj.com/bancmail/bancpage.htm

6. DOMAIN NAMESEU

REGISTERING THE .EU TOP LEVEL DOMAINCurrent European Commission (“EC”) initiatives are considering the creation of the .EU Top Level Domain (“TLD”). The issues being debated include inter alia the creation of a Registry Organization. The Governmental Advisory Committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers which is responsible for inter alia the future expansion of the Internet Domain Name System, considers that the TLD Registries are ultimately subject to the jurisdiction of relevant public authorities or Governments, thus the EC would be the competent public authority for the purposes of the .EU TLD.In this regard, the EC initiatives propose a separate .EU TLD Registry operating on behalf of the EU whilst it retains ownership of the TLD. Consequently the EC has suggested several models with a view to selecting an appropriate organization to which the operation of the .EU TLD Registry could be delegated. The options include:

the creation of a non-profit organization which would be incorporated within the EU;

an entirely private and commercial solution for the creation of a Registry;

seeking out an existing public or private organization at a national or European level;

competent departments of an existing public administration.Following public consultation, and depending on the outcome, the EC will address a Communication to the Council and the European Parliament setting out the next steps.For more information, see the Commission Working Paper at:http:www.ispo.cec.be/eif/InternetPoliciesSite/DotEU/dotEU-en.pdf

FINLANDNEW REGULATION ON

DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATIONOn 9th June 2000 Finland’s Telecommunications Administration Centre (“TAC”) issued a new regulation on the administration of domain names under Finland’s Top Level Domain (“.fiTLD”). Although the regulation entered into force on 15th June 2000, it is seen as a temporary measure because legislation embodying the same principles is expected to be adopted in 2001. The changes to registrations under the .fiTLD pursuant to the new regulation are:

professionals and entrepreneurs registered with Finland’s Trade Register may apply for domain names under .fiTLD;

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It is now possible for a legal entity registered in Finland to be granted several domain names under .fiTLD;

legal entities registered in Finland may now apply for a domain name under .fiTLD based on its registered Finnish trademark or EU trademark. However, domain names under .fiTLD will not be granted based on an international trademark registrations under the Madrid protocol;

TAC will cease to exercise the power to grant domain names under .fiTLD based on its own judgement;

TAC’s 1997 regulation will be applied to applications for registrations under .fiTLD that were pending when the new regulation entered into effect.

For more information, see:http://www.thk.fi/englanti/ajankoht/domain.htm http://www.thk.fi/englanti/document/THK34A2000MENG.pdf.

THE NETHERLANDSDOMAIN NAME DISPUTES

Approximately 150 major Dutch companies including Unilever, have initiated a combined action against a “domain name grabbing” (“DNG”) company (the “company”) called Name Space, which purports to be a broker in domain names. The action is requesting the court to compel the release of their domain names by the company. The case is a summary proceeding and judgement is to be delivered on 13th July 2000. Earlier cases against Name Space and other DNG’s have largely been successful in The Netherlands with a few limited exceptions undergoing appeal.Thus, the chances are that the courts will find in favour of the claimants. Name Space has registered approximately 17,000 domain names and claims that it supports freedom of speech on the Internet by making the names available against payment to anyone who, for instance, would want to start a discussion site on the products of other major suppliers. Most recently, Name Space has lost its rights, at least temporarily, to the Dutch domain name Registrar, since it has not been able to pay the registration fees.For more information, see: http://www.domain-registry.nl

SWEDENNEW RULES FOR DOMAIN NAMES REGISTRATION

The Swedish Government’s proposal on new rules for registration of domain names under the top-level domain (“TLD”) .SE intends to open up the top level for all players in Sweden. By 3rd April 2000 the rules for registration of domain names in the TLD .SE were liberated when the second version of the new framework came into force. One of the most important changes permit all kinds of companies to register domain names directly under .SE whilst trademarks can be registered as TM.SE, with the aim of making .SE the natural TLD for players connected to Sweden, thereby stimulating the growth of the new economy and e-commerce. The Domain Names Committee (the “Committee”) proposed that the rules for registration of the .SE TLD be further liberated, simple, straightforward and without prior assessment or underlying rights. Thus the Committee anticipates the possibility for businesses, organisations and individuals to register viable domain names quickly, inexpensively and easily. The proposal and further information may be accessed at:http://naring.regeringen.se/propositioner_mm/sou/index.htmhttp://www.lindahl.se/frames/nyheter.htm

7. ELECTRONIC COMMERCEEU

PROPOSED VALUE ADDED TAX DIRECTIVEThe European Commission on 7th June 2000 presented a proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 77/388/EEC on the value-added tax (“VAT”) arrangements applicable to certain services supplied by electronic means. The proposal which is aimed at services that include inter alia the on-line sale of music, and videos, Internet service provision, as well as radio and television broadcasts supplied on a subscription basis, will be applicable to transactions between:

a non-EU operator and a EU customer; an EU operator and a non-EU customer; an EU operator and a taxable corporate entity in another Member

State; an EU operator, and a private individual in the EU, or a taxable person

in the same Member State.The new VAT proposal will be aided by a number of flanking facilitation measures ensuring that:

tax on supplies to business customers will be accounted for by the customer and registration for tax purposes will only be necessary where private customers are supplied;

registration will not be necessary for non-EU established traders whose annual level of sale within the EU is below 100,000 Euros;

a single place of registration and the making of tax returns including by electronic means will be made possible;

tax administrations will provide operators with the means to distinguish easily the status of their customers.

For more information, see the full text of the Proposal at:http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/proposals/taxation/com349_2000/com2000_349en.pdf

IRELANDNEW E-COMMERCE BILL

Ireland’s Electronic Commerce Bill (the “Bill) is due to be enacted shortly. The Bill aims to promote confidence in, and the development of, a competitive environment promoting e-commerce and the Government believes that adopting the Bill will enable Ireland to become one of the few jurisdictions possessing legislation expressly addressing issues arising from e-commerce.The Bill’s key provisions:

recognise electronic writing; confer on e-signatures the same status in law as that of written

signatures; distinguish between the way private and public bodies consent to

contracting by e-signatures; allow for both witnessing signatures and the sealing of documents by

using advanced e-signatures; include a presumption regarding the attribution of electronic

communications where messages are attributed to the originator unless the contrary is shown;

stipulate that contracts shall not be denied legal effect solely on the grounds that they are electronic in form.

Furthermore, new offences created to maintain confidence in the integrity of e-commerce include inter alia fraudulent and unauthorised use of electronic signatures, whilst the right of law enforcement officials to demand the surrender of encryption keys is eliminated.For more information and the provisions of the Bill, see:http://www.mccann-fitzgerald.ie/whats_new/ecommerce_papers.htmlhttp://www.irlgov.ie/tec/communications/society.htm

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ITALYE-COMMERCE DECREE

On 1st June 2000 the Italian Ministry of Industry issued Decree No.3487/C (the “Decree”) regulating the conduct of on-line wholesale and retail activity. The Decree integrates the provisions of the former regulatory framework contained in Decree 31 March 1998 n.114 on e-commerce. According to the Decree, retail activity is subject to a previous declaration applicable to the relevant municipality and thus, the sale of goods may be provided following 30 days from receipt of such declaration by the municipality. No communication to the municipality is needed in the case of wholesale activity although an operator may use one web site for both wholesale and retail. However, the operator will need to reserve two separate areas for either activity in order to distinguish between a dedication to wholesale and a dedication to retail.The text of the Decree may be found at:http://www.minindustria.it/DGCAS/COMMERCIO/INDICE.HTM

LUXEMBOURGE-COMMERCE BILL ADOPTED

The Council of State has rendered its opinion on 2nd May 2000 regarding the Luxembourg Bill on e-commerce, published on 15 th March 2000. The Council approved most measures proposed in the Bill, but pointed out certain issues to be addressed prior to the adoption of the bill by Parliament. These include, inter alia:

important aspects of consumer protection which have not been addressed regarding electronic payments;

certain provisions of the applicable EU Directives regarding consumer protection and protection of personal data which are yet to be implemented under Luxembourg legislation.

Furthermore, the Council stressed that the Bill preceded the adoption of relevant EU Directive proposals regarding electronic commerce, distant commercialisation of banking services to consumers and copyrights in the Information Society. Nevertheless, the Council approved this process, as the implementation of EU Directives at the national level is long drawn and thus unable to match rapid evolution of the Internet.The said Bill was presented before the Commission of Economy, Energy, Post and Transport (the “Commission”) of the Luxembourg Parliament on 21st June 2000, for examination and possible amendment. Following the State Councils complementary opinion rendered on 7 th July 2000, modifying the text of the Bill as amended by the Commission, it was adopted by parliament on 12th July 2000. Nevertheless, the Bill is not yet in force as it still remains to be signed by the Grand Duke and published into the Luxembourg official journal, the “Mémorial”.The text of the State Council’s report can be accessed at: http://etat.lu/CE/45077.HTMLThe text of relevant parliamentary documents can be accessed at: http://www.etat.lu/ECO/concur/e-com/loi4641.doc

MEXICOAMENDMENTS TO E-COMMERCE REGULATIONS

A series of amendments to Mexican federal legislation came into force in early June 2000 intended to regulate e-commerce. The amendments are based on, but do not completely reflect, the UNCITRAL model law on e-commerce.The said amendments affect the:

Federal Civil Code which inter alia covered topics such as: the validity of offer and acceptance made through electronic means and the notarization of acts formalized by electronic means;

Federal Code for Civil Procedure in order to incorporate revised rules on the admissibility of evidence generated or communicated by electronic means;

Federal Commerce Code in order to allow inter alia information relating to contracts or acts formalized by electronic means to constitute part of the merchant’s archives;

Consumer Protection Federal Law with the aim of maintaining secrecy and confidentiality of electronic transmissions; imposing consumer protection obligations on suppliers; and addressing issues regarding un-solicited e-mail. For more information, see: http://www.gobernacion.gob.mx

THE NETHERLANDSREGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

The Netherlands has not met its obligations implementing the EU Distance Selling Directive. In this regard, the Government presented a Bill aimed at enacting the rules contained in the said Directive, which is still pending before the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. It is not expected that the Bill will be passed before the end of year 2000. The Bill has attracted criticism due to its implementation proposal which relies on Book 7 of the Civil Code, relating to special types of contract, rather than Book 6, which contains the general rules applicable to contractual relationships.For more information see: http://www.minjust.nl or http://www.ecp.nl

8. INFORMATION SOCIETY POLICY

EUTHE E-EUROPE DRAFT ACTION PLAN

EU leaders at the summit held in Feira, Lisbon on 19 th – 20th June 2000 approved the eEUROPE Draft Action Plan (the “Action Plan”). The Action Plan sets out a strategy to address barriers to the uptake of the Internet in Europe and ensure that the conditions are set for a decisive move towards the new economy. The said plan is clustered around three key objectives, which include:

cheaper and faster internet access; investing in people and skills; stimulating the use of the Internet. It is proposed that the aforementioned objectives will be achieved

using three main methods, such as: accelerating the setting up of an appropriate legal environment based

on a range of legislative proposals being prepared and discussed; the roll out of supporting new infrastructure and services across

Europe; applying the open method of co-ordination between Member States

including benchmarking activities by the Commission.It is intended that the Action Plan focuses on a date, yet to be decided, in 2002 and obliges all Member States to set new priorities and remove obstacles to achieve the targets.For more information, see the full text of the Action Plan at:http://europa.eu.int/comm/information_society/eeurope/pdf/actionplan_en.pdf

ITALYE-GOVERNMENT ACTION PLAN

On 29th June 2000 the Italian Government presented its e-Government Action Plan, (the “Plan”) intended to dramatically improve the quality of

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service provided by public entities to both citizens and companies. The Plan dictates that the goals to be achieved in 10 to 12 months, without the need for approval of new laws should include:

the creation of a nation-wide public administration extranet; the delivery of about 1 million smart identity cards carrying personal

information in digital format; the widespread use of e-signatures.In order to accomplish the aforementioned goals, portals to be created shall include: one focused on national and regional laws and decrees for everyone's

information; one for the requests of citizens to the public administration; one for certificates enabling State and local employees to verify the

truthfulness of citizens declarations; one focused on companies' requests.

A summary of the Plan can be accessed at:http://www.interlex.com/attualit/egovsint.htm

NORWAYSTRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING

THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETYOn 29th June 2000 the Norwegian Government launched its eNorway plan version 1.0 (the “Plan”) as a consequence of the eEurope plan introduced by the European Commission in Lisboa earlier this year. By announcing the Plan, the Government aims to influence and accelerate the development of a knowledge society, enable the use of technology and encourage innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The Government wishes to ensure that:

everyone has access to the new technology; the population's knowledge in and understanding of the use of IT,

enables individuals to use IT as a tool based on their own needs and desires;

the implementation of measures, laws and regulations increases people's confidence in technologies such as the Internet, which must be secure and available to everyone irrespective of their level of expertise.

The plan contains detailed lists of tasks to be executed by the authorities in order to achieve the mentioned aims within set deadlines. For instance, all primary and secondary schools, libraries, hospitals and municipal authorities shall be offered broadband connections by year-end 2002. IT related businesses in Norway have expressed satisfaction with the Plan, referring to it as very ambitious and comparing it to the eEurope plan.For more information, see:http://odin.dep.no/nhd/norsk/p10001865/p10001876/024031-990036/index-dok000-b-n-a.html

9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTYCANADA

ON-LINE TRANSMISSION OF MUSICAL WORKSOn 27th October 1999, the Copyright Board of Canada (the “Board”) rendered its decision on the transmission of musical works to subscribers via the Internet (“Tariff 22”). The Board addressed: the meaning of “communication”, “telecommunication”, “public” and “musical work” in the context of Internet transmissions; communication to the public; who communicates on the Internet; the act of authorizing a communication on the Internet; and when a communication on the Internet occurs in Canada.The Board concluded inter alia that:

a musical work is not communicated when made available on a server;

musical works are communicated when a server containing the work responds to a request and retransmits packets that allow recipients to hear, see or copy the work;

public or private communication over the Internet can be determined according to principles of law and jurisprudence;

communication need not be instantaneous or simultaneous to be publicised;

making a work available authorises its communication; available works are communicated when transmitted from any server; intermediaries such as Internet Service Providers do not communicate

works pursuant to exemptions under the Copyright Act; creating an embedded hyperlink to a work authorises its

communication, whilst the supply of a link which must be activated by a user does not;

without regard to a requests origin or location of the original web-site, communications occur at the site of the server from which the work is transmitted.

The last conclusion attracted criticism, as it is believed to contradict other Internet jurisdiction court decisions in the U.S. and Canada, which downplay the importance of server location when determining liability issues. Tariff 22 is currently the object of an application for judicial review before the Federal court of Appeal.For more information, see: http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/decisions/m27101999-b.pdf

EGYPTNEW INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LEGISLATION

It is expected that Egypt, which is a signatory to major international intellectual property rights (“IPR”) agreements, including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement concerning International Registration of Marks and the TRIP’s Agreement, will pass new IPR legislation in the near future. The legislation will fulfill Egypt’s obligations under the said agreements as well as circumvent criticism aimed at existing national laws.The proposed change will extend the protection term of a patent from 15 years to 20 years. Furthermore, the Egyptian Patent Office has decided to establish “The Mail Box” to be opened on 1st January 2005 which marks the end of the transition period granted to developing countries under the World Trade Organisation (“WTO”) agreement. The aforementioned decisions, as well as the proposal to grant exclusive marketing rights, are first steps towards rectifying faults in the current law and are being taken only after Egypt’s accession to the WTO.To obtain more information, contact: angela@internetegypt.com

EUDRAFT DIRECTIVE ON COPYRIGHTS

IN THE INFOSOCIETYThe Permanent Representatives Committee of the European Council of Ministers on 8th June 2000 agreed on a common position regarding the proposal for a Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyrights and related rights in the Information society (the “Directive”). The Directive would adjust and complement the existing legal framework, with particular emphasis on new products and services containing intellectual property, to ensure a single market in copyrights and related rights while protecting and stimulating creativity and innovation within the EU.In particular, the Directive addresses issues relating to:

the right of production (“ROP”); communication to the public right (“CPR”); exceptions to the ROP and CPR; distribution rights;

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the legal protection of anti-copying and rights management systems; on-line liability; the implementation of Treaty obligations agreed on in the framework

of the World Intellectual Property Organisation.Background information is available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/intprop/intprop/1100.htm

FINLANDMETA-TAGS AND TRADEMARKS

In a landmark decision delivered on 1st November 1999, the Finnish Market Court ruled on the unauthorized use of registered trademarks in the HTML code of a web site. The decision lays down a precedent in Finland, and defines some of the legal boundaries to Internet marketing especially with regards to the use of meta keyword tags in the HTML code.The plaintiff in the case, Pfizer Inc., registered the trademark VIAGRA for its pharmaceutical product designed to treat erectile dysfunctions, whilst the defendant, Eurofood-Link (UK) Ltd., had launched an energy drink to be marketed under the name VIAGRENE. The defendant included the words: viagra, sex, sexual, stimulus, elderly sex, Pfizer, impotence, damiana, cocktails, vodka, gin, tequila, bacardi, and smirnoff as meta keyword tags in the HTML code on its web site. All keywords clearly indicated that the defendant had designed the web site such that a person searching for information on VIAGRA or the treatment of impotence would receive the defendant’s web site as a ‘hit’ from a search engine, though neither the word Viagra or the word Pfizer visibly appeared on the web site.The Market Court concluded that the defendant had:

without approval, exploited the registered trademarks of the plaintiffs in its marketing;

unlawfully referred to the plaintiffs and to their product in connection with the marketing of the defendant’s products, thus perpetrating a violation of fair business practices.

For more information, see: http://www.om.fi/markkinatuomioistuin/3636.htm

SWEDENSUPREME COURT RULES ON

LIABILITY FOR LINKING On 15th June 2000 the Supreme Court of Sweden (the “Court”) ruled on a criminal case concerning a teenager who had produced and made deep links (a process by which links are made directly to a data file instead of a html document) available on a web site pointed to Mp3-files which had been uploaded to different web sites in the US. The act (as well as the link) was considered by the Court to have made the music files available by “communication to the public”, although the term “communication to the public” does not exist in the Swedish Copyright Act. The Court thus came to the conclusion that communication to the public could only be equivalent to public performance, and not to distribution of copies. The accused was acquitted since the phonogram producers only have a right to remuneration when their products are being performed. The Court stated that if the accused had been prosecuted for infringing copyright, and not only neighbouring rights, the accused would have been convicted.For more information, see:http://domino.idg.se/cs/artikel.nsf/674b84618b948c0cc12567d20050feb7/5b5076e8f9c65568c125690b004323a9?OpenDocument

10. MARKET ACCESSEGYPT

TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRADE COMMITMENTSEgypt became a member of the World Trade Organisation (the “WTO”) by virture of the Presidential Decree No. 72 of 1995. Egypt is also a signatory to the WTO agreements including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”) as well as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS”). The above circumstances followed a decision made on 16 th April 1995 by Egypt’s supreme legislative authority, the Egyptian Peoples assembly, approving:

Egypt’s membership of the WTO; the ratification of agreements for multilateral commercial negotiations; specific scheduled commitments on trade in services which were

incorporated into Egyptian national laws commencing 1st January 1995.

Pursuant to the GATS which applies to a wide range of services including inter alia, telecommunications, Egypt made commitments stating that:

the range of services shall be provided through international joint ventures, on the condition that the foreign capital participation percentage shall not exceed 49% of the total capital;

necessary licenses be procured from the competent authorities, according to the needs of the Egyptian markets in order to avoid any harm thereof;

the practice of the affected services shall be limited to the Free Zones. For more information, contact: angela@internetegypt.com

FINLANDNATIONAL ROAMING AND LOCAL LOOP LEASING

On 9th June 2000 the Finnish government submitted a bill to Parliament amending the 1997 Telecommunications Market Act after a long public hearing process which commenced in 1999. The bill proposes the imposition of:

national roaming obligations on GSM network operators with SMP; lease obligations on fixed network operators with respect to excess

capacity in their local loops for xDSL; colocation obligations on fixed network operators for small equipment.

The bill, which is in advance of EU norms and arguably, represents a side step in the government’s deregulation policy to date aimed at promoting the rapid roll out in Finland of 3G mobile networks and high-speed Internet connections to households. The bill proposes to grant 3G mobile network operators national roaming rights on GSM 900 and 1800 networks for up to 8 year periods once their own 3G network covers at least 20% of the population in their operating license area. Accordingly, national roaming should be arranged on commercial terms just as interconnection and network access in Finland in general is arranged. Thus if operators are unable to agree on the commercial terms of national roaming during a 6 month period, Finland’s Telecommunications Administration Center may be requested to specify the terms and the cost to be borne by the requesting 3G operator for certain network investments that may be required of the GSM operator. An operator requesting national roaming can request such rights from only one company and only once. The proposed national roaming rights do not apply to virtual mobile operators. GSM operators may shorten the duration of the national roaming rights to 2 years by rolling out their own 3G network to cover at least 80% of the country. It is expected that the proposed national roaming will enable national 3G license holders that do not have a national GSM network to provide national services even when their 3G network roll out is incomplete.The bill also requires network operators to lease to their competitors access to the excess capacity in their local loop. This obligation

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complements the far-reaching unbundled local loop lease obligations of fixed network operators in Finland. According to the bill, leasing charges for parallel access must be nondiscriminatory and cost oriented and may not exceed 50% of the lease charge for the whole local loop line. Furthermore, fixed network operators are required to lease excess technical space at nondiscriminatory and cost oriented costs for small technical equipment such as xDSL equipment and Internet modem banks. The provision would not extend colocation obligations to larger telecommunications equipment such as switches. For more information please see: www.mintc.fi

ITALY3G LICENSES

At a meeting held on 5th May 2000 the Italian Competition Authority (the “Authority”) issued an opinion on procedures for the issue of 3G licenses. The Authority submitted the opinion to the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, the Committee of Ministers responsible for tendering procedures, and the Chairman of the Communications Agency. The Authority remarked that in order for license-holders to be selected as efficiently as possible, the frequency market had to be exploited to the fullest, and the pricing procedure be competitive and based on objective, non-discriminatory, proportional and transparent criteria. Because the combination of quantitative and qualitative criteria in awarding franchises would cause difficulties in comparing bids and make tenders lack the necessary degree of transparency, the Authority suggested that the final choice be determined by combining the most advantageous financial offer with a competitive price as well as a repeat bid process. In the first phase, tenders would be examined by applying technical economic and financial criteria; whilst the second phase would focus solely on price, thereby ensuring an objective and transparent selection.The text of the opinion may be found at:http://www.minindustria.it/DGCAS/COMMERCIO/INDICE.HTM

IRELANDACCESS TO MOBILE NETWORKS

In a consultation paper published recently by the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, the Director raises the issue of new players entering the mobile telephony market by gaining access to the networks of existing mobile phone operators. The Director believes that this is a good time to examine the issue more closely. The paper requests views on various forms of access including the resale of mobile airtime, independent service provision, indirect access and mobile virtual operators. The consultation period concluded on 16th June 2000.The full text of the paper can be accessed at: http://www.odtr.ie

IRELANDSUPREME COURT DECISION ON MOBILE PHONE

LICENCEIn the case of Director of Telecommunications Regulations and Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd. v. Orange Communications Ltd, the Irish Supreme Court (the “Court”) has backed the telecommunication regulator’s initial decision to award Ireland’s third GSM licence to the Meteor consortium. This judgement reversed an earlier decision by the High Court finding in favour of the telephone company Orange, which was the second placed, unsuccessful, bidder for the said licence. In its decision the Court recognised the quality of the regulator’s work and the integrity of regulator’s evaluation team. For more information, see: http://www.odtr.ie

LUXEMBOURG3G MOBILE LICENCE AWARD PRINCIPLES

AGREEDFollowing a Cabinet Council meeting held on 18th May 2000, the Luxembourg Government has approved the introduction of 3G mobile phone services into Luxembourg and has already approved the main principles regarding the licensing of 3G services.In this regard, the Minister of Communications has been authorised to launch a public tender for the award of four licences, which will be granted further to a qualitative comparative selection. The Luxembourg telecommunications regulatory authority, the Institut Luxembourgeois des Télécommunications will be responsible for the tender procedure although the tender specifications will not contain a specific coverage requirement. The selection procedure shall be completed by the first quarter of 2001 and 3G services will in principle be available by early 2002.For more information, see:http://www.etat.lu/ILT/co/docs/umts-gouv.html

SPAINWIRELESS RADIO ACCESS TO LOCAL LOOP

The third Spanish mobile operator Airtel Móvil S.A, has initiated a suit before the Spanish courts, challenging the resolutions of the Ministry of Development dated 8th March 2000. The resolutions permit six type C2 licenses for the establishment and operation of a wireless radio access network. Three of the licenses relate to the 3.4-3.6 GHz band whilst the others relate to the 2.6 GHz band. The said licenses were awarded to Firstmark Communication, Abranet, Alo 2000, Broadnet, Banda 26 and Sky Point respectively.For more information, contact: acomin@gomezacebo-pombo

UKNEW LICENCE MODIFICATION PROCEDURES

The Electronic Communications Act will introduce a new procedure for the modification of telecommunications licences. Under the new procedure, the Director General of Telecommunications (the “DGT”) will be able to modify licences providing that relevant licensees do not formally object to the modification. If the DGT wishes to make a modification despite objections from relevant licensees, he will need to refer the matter to the Competition Commission. In accordance with the EC Licensing Directive, licensees whose licences are to be modified will have a statutory right to appeal against licence modifications under the Telecommunications Appeals Regulations 1999. The new procedure is expected to come into force from 25th July 2000.For more information, see: http://www.olswang.com/telecoms

11. PROTECTION OF PRIVACYISRAEL

DECISION ON STATE ACCESS TO E-MAILOn 22nd June 2000, the Tel Aviv District Court (the “Court”) delivered an unprecedented ruling stating that a service provider (“SP”) cannot be compelled by the State to collect, and hand over to the police, e-mail belonging to a subscriber. Although the ruling was made obiter, it states the Court's view that such an action by an SP can be construed as illegal wiretapping and similar to requesting a telecommunication company to tap telephone lines and pass the results to the police.

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The Court however, approved the State's request to receive e-mail already in the possession of the SP relating to certain individuals against which the state may file indictments in the near future. Pursuant to Israeli law, seizure of evidence by the State will not necessarily be tainted if the procedure taken to obtain such evidence was improper or illegal. Considering Israel's basic laws protecting the right to privacy, the court stated that when indictments are filed, in order to use e-mails received, the State must show that the manner of obtaining such evidence justified intrusion into the privacy of Internet users.Details of the decision can be accessed at: http://www.law.co.il/computer-law/nv-idf.doc

THE NETHERLANDSRULES AND REGULATIONS

The Dutch watchdog for privacy protection (the “Registratiekamer”) recently investigated the general conditions and web sites of major Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) in The Netherlands. The Registratiekamer found many ISPs, violating present and future privacy protection rules and regulations. In reaction the major Dutch Consumer Organisation, issued a warning that it will blacklist any ISP that continues to violate the law after September 2000. In addition, the new Dutch law on privacy protection, which is expected to enter into force by late 2000, will unlike the old law, contain provisions enabling fines to be imposed on companies that violate the law.For more information, see: http://www.registratiekamer.nl and http://www.consumentenbond.nl

UKAMENDMENT TO THE REGULATION OF

INVESTIGATORY POWERS BILLThe Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill (the “Bill”) which was addressed in the May-June issue of the “l.i.n.k.”, has begun its passage through Parliament amid much criticism from both business leaders and civil liberties campaigners. Critics of the Bill point at the obligations on public telecommunications service providers, including Internet service providers, to maintain intercept capability, and the right of authorities to demand the handing over of encryption keys. Estimates by various business groups on the cost of maintaining intercept capability have varied, with some reports estimating the cost at being as high as £650 million. Although the Government strongly disagreed with these estimates, it has accepted to contribute up to £20 million towards the costs in allowing interception of e-mail.The Government is also showing signs of backing down on the issue of permitting authorities to demand encryption keys. These powers were particularly controversial because the notice to hand over the key could be served on any person whom the authorities have 'reasonable grounds' for believing had or has had the key. Failure to hand over the key and/ or tipping off will attract criminal penalties. Furthermore a person who no longer possesses the key or has forgotten, bears the burden of proving these circumstances on the balance of probabilities. However, amendments have now been proposed which clarify the definition of the burden of proof and remove responsibility for encryption keys from junior members of staff.For more information, see: http://www.olswang.com/telecoms

12. TELECOMMUNICATIONSBRAZIL

FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONOn 21st July 2000, the Brazilian telecommunications regulatory agency, Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (“Anatel”) released a decision allocating the 1.8 GHz frequency band to mobile cellular communications alias Personal Communications Service (“PCS”). The choice was preceded by months of debate amongst vendors, operators and Government officials. Protagonists of CDMA/TDMA technologies, including the U.S. government, currently used by local operators, favored the 1.9 GHz band due to its automatic alignment with most countries in the Americas, which have already adopted that frequency. Antagonists comprised those that favored the European GSM technology, which has not been used locally.Anatel has consequently followed guidelines set by the International Telecommunications Union in allocating the 1.9 GHz band to the launch of IMT-2000 3G technology. The announcement also depicts Anatel’s commitment to introducing competition in mobile services and reviewing the current model for the mobile industry. Brazil is currently divided into 10 areas where two operators are permitted to compete in the 800MHz band. Regulations on PCS and license auctions are expected to be released in the second half of 2000. For more information see: http://www.anatel.gov.br

BRAZILSHARING INFRASTRUCTURE

The opening of the Brazilian telecommunications market revealed the need for infrastructure and in this regard, the regulatory agencies of the oil, electric and telecommunications sector released on 25th November 1999 a Joint Resolution No. 1 (the “Resolution”). The Resolution was aimed at:

regulating the sharing of infrastructure; creating and regulating technical, economic and commercial

obligations regarding sharing of infrastructure that are significant for companies operating in the applicable sectors to meet market needs;

providing sharing regulations to foster competition in various sectors including telecommunications.

Recently, the regulatory agency for the telecommunications sector –Anatel - submitted for public comment a regulation applicable to infrastructure sharing exclusively between telecommunications service providers. Publication of an infrastructure usage plan, requests for infrastructure sharing and the agreements to be negotiated with infrastructure holders will undoubtedly give rise to various controversial and delicate issues attempting to interpret the said sharing regulations. These issues will constitute the subject matter of extensive discussions in the days to come.For more information, see: http://www.pinheironeto.com.br

EUPARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON 1999

COMMUNICATIONS REVIEWThe European Parliament Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (the “Committee”) adopted a motion on 25 th May 2000 for a Resolution on the 1999 Communications Review (the “Review”). As indicated in the previous issue of the “l.i.n.k.”, the Review led to a number of working papers proposing a new regulatory framework for electronic communications by making recommendations on: a single regulatory framework, Internet, licensing, access and interconnection, radio spectrum, universal service, competition in the local loop and institutions. The Resolution represents the Committees’ consideration of the Review and proposes:

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an extension of the Review’s policy objectives; the convergence of regulatory policy between 2002-2008; tackling specific aspects of telecommunications related legislation; modalities applicable to the implementation Universal Service

Obligation schemes; a re-examination of the concepts of significant market power and

dominant position; additional details on the role of National Regulatory Authorities; rules applicable to digital television and public broadcasting; closing the democratic gap between the relevant European

institutions.The resolution can be accessed at: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/OM - Europarl? PROG=REPORT&L=EN&PUBREF= - //EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A5 - 2000 - - 0145+0+DOC+WORD+V0//EN&LEVEL=2

NEW ZEALANDGOVERNMENT CONSIDERS INMARSAT

PRIVATISATIONIn April 1998 the Inmarsat Assembly approved amendments to the Inmarsat Convention and Operating Agreement (the “COA”) with the amendments to become effective 120 days after acceptance by two-thirds of the parties to the said COA. To date, the requisite two-thirds approval has not been given. New Zealand has been a party to the COA since Inmarsat’s inception and thus on 1st June 2000, the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee of the New Zealand House of Representatives (the “Committee”) released its report on the amendments to the COA. The Committee was concerned about continued availability of the public safety services provided by Inmarsat in the New Zealand and Pacific region. The Committee, in reporting back to the Government, recommended that the Government assure itself that the safety service will not be a victim of the corporatisation of Inmarsat for as long as the service remains essential to its users. The Government continues to consider the Committee's recommendations.For more information, see:http://www.bellgully.com/display.asp?new_page=article

PORTUGALCARRIER PRE-SELECTION

Pursuant to EU Directive 98/61 Member States of the union were obliged to introduce carrier pre-selection by 1st January 2000. Although by another decision of the European Commission, under which Portugal was granted an additional transition period of two years, the Portuguese Regulator (the “ICP”) decided in June 1999 that carrier pre-selection should be introduced by June 2000. Meanwhile, Portugal Telecom, the incumbent operator, informed the ICP that it could not complete the necessary modifications on the network before the end of 2000 due to technical problems raised by the relevant equipment suppliers, who had also informed the ICP to the same effect.Following several months of discussion, the ICP chose to introduce an interim solution to carrier pre-selection, based on the installation of autodiallers. This decision is similar to that taken by the United kingdom (“UK”) Telecommunication regulator in relation to the UK market, to the extent that it imposed on the incumbent a 50% share of the autodiallers’ costs. The ICP has determined that the autodiallers should be available from 1st July 2000 until the effective implementation of carrier pre-selection, which shall occur by 1st October 2000 in the Lisbon and Oporto areas.For more information, see the ICP web site at :www.icp.pt/press/1999/not235uk.html

SPAINAMENDED REFERENCE INTERCONNECTION OFFEROn 25th May 2000 the Spanish telecommunications regulator (the “CMT”) passed a resolution approving the amendments to the Reference Interconnection Offer (the “RIO”) of the incumbent operator Telefónica, for the year 2000. The amendments had been carried out following the filing of a proposal by Telefónica with the CMT, advocating a number of amendments to the terms of its initial RIO, which was to enter in force in 2000. All the telecommunications operators (“TOs”) that hold interconnection rights, who had submitted their allegations to the CMT reviewed the proposal. On the basis of the proposal and the allegations of the TOs, the CMT has approved a revised text of the RIO with modifications concerning issues on:

the payment system for interconnection on national transit; the standard interconnection agreement to be entered between

Telefónica and an operator that requests interconnection to the former; the reduction of failed calls, which shall be achieved through co-

operation of all operators; the adaptation of the RIO to ensure number portability.

For more information, see:http://www.cmt.es/cmt/document/decisiones/RE-00-05-25-07.html

SPAINMOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY

On 8thJune 2000 the Spanish telecommunications regulator (the “CMT”), issued a resolution imposing on the three Spanish mobile operators, availability of technical means and all necessary tests to allow for the provision of number portability to their customers. The CMT approved the technical specifications to ensure number portability and established a schedule to implement the same by 22nd August 2000 and thereafter to 8th

October 2000 when mobile operators are mandated to carry out the tests to guarantee feasibility of the service.For more information, see:http://www.cmt.es/cmt/document/decisiones/RE-00-06-08-08.pdf

SWEDENAMENDMENTS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

On 1st May 2000 mandatory rules (“Old Rules”) on the grant of network capacity entered into force. Under the Old Rules, telecommunications operators that own networks for mobile telecommunications services are obliged to grant to other operators that do not own networks, access to network capacity. Thus fair market terms would prevail although the obligation would only apply to the extent that capacity is available. However, rules (“New Rules”) on nation-wide roaming will enter into force on 1st July 2000. Summarily, the New Rules provide an obligation on mobile operators (that have held licences for more than 5 years) to enter into nation-wide roaming agreements with newly established mobile operators (to whom licences are granted after 1st July 2000). Such roaming agreements shall be concluded on neutral and non-discriminatory market terms and conditions. Newly established operators will be entitled to nation-wide roaming for seven years. Furthermore, the roaming obligation only covers services offered by both operators involved and a service for which the older operator has had a licence for more than 5 years. More information on the amended Telecommunications Act and the new roaming rules can be accessed at:http://www.pts.se/lagar/tele-97.htmhttp://www.pts.se/aktuellt/varprop-forslag.pdfhttp://www.pts.se/aktuellt/umts-varprop.andring.pdf

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UKDECISION ON UNMETERED INTERNET ACCESS

In resolving an interconnection dispute between BT and MCI WorldCom (the “Company”), the UK telecommunications regulator (“OFTEL”) issued a direction in May 2000 requiring BT to offer a wholesale unmetered Internet access service to MCI WorldCom and other operators who request it, at a flat rate annual charge of £424.25 per 64 KBit/s circuit. The service requested by the Company obliged BT to provide points of connection at its DMSU trunk exchanges. BT had objected because the DMSU switches would not be able to handle the expected increase in traffic and claimed it could only accommodate the interconnection required by the Company at the local exchange level.Consequently, OFTEL's direction limits the interconnection requested by the Company to BT's local exchanges. Whilst the acceptance of the principle of access to interconnect capacity at a flat rate is an important advance, the advantages this might confer are somewhat neutralised for the moment by the requirement to connect to local exchanges. A panel of experts is in the process of conducting a review, on behalf of OFTEL, to determine whether connection at DMSUs might be a reasonable requirement to impose on BT.For more information, see: http://www.olswang.com/telecoms

VENEZUELANEW TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW

The new Telecommunications Law (the “Law”) came into effect on 12th

June 2000, proclaiming the right for the establishment of networks and the exploitation of telecommunications. In particular, the law:

establishes primary obligations with regard to the provision of Universal Services, which shall be reviewed annually. The obligations are to be financed by a Universal Service fund mostly comprised of contributions from operators;

reaffirms the status of the National Commission for Telecommunications (“CONATEL”) by endowing it with judicial personality and increased autonomy;

establishes procedures for frequency allocation and imposes an obligation on CONATEL to inform the public on the status and details of spectrum usage;

sets forth interconnection costs with the inclusion of a reasonable profit margin, which may be freely negotiated by the parties, although CONATEL may intervene and impose obligatory interconnection in case of a disagreement;

allows for the establishment of tariffs by operators, except for instances concerning Universal Services or dominant market positions;

establishes a 45-day time frame for the grant of licenses (excluding spectrum licenses) based on inter alia rules to be established in advance by CONATEL.

For more information see: www.hpcd-abogados.com

13. WEB SITESARGENTINE

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC)The FCC is tasked with performing duties related to the regulation of telecommunications (regular and cellular phones), Internet services, radio broadcasting and television. The web site contains local legislation including laws, decrees, resolutions and other public documentation. In addition, it offers institutional information and provides links to the Comisión Nacional de Comunicaciones, the Committee that assists the Communications Secretariat in providing regulations for

telecommunications services. The web site can be accessed free of charge without any restrictions.URL: http:// www.secom.gov.ar

E - JURISProvides a web site with free access to a collection of documents on public French Law. URL: http://www.e-juris.org

THE PERKINS COIE INTERNET CASE DIGESTA compilation of cases collating international and U.S. court cases addressing directly or indirectly, issues concerning Internet related law.URL: http://www.perkinscoie.com/resource/ecomm/netcase/index.htm

THE LINK CONTROVERSY PAGES A web site intended to provide an overview of the legal problems of using hyperlinks, inline images and frames on the Internet.URL: http://www.jura.uni-tuebingen.de/~s-bes1/lcp.htmlOFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Provides the published Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market ("Directive on electronic commerce") OJ L 178 17 July 2000.URL: http://www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/oj/2000/l_17820000717en.html

SPIRALThe Spiral network provides a freely accessible web site for information professionals. It combines competences and inter-regional resources in the services of innovative activities and technology transfer in the domain of new information technologies and communication.URL: http://www.spiral.lu

14. BOOKSCANADA

COMPUTER, INTERNET AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE LAW

Written by Barry Sookman, a partner at McCarthy Tétrault. It is the foremost Canadian text that comprehensively analyses computer, Internet and e-commerce law. The newly revised and updated treatise contains material addressing computer law issues and includes chapters on privacy and data protection; electronic evidence; electronic contracting; jurisdiction and the Internet with definitions; reported and unreported Canadian cases pertaining to intellectual property; and commentaries on all important U.S. and Commonwealth cases. Mr Sookman is the Chair of the Internet and Electronic Commerce Group at McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto. He has extensive experience in the legal issues related to Internet and e-commerce practices.To order, visit: http://www.carswell.com

CANADACOMMUNICATIONS LAW

Co-authored by Charles Morgan of McCarthy Tétrault. This 700 page loose-leaf publication, provides thorough coverage of telecommunications law, broadcasting law, their convergence, as well as the role competition law may play as an alternative to sector-specific regulation. The service, to be updated yearly (or more often as required), provides a historical and thematic context to a mass of decisions, public notices and regulations in both telecommunications and broadcasting. It treats the emergence of the Internet as a privileged mechanism for delivering not only carriage services (such as IP telephony), but also multi-media content. The book includes a discussion of the technology underlying the Internet and provides a

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treatment of specific legal issues that have come to the fore in the era of convergence including freedom of expression, domain name and trademark disputes, privacy law and criminal offences in relation to the use of communications services. Mr. Morgan practices communications and information technology law at the Montréal office of McCarthy Tétrault and is also a co-author of CYBERLAW: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DOING BUSINESS ONLINE (STODDART, 1997).To order, visit: http://www.butterworths.ca (available from July 2000)

CANADATHE LAW OF PRIVACY

Co-authored by Barb McIsaac, Rick Shields and Kris Klein of McCarthy Tétrault. It provides a comprehensive and timely review of the law of privacy in Canada, as well as an analysis of international privacy protection initiatives. Its analysis of the various statutes and legal principles governing the protection of privacy helps the reader identify sources of privacy protection and understand the extent to which privacy rights vary between jurisdictions. The book also canvasses the challenges to privacy posed by technology and examines possible technological means of protecting privacy. All co-authors are members of the Information Law group of the Ottawa office of McCarthy Tétrault and have extensive experience dealing with Canadian privacy law issues.To order, visit: http://www.carswell.com (available from September 2000)

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ISSUE 3 JULY - AUGUST 200013

15. EDITOR / EDITORIAL BOARDEDITOR : Stéphan LE GOUEFF, Luxembourg,

Country Firm Contact E-mail Site

EUROPEAustria Dorda, Brugger & Jordis Stephan POLSTER stephan.polster@dbj.at www.dbj.at Belgium De Bauw & Maeyaert Herman DE BAUW h.debauw@dbmlaw.beFinland Roschier-Holmberg & Waselius Craig Thompson craig.thompson@rhw.fi www.rhw.fi

Greece Kokkas & Kanellos Associates Léonidas KANELLOS goal@eexi.gr Ireland McCann Fitzgerald Damian COLLINS Mccann_fitzgerald@pophost.eu

net.be www.mccann-fitzgerald.ie

Italy Studio Legale Tonucci Fabrizio CUGIA cugia@mailandnews.com Luxembourg / Eropean Union

Le Goueff@vocats.com Stéphan LE GOUEFF LE_GOUEFF@vocats.com www.vocats.com

Norway Thommessen Krefting Greve Lund Arne RINGNES arne.ringnes@tkgl.no www.tkgl.no Portugal Vieira De Almeida & Associados Margarida COUTO mc@vieiradealmeida.pt Spain Gomez Acebo & Pombo Almudena ARPONde MENDIVIL aam@gomezacebo-pombo.com Sweden Advokatfirman Lindahl Erik BERGENSTRÄHLE erik.bergenstrahle@lindahl.se www.lindahl.se Switzerland Bär & Karrer Michael BERNASCONI m.bernasconi@baerkarrer.ch www.baerkarrer.ch The Netherlands Kennedy Van der Laan Coen E. DRION coen.drion@kvdl.nl www.kvdl.nl Ukraine Grischenko & Partners Sergei A. VOITOVICH btv@lawgris.carrier.kiev.ua www.lawgris.kiev.ua United Kingdom Olswang Colin LONG cdl@olswang.co.uk http://www.olswang.co.uk

NORTH AMERICACanada McCarthy Tétrault Montreal : Michel RACICOT

Toronto : Lorne SALZMANmracicot@mccarthy.ca lsalzman@mccarthy.ca

www.mccarthy.ca

USA Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson Thomas P. VARTANIAN vartath@ffhsj.com www.ffhsj.com

CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICAArgentina Estudio Millé Gonzalo ZORRILLA gonzaloz@mille.com.ar http://www.reis.com.ar/estudiomille Brazil Pinheiro Neto – Advogados Raphael de CUNTO rapdecunto@pinheironeto.com.br www.pinheironeto.com.br Mexico Barrera, Siqueiros y Torres Landa, S.C. Eduardo SIQUEIROS Est@bstl.com.mxVenezuela Hoet Pelaez Castillo & Duque Fernando PELAEZ-PIER fpelaez@hpcd-abogados.com www.hpcd-abogados.com

ASIA PACIFICIndia Nishith Desai Associates Vaibhav PARIKH vaibhav@nishithdesai.com www.nishithdesai.com Malaysia Zaid Ibrahim & Co. Julian DING julian.ding@my.zaidibrahim.com Philippines Carag, Caballes, Jamora & Somera Pericles R. CASUELA ccjs@epic.net China /Hong Kong Johnson Stokes & Master David ELLIS dae@jsm.com.hkjhs@jsm.com.

hk New Zealand Bell Gully David G. BOSWELL david.boswell@bellgully.co.nz http://www.bellgully.co.nz

AFRICA & MIDDLE EASTEgypt Kamel Law Office Mohamed KAMEL angela@brainy1.ie-eg.com www.ie-eg.com/kamellaw Israël Soroker – Agmon Law Offices Jonathan AGMON mail@ip-law.co.il Nigeria Paul Usoro & co Paul USORO paul@paulusoro.com www.paulusoro.com South Africa Webber Wentzel Bowens Peter GREALY peterg@wwb.co.za www.wwb.co.za UAE Afridi & Angell Antony WATSON aaadh@emirates.net.ae

16. TABLE OF CONTENTS BY COUNTRYCountry Title Category

ARGENTINA Federal communications commission (fcc) WEB SITES

BRAZILFrequency allocation TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Sharing infrastructure TELECOMMUNICATIONS

CANADACommunications law BOOKS

On-line transmission of musical works INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The law of privacy BOOKS

EGYPTNew intellectual property legislation INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Telecommunications trade commitments MARKET ACCESS

EU

Commission investigates time warner/emi merger COMPETITION

Draft directive on copyrights in the infosociety INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Official journal of the european communities WEB SITES

Parliament adopts resolution on 1999 communications review TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Proposed value added tax directive ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Registering the .eu top level domain DOMAIN NAMES

The Eeurope draft action plan INFORMATION SOCIETY POLICY

FRANCE E - juris WEB SITES

INDIA Draft information, communication and entertainment bill CONVERGENCE

FINLAND

Access to local exchange by ISPS COMPETITION

Meta-tags and trademarks INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

National roaming and local loop leasing MARKET ACCESS

New regulation on domain name registration DOMAIN NAMES

INTERNATIONAL The perkins coie internet case digest WEB SITES

IRELANDAccess to mobile networks MARKET ACCESS

New e-commerce bill ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Supreme court decision on mobile phone license MARKET ACCESS

ISRAEL Decision on state access to e-mail PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

ITALY

3G licenses MARKET ACCESS

E-commerce decree ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Egovernment action plan INFORMATION SOCIETY POLICY

Football rights leads to abuse of dominant position COMPETITION

Interoperability of digital signatures DIGITAL SIGNATURES

New bill on internet service provision COMPETITION

LUXEMBOURG3G mobile licence award principles agreed MARKET ACCESS

E-commerce bill passes state council ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

MEXICO Amendments to e-commerce regulations ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

NEW ZEALAND Government considers inmarsat privatisation TELECOMMUNICATIONS

NORWAY Strategies for developing the knowledge society INFORMATION SOCIETY POLICY

PORTUGAL Carrier pre-selection TELECOMMUNICATIONS

SWEDEN Supreme court rules on liability for linking INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

SOUTH AFRICA Access to information held by private persons DATA PROTECTION

SPAIN

Amended reference interconnection offer TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Electronic public documents ACCESS TO PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION

Legal measures enhancing competition COMPETITION

Mobile number portability TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Country Title Category

Wireless radio access to local loop MARKET ACCESS

SWEDENAmendments to telecommunications act TELECOMMUNICATIONS

New rules for domain names registration DOMAIN NAMES

THE NETHERLANDSDomain name disputes DOMAIN NAMES

Regulatory developments ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Rules and regulations PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

USLaw on electronic signatures and records DIGITAL SIGNATURES

The perkins coie internet case digest WEB SITES

UKAmendment to the regulation of investigatory powers bill PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

Decision on unmetered internet access TELECOMMUNICATIONS

New licence modification procedures MARKET ACCESS

UKRAINE Decree on disclosure of state information DATA PROTECTION

VENEZUELA New telecommunications law TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Contact “the l.i.n.k.” at : editor@the-link.lu

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