Becoming the first U.S. telecommunications carrier to release a comprehensive Internet policy paper, MCI today cautioned legislators against imposing government mandates to control and regulate the Internet.
Instead, MCI advocated private sector solutions to privacy and security concerns. Because it is a unique medium with an unlimited number of distributors and users, the Internet "defies a conventional regulatory approach," said MCI vice president Vint Cerf.
When it comes to privacy, Cerf said, legislators and policymakers should embrace the type of self-regulatory system envisioned by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The NTIA supports a system in which Internet users are informed about any personal data being collected about them so they can then decide if and how that information can be used.
Cerf also criticized U.S. encryption policy, saying electronic commerce "cannot flourish" if companies are not permitted to export high-grade cryptology devices. He argued that the Internet is so important to the U.S. economy that protecting business transactions is more important than concerns that criminals may use cryptology to conceal their activities.
"The bottom line is national security is dependent on economic security," Cerf said.
On the issue of liability for copyright infringement, MCI supports the basic principles of a bill introduced last week by House Judiciary Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble, R-N.C. The bill would make some changes in current U.S. law to comply with two international copyright treaties signed last year. It would provide limited liability protections for information service providers if they unknowingly furnish physical or virtual links to sites where copyrighted information is being pirated.
Tim Casey, MCI's technology counsel, said the bill has "a number of loose ends," but is "workable" and should help jump start discussions between content and information service providers -- who have been unable to agree on Internet liability policy. The best news, Casey said, is that Coble made clear he intends to keep the bill on a parallel track with the implementing legislation for the copyright treaties.
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