New Technologies
ISP’s and their clients should consider the existing leading concepts in terms of privacy and intermediate liability in light of the phenomena of cloud computing, said U.S. State Department Coordinator of International Communications and Information Policy Philip Verveer after a…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Media Institute speech. Verveer told us cloud computing presents many advantages with respect to more extensive and less expensive services. During his speech Verveer said occasions -- such as the thirtieth anniversary of OECD’s Guidelines and the fifteenth anniversary of EU’s Data Protection Directive -- are sufficient to make a point: the privacy-related implications of cloud computing have been recognized and beginning to be addressed. However, it’s desirable to find an appropriate balance between the values associated with privacy and the opportunities for increased economic efficiency in the cloud concept, Verveer told us: “The closer we can come to an understanding with respect to privacy, jurisdiction, and intermediary liability, the better off we will be, particularly if we take care not to diminish the efficient operation of cloud computing beyond whatever may be necessary to protect other values deemed to be of superseding importance.” Regarding Internet intermediaries and their social and economic role, Verveer said that to the extent that the Internet’s various intermediaries, transmission companies, Internet service providers and application vendors are subject to liability for content provided by third parties, there inevitably will be less diverse content available. “Some of that will be a function of the risks of consequential damages,” Verveer said. “This is a matter where the United States has something very useful to offer the world.” Section 230 of the Communications Act, was passed in 1996 as part of the Communications Decency Act, itself a part of the Telecommunications Act amendments,” he said. The provision, which was introduced as a floor amendment by Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and former Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has been integral to the development of the Internet as we know it today, Verveer said, and it provides “a federal immunity” to any cause of action that would make service providers liable for information originating with a third-party user of the service.