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Global Information Infrastructure
This report reflects the deliberations of the drafting panel on
The Global Information Infrastructure that met on March 29 and
30, 1995 during the Forum on the Role of Science and Technology
in Promoting National Security and Global Stability. The report
was compiled by the session drafter and is a summary of the
issues raised during the discussion. All points do not
necessarily represent the views of all of the participants.
- Drafter:
- Mike Nelson, Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Co-Chairs:
- Government Co-Chair:
Mike Nelson, Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Nongovernment Co-chair:
John Gage, Sun Microsystems
- Rapporteur:
- Joanne Kumekawa, National Technical Information Service
- Participants:
- Tom Kalil,
National Economic Council
- Steve Goldstein,
National Science Foundation
- Bob Lucky,
Applied Research, Bell Core
- Seymour Goodman,
Stanford University
- Irving Lerch,
American Physical Society
- Chris Wise-Mohr,
AAAS/USAID
- Jeff Stann,
AAAS
- David Henry,
National Security Agency
- Randall Cook,
U.S. Department of Commerce
- Jean Prewitt,
Podesta Associates
- Geoffrey Cowan,
Voice of America
- Dan Matuszewski,
International Research & Exchange Board
- Geoffrey Griveldinger,
Department of Justice
- Manuel Montenegro,
Embassy of Brazil
- Mike Stevens,
Embassy of Canada
- Barry Fulton,
United States Information Agency
- Brent Smith,
NOAA
- Dan Matuszewski,
IREX
- Frank Fukuyama,
RAND Corporation
- Jennifer Conovitz,
U.S. Department of Commerce
- Art Chester,
Hughes Electronics Corporation
- W. L. Thompson,
Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Craig Fields,
Alliance Gaming
- David Heyman,
Johns Hopkins University
- Elliot Maxwell,
U.S. Department of Commerce
- John Hocker,
Lockheed Martin Corp
- Ernest Wilson,
GII Commission
- Esther Dyson,
Edventure Holdings
- Robert Spinrad,
Xerox Corporation
- Geoffrey Greiveldinger,
Department of Justice
- Jane Bortnick Griffith,
Congressional Research Service
The Global Information Infrastructure
--Summary of Drafting Panel Discussion--
The important role that information technology can play in
economic development and
national security was a recurring theme in several of the talks
given at the Forum. Many
speakers, most notably Esther Dyson of Edventure Holdings and
Jean-Francois Rischard from
the World Bank, commented on the many opportunities--and
challenges--that advanced
telecommunications and computing technologies offer.
To explore these issues in depth, a working group on the
Global Information
Infrastructure (GII) was convened and spent more than four hours
examining how information
technology and the development of a global seamless "network of
networks" might affect
U.S. national security and foster sustainable development around
the world. The group was
a diverse one, with members representing more than 10 Federal
agencies, a variety of
companies, and a number of different backgrounds--foreign policy
experts, technologists, and
telecommunication policy experts. This diversity of opinion
provided for a lively--and at
times, contentious--discussion of a wide range of issues, from
encryption to the proper role of
the Federal government in addressing national security issues
raised by new digital
technologies. This paper attempts to capture the spirit and the
content of the discussion. It
also summarizes many of the key points regarding the Global
Information Infrastructure made
by speakers during the plenary sessions of the Forum.
Michael Nelson of the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP),
who, with John Gage from Sun Microsystems, co-chaired the working
group, opened the first
session by setting the scene. The purpose of the group was to
provide input for an 8-10 page
paper on the Global Information Infrastructure, national
security, and sustainable development
which would help guide foreign policy makers, including the
President.
The Administration has made the GII a top priority. Nelson
provided a working
definition for the GII--"a system to enable anyone to get and
distribute the information they
need, when and where they want--at an affordable price." That
information could be data
from a database, a videoconference with colleagues, your bank
balance, or reruns of "I Love
Lucy." A number of participants stressed that the real power of
the GII stems from
communication--access to people--rather than simply access to
information.
The GII will be built and run by thousands of different
companies using a wide range
of technologies for an almost unlimited number of applications
(many of which we can't even
imagine today). The type of technology used will depend
critically on local resources,
market economics, and the specific applications needed. Rather
than spend time trying to
describe what the GII is, discussion focused on what it will do.
To frame the debate, the group developed lists of the
opportunities and the
challenges--the "good news" and the "bad news"--faced by policy
makers. The first day of
discussion was devoted to discussing the opportunities, while the
second day was spent on the
challenges.
SESSION 1: THE OPPORTUNITIES
The working group believes that the GII will enable dramatic
improvements in
education, health care, scientific research, government,
manufacturing, commerce,
environment, economic development, and a host of other areas.
Advanced information
technology will:
- Enable electronic commerce, foster global trade, and
integration of markets
- Promote the freer flow of information, which will
foster democracy, more open government, and make intelligence
collection easier in many cases
- Promote people-to-people contact across borders,
improve educational and research opportunities, and promote
international understanding.
- Facilitate international science and technology cooperation. The use of
the Internet to share information on environmental technology and
sustainable development was just one example provided.
- Provide tools for disaster response (e.g. ReliefNet)
- Foster "digital diplomacy" by enabling more effective
and more rapid communication between governments--at all
levels, but especially at the working level.
The group realized it would not be able to adequately
address all of these topics.
However, John Gage summed up the consensus of the group when he
stated that "no matter
what the question, the answer is--the network." In other words,
the goal should be to give
more information to more people. The challenge is to do that
with limited resources and in a
way that deals with the conflicting needs for privacy, law
enforcement, intelligence-gathering,
national sovereignty, and effective governance.
The rest of the first session was devoted to the
opportunities of the GII, particularly in
the area of sustainable development. Geoffrey Cowan, Director of
Voice of America (VOA)
began that discussion with an excellent summary of how VOA is
dramatically expanding its
ability to use radio to reach the people of Africa. This was
followed by a discussion on
whether information agencies like VOA and USIA could be phased
out or redirected since the
new global television and news services (CNN, Reuters, etc.) are
doing a much better job of
providing balanced news reporting to more people than the
agencies could ever afford to. On
the other hand, commercial services do not broadcast in
Ukrainian, Serbian, and many other
languages, and those cannot reach many of the people who rely on
VOA and USIA. In
addition, VOA and USIA are very important ways for the U.S.
government to demonstrate
its commitment to freedom, democracy, and the free flow of
information.
Sy Goodman (Stanford University) felt an interesting way to
examine the economic
benefits of the GII was to consider how the 5.5 billion people on
Earth spend their time and
how the GII will change that. If people spend more time using
information and less time
consuming material goods, the GII could have major environmental
impacts. There was a
discussion of how it is possible that as the consumption of
information displaces the
consumption of material goods, we will effectively re-define what
"standard of living" means.
Therefore, it would be possible for people throughout the world
to experience an increasing
standard of living even though their consumption of material
goods will not raise
proportionately. In other words, a modest shift in material
goods to the developing world,
accompanied by significantly increased information services
(including entertainment), will be
perceived as a satisfactory increase in standard of living by
everyone, without consuming
additional material resources.
Irving Lerch from the American Physical Association
highlighted the need to do more
to connect researchers in the developing world, since today in
many fields (e.g. physics) it is
impossible to stay at the leading edge without being able to
collaborate with colleagues
electronically. The spread of electronic publishing could enable
scientists in the developing
world to have access to information previously only available in
journals that they cannot
presently afford--assuming that electronic publishers make the
necessary effort to reach
readers in developing and cash-poor countries.
Bob Lucky from Bellcore described how fast the GII is
growing, citing the startling
growth of the World Wide Web on the Internet as one example.
According to Lucky,
industry views security as the biggest problem standing the way
of the rapid deployment and
widespread use of the GII and stressed that addressing this issue
properly will require
changes in U.S. encryption policy.
Recommendations. The group then focused on what Federal
government agencies,
particularly the information agencies such as VOA and the U.S.
Information Agency, could
do to use information technology to foster sustainable
development and facilitate greater
access to information overseas. Suggestions offered by different
Forum participants
included the following:
- Give each Cabinet Secretary and agency head a hands-on
demonstration of the World Wide Web so they understand the
potential of the GII.
- Work with key developing countries to do detailed
information surveys in order to assess what advanced telecommunications
networks could do to foster economic growth in each country.
- Explore new technologies that VOA and USIA could use to
more effectively disseminate information. Broadcasting data to
computers over VOA frequencies (perhaps by using sub-carrier bands) and
creating Internet access points at USIA facilities in developing countries were
two examples provided by John Gage. A Ukrainian television station has a
program called "Everything for everybody" which broadcasts a huge
volume of digital data to specially-equipped computers for an hour or two each
day.
- Require each Federal agency to make an extra effort to
put information resources on-line that would be particularly useful to
people in developing countries. The research agencies (e.g. National
Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NASA) could help assist those
agencies which lack the in-house networking expertise needed to do this. In
addition to simply creating "digital libraries," agencies could provide bulletin
boards where users could post specific questions which agency personnel or other
network users could then answer.
- Expand efforts to connect universities and schools to the Internet, since
in many countries (including the U.S.) researchers and educators have been
at the forefront in promoting the development and use of the Internet.
USIA and AID programs could nurture "champions" who would promote
development of the GII in their home country. The Internet can help
connect alumni of exchange programs, add a new dimension to sister city
programs, and multiply the impact of other outreach efforts.
- Continue and expand programs to provide technical
training on telecommunications and computing in developing
countries.
- Foster indigenous telecommunications companies in other countries. In
her address to the Forum, Esther Dyson stressed that U.S. aid programs
should not fund development of new networks in countries where it is
possible and more productive to foster competition and entrepreneurism by
buying telecommunications services from existing indigenous companies. In
Russia, many companies, some of which offer quite sophisticated services,
view U.S.-funded networks as unfair, government-subsidized competition.
She cited the example of the Eurasia Foundation (on whose board she
serves) which rather than funding a few big networking projects in the
republics of the former Soviet Union, provides small ($10,000-20,000)
grants to small businesses and non-governmental organizations that wish to
get connected to the Internet. Although more difficult to administer,
small grants have a greater impact. "Ask what you can do with them, not
what you can do for them."
- Foster indigenous sources of electronic information. While access to
U.S.-produced information is helpful, often the information a person in a
developing country needs is available from fellow citizens. Networks can
help him/her locate and use that information. Particular attention needs
to be given to tailoring information to meet local needs and respect
cultural sensitivities.
- Promote freedom of information. Dyson also stressed the role the U.S.
government can play in pressuring government to lift controls on
information and make the GII a true "market of ideas.
- Expand efforts to utilize information technology for disaster
preparedness. In his address to the Forum, Jim Baker, the head of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, described in detail how
geographic information systems, satellite sensors, and other information
technology can help developing countries more effectively prepare for and
respond to droughts, floods, disease, insect infestations, and other
problems.
- Incorporate information technology more effectively into existing
foreign programs. In his address to the Forum, Jean-Francois Rischard,
Vice President at the World Bank, described how the GII will fundamentally
change the world economy and provide new opportunities for developing
countries to participate in the global marketplace. The World Bank is
moving aggressively to better utilize the Internet, videoconferencing, and
computer technology to streamline operations and more effectively
communicate with staff and government officials in developing countries.
- Help developing countries use information technology to streamline
government operations, particularly in areas like customs, land
management, and the post office, so that companies in the developing world
can reduce costs and time to market, and thus more effectively compete in
world markets.
- Disseminate market price information. According to Rischard, in many
villages a single telephone or computer network connection can provide
farmers and merchants with critical pricing information, enabling hundreds
of them to avoid being gouged by middlemen.
- Utilize distance learning. Rischard also described the benefits of
distance learning for both adults and children. Videoconferencing and
computer networks can turn village schools into "community learning
sources" which can provide information from around the world and
dramatically reduce the need for teachers and trainers to travel.
- Promote electronic commerce by fostering international
cooperation on security
and intellectual property protection.
- Promote market liberalization, which will lead to increased
competition and much lower prices for telecommunications and information
services, especially in developing countries where most telecommunications
companies are still government-owned monopolies. (This is a key goal of
the Administration's GII initiative.)
- Encourage foreign aid donors to pool resources where appropriate to
develop more effective telecommunications networks to link agency
personnel to each other and to aid recipients.
- Expand R&D programs aimed at developing cheaper, more versatile, and
more robust information technologies appropriate for use in developing
countries.
SESSION 2: THE CHALLENGES
Most of the second drafting session of the working group was devoted
to the challenges posed by the development of the Global Information
Infrastructure. While there was a unanimous feeling that the benefits of
the GII far outweighed the downsides, but it was clear that there are a
number of policy problems that need to be addressed if all of the
potential benefits of the GII are to be realized. Concerns raised
include:
- Monitoring of individuals by government and businesses. The growing
amount of personal data in electronic form means that it is increasingly
imperative to develop policies and technologies that ensure privacy
protection.
- Propaganda. Advances in technology have made it much easier to
communicate to millions of people and to spread misinformation or
disinformation. The use of hate radio in Bosnia and Rwanda and the use of
computer bulletin boards by neo-Nazis in the U.S. provide examples of the
dangers. (On the other hand, the GII will also enable individuals to have
access to a wider range of information sources, which should reduce the
effectiveness of propaganda.)
- Terrorism and crime. The growth of the GII and the spread of strong
encryption will facilitate instant, anonymous, encoded communications
making it easier for organized crime, terrorists, drug dealers, and others
to conceal their activities, thwart wiretaps, commit fraud, and launder
money. The challenge is to address valid law enforcement concerns in a
way that also meets the legitimate need to protect personal privacy and
business secrets. Failure to address these often conflicting concerns
could slow the deployment and use of the GII and/or result in a serious
increase in crime and terrorism.
- Intelligence. The spread of encryption will make it more difficult or
even impossible for intelligence agencies and the policy makers they serve
to get access to valuable information regarding developments overseas.
- Information Warfare. As the U.S. becomes increasingly reliant on
networked computer systems for electronic commerce, transportation, energy
supply, and government it becomes increasingly vulnerable to hackers and
saboteurs who might try to do economic damage by attacking those systems.
Encryption was felt to be one of the key technologies for protecting
systems and data, but concerns about export controls, liability, and
standards are hindering its use. There are many other ways to reduce the
vulnerability of the network, including systems architecture solutions
that rely on decentralization, designed-in graceful degradation, and
firewalls. Analogous solutions have been used to improve the reliability
and robustness of electrical power networks in the U.S. and elsewhere.
- Reliability. The systems that make up the GII need to be designed to
ensure they are robust and will function in case of natural disasters,
accidents, and equipment failure.
- The Information Gap. If advanced telecommunications technologies
increases the gap between rich and poor nations, the GII could lead to
more poverty and instability in the developing world. The use of
appropriate and affordable technologies (e.g. wireless, Internet) could
enable developing countries to meet many of their information and
telecommunications needs for a fraction of the investment that developed
countries have made in their information infrastructures.
- Controls on freedom of information. Many countries go to great
lengths to control information. If such controls are not relaxed, it is
clear the full benefits of the GII will not be realized. Government
telecommunications policies that hinder network access for the academic
and research communities, which have been adopted in some countries, are
particularly short-sighted because they stifle both research and economic
development.
- Loss of community. As the Internet makes it possible for individuals
to join global "virtual communities," they may be become less involved in
their local communities. Geography will become less relevant as people
begin to interact only with those who share their language, beliefs, and
interests.
- Literacy. Many of the benefits of the GII will be unavailable to
those who cannot read, thus further exacerbating income disparities and
poverty.
- Jurisdiction. Who controls transactions on a global network? For
instance, whose tax laws apply to a virtual corporation?
- Lack of awareness among government policymakers. The fact that many
members of the foreign policy and national security establishment do not
understand the problems and potential of the GII needs to be addressed.
- Clash of cultures. The GII, by providing more information about other
cultures, may be perceived by governments or political groups as a threat
to established beliefs and social mores, particularly in the Islamic
World, and may lead to political instability.
John Gage and Sy Goodman framed the issues well by compiling
the following list of
areas where most national governments presently exert authority
or control:
- Intellectual property rights
- Information flow
- Telecommunications networks
- Security (of networks and computer systems)
- Integrity of data
- Value exchange
- Currency (digital money, international capital movements)
- Anonymity
- Sovereignty (protection of borders, etc.)
In most of these areas, development of the GII will reduce
the authority of national
governments. The working group attempted to ascertain what
problems this may create,
where governments really need to continue to maintain authority
and where governments
should just get out of the way, and what changes in policy may be
needed as a result.
Encryption. Attention turned first to encryption policy,
since encryption is a critical
issue when addressing security, digital money, anonymity,
intellectual property, and content
issues. There was vigorous debate over U.S. government controls
on the export of
encryption technology. Most industry representatives argued
vehemently in favor of lifting
export controls on DES and other forms of strong encryption. A
number of government
officials and others argued that doing so would significantly
hinder the ability of the President
and other top policy-makers to have access to the intelligence
information they need to
develop effective foreign policy, address the threat of
proliferation of nuclear, biological, and
chemical weapons, fight international organized crime, drug
cartels, and terrorism, and open
foreign markets for American companies.
There was an extended discussion of the Clipper Chip and
other proposals for key-
escrow encryption technologies, which government officials
suggested may provide the
privacy protection people need without completely undermining the
ability of law
enforcement officials to use wiretaps to fight crime and
terrorism. Critics of such approaches
pointed out the difficulty of developing the multi-lateral
agreements needed to make a global
key-escrow system work. The only consensus in the group was that
a effective, inexpensive,
standardized global solution was urgently needed to the problem
of encryption, digital
signature, authentication, and integrity. Without one, many of
the potential applications of
the GII (e.g. electronic commerce) will not be fully developed.
Encryption is also an
important tool for improving the security of the GII.
Another problem posed by encryption is liability. If the
employee of a company were
to use strong encryption to encode critical corporate data and
disappear, die, or refuse to
divulge the key needed to decode the data, both the company and
the seller of the encryption
product could be liable for damage caused to customers. To
address this problem, there may
need to be laws or regulations defining the liability of users
and providers of encryption.
The need of companies to have access to any data encrypted by
their employees may spur the
adoption of key-escrow encryption technologies.
Intellectual Property Rights. The working group felt it was
important that the U.S.
government and other governments work together to protect
intellectual property in
cyberspace. The Administration has made IPR protection a key
tenet of its Global
Information Infrastructure initiative because it believes that
unless producers of content
carried on the GII can protect their copyright they will not make
their data, text, music,
video programming, and other material available on-line.
Development of consistent
international IPR regimes by the World Intellectual Property
Organization and the World
Trade Organization (e.g. GATT TRIPS) is essential as the GII
makes possible a global
information marketplace. Unfortunately, many countries have been
slow to adopt or
implement the agreements reached at WIPO and WTO. Development of
micropayment
systems that would enable network users to easily and quickly pay
for the electronic
information they use could also help ensure that IPR owners are
properly compensated for
their information.
Control of information flow. The group next turned to the
question of government
controls on the transmission of information. Today, the U.S.
government limits the use of
networks for transmitting information inside and across its
borders for many reasons,
including the following:
- To prevent the export of sensitive technical information (e.g.
information on weapons design)
- To counter propaganda or hate literature
- To shield minors from pornography and depictions of violence and to
prevent child pornography
- To prevent fraud, libel, and the invasion of privacy
In addition, in other countries, governments attempt to
restrict access to information
viewed as undermining the authority of the government, religious
beliefs, or social mores.
Some countries also restrict or monitor individuals'
communications in order to block
political opposition. Governments not only try to restrict
access to information and
communications, they also produce and disseminate information,
often in order to further
their policy goals or political aims.
The development of the GII, particularly satellite systems
like Iridium or Teledesic,
will make it much harder for governments to control information
flows. Many national
governments which impose tight information controls today, will
be forced to choose between
maintaining those controls or becoming part of the global,
networked economy. The U.S.
should promote the lifting of such restrictions wherever
possible.
In addition, the working group felt that governments need to
ensure that the GII is not
used for propaganda that promotes ethnic strife and bloodshed.
Since censorship will become
more and more difficult, the best course would seem to be to
promote development of a wide
range of information sources which could counter the
disinformation or misinformation
broadcast by hate groups or authoritarian governments.
Control of Currency. Already today, governments are seeing
the impact that
telecommunications technology is having on their ability to
control the value of their
currency. The recent twenty percent drop in the value of the
dollar vis-a-vis the Japanese
yen, which was driven by international currency traders linked to
global telecommunications
networks, is just one example.
The spread of digital cash and other systems for moving
money electronically will
further diminish the ability of governments to control currency
flows. The ability of billions
of people to effortlessly move money around the world in order to
buy products and services
will necessitates a careful reexamination of policies with regard
to:
- Taxation. According to Tom Kalil (with the National
Economic Council) there are
those who say that encryption and digital cash "will make
taxation voluntary." At a
minimum, it will make collection of tariffs much more difficult,
since networks, particularly
if they use encryption, will make borders completely transparent
to information services and
software. It will also be very difficult to determine how a
global "virtual corporation",
which consists of employees scattered around the globe linked by
networks, selling and
shipping information and software to dozens of countries, will be
taxed. Other countries are
seriously considering these issues. For instance, in Canada,
there has been a preliminary
proposal to tax information flows.
- Money laundering. Today, organized crime and drug cartels
have the resources to
buy banks and create front companies in order to effectively move
money across borders
without being detected. In the future, international digital
cash may give a single individual
the same capability.
- Counterfeiting and currency regulation. We may see the
development of different
varieties of digital cash supported by different banks or
companies, rather than national
governments. Governments may have a role to play in preventing
counterfeiting and fraud
and ensuring the financial integrity of companies that "mint"
digital cash.
- International currency. We may see development of a truly
international digital
currency, which would stimulate world trade, increase stability
in financial markets, and
couple national fiscal policies even more tightly than they are
today.
These problems are so daunting and so fundamental to the
development of a global
networked economy that the working group felt a high-level forum
to address them was
needed. The OECD might address some of these issues, but
something larger--a
"cyber-summit"--a "second Bretton Woods conference"--may be
needed to resolve them.
Such a summit should involve not only government officials, but
representatives of industry
and non-governmental organizations as well.
Control of networks. National governments have
traditionally controlled--and in
most cases owned and operated--their country's telecommunications
networks. Control of
communications networks was seen as essential for national
defense, law enforcement, and
responding to natural and man-made disasters. However, new
digital technologies are
reducing the barriers to entry in the telecommunication market
and in many countries new
privately-owned cellular telephone, satellite, cable TV, and
digital telephone companies are
competing with the incumbent providers. By opening up the
telecommunications sector to
competition, many countries have been able to dramatically
increase investment and
development of their information infrastructure. The result has
been better and more
affordable telecommunications services for individuals,
businesses, and government.
However, having hundreds of competing companies, including
foreign companies,
providing telecommunication services in the U.S. does raise
several concerns for the U.S.
government, including the following:
- Meeting government needs. Will the U.S. government have to
rely on foreign
companies in case of war or emergency to provide
telecommunications services? This was
not seen as a major problem since international
telecommunications companies and the
alliances they have formed are no longer national carriers but
are increasingly multi-national
or even supra-national.
- Counterespionage and law enforcement. Will U.S. enforcement
agencies have to
work with foreign companies to wiretap criminals and foreign
spies? To some extent, they
already do.
- Security threat. Will the development of a competitive
telecommunication market in
the U.S. and creation of a "network of networks" run by hundreds
of different companies lead to a less secure and less reliable
system? When AT&T controlled the entire U.S. phone
network it was far easier to ensure system security. On the
other hand, encryption and new
firewall technologies offers new approaches to data protection.
In general, the national security problems posed by enabling
foreign companies to
fully participate in the U.S. marketplace are dwarfed by the
benefits of increased competition
and investment. Opening our home market is also important
because it will increase the
pressure on other countries to open their markets to U.S. firms.
Anonymity. In order to function, governments need to have
basic information about
their citizens--name, address, taxable income. Today, using
"anonymous remailers," which
forward electronic mail messages after stripping off the return
address, users of the Internet
can send truly anonymous messages to millions of people. With
the development of
anonymous digital cash, Internet users will also be able to
transact business anonymously in
cyberspace. The potential for criminal use is obvious:
anonymous death threats and
harassing messages, blackmail, and the dissemination of
contraband (stolen documents and
trade secrets, nuclear materials, and child pornography) will all
be made much, much easier.
While anonymity is a valuable tool for protecting privacy
and can enable political
dissent in repressive societies, it also poses very serious
implications for law enforcement.
There is a clear need for international rules on the use of
anonymity; this is another possible
issue to address at a proposed "cyber-summit." A key question
will be whether governments
support the issuance of anonymous or pseudonymous digital
signatures, since without an
effective digital signature it will be more difficult for
individuals to fully participate in
electronic commerce. It may be that tight controls have to be
placed on use of anonymous
digital cash or least the movement of large amounts of anonymous
digital cash.
Security. National governments invest billions of dollars
in protecting the security of
government information systems in order to protect government
data, whether tax records,
census data, military secrets, medical records, or technical
information. Government also
work with industry to promote development and deployment of more
secure computer
systems and networks in the private sector. The working group
felt strongly that the U.S.
government needs to redouble its efforts to protect the GII from
hackers and saboteurs.
Many participants felt that widespread use of effective
encryption was an essential component
to any strategy for doing so. It was also suggested that there
is a need to rationalize U.S.
laws on computer crime, many of which were enacted before the
full flowering of the
Internet and which have not kept pace with technology. There is
also a need to harmonize
laws on computer crime which can vary significantly from country
to country.
Unfortunately, there is no single U.S. government agency which
has the lead in this area.
Nor is there an international organization which has made
computer security and data
protection a top priority.
CONCLUSION
The working group on the Global Information Infrastructure
found there was no
shortage of important issues relating to the GII, sustainable
development, and national
security. What has been lacking have been the resources and
attention needed to take
advantage of the opportunities and address the challenges posed
by the GII. The group
succeeded in identifying the issues; much more time will be
needed to determine how these
issues will be resolved and who will have responsibility for
doing so.
Although the group devoted more time to the possible
problems that the Global
Information Infrastructure will pose for U.S. national security,
the members were unanimous
in their conviction that the benefits of the GII--in terms of
promoting sustainable
development, fostering democracy and understanding, and improving
the standards of living
around the world--far out-weigh the problems it presents. There
was also a consensus that
the Digital Revolution is happening whether policy-makers are
prepared or not and that the
national security and foreign policy communities must devote more
attention to critical issues,
such as the security of telecommunication networks, encryption
policy, improving the use of
information and telecommunication technologies in foreign aid
programs, and ensuring that
electronic money and intellectual property can be safely
transmitted over the GII. It is hoped
that this report will stimulate further discussion and policy
formulation in these areas.
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