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| Issue: 30 | |
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Hello , This week sees the start of WSIS (World Summit for an Information Society), just one of the key events where delegates from around the world meet to discuss the future shape of Internet Governance. Internet Governance is a key theme for the IIC and the next few months will see delegates and speakers discuss it and the direction it is taking. At the IIC’s TMF meeting in Miami this week, Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda will be talking about building on the WSIS process in the Americas. In the latest InterMedia, Wolfgang Kleinwächter, emeritus professor and special ambassador of the NetMundial Initiative (NMI), shares his analysis. His article, “Meeting a New Agenda”, looks at the two main processes that will overshadow internet discussion in 2015. At a micro-level, how the IANA functions will be transferred to a multi-stakeholder mechanism and at the macro level, the management of internet-related policies, and how a multi-stakeholder governance approach can be enhanced to find practical solutions for the growing number of issues whilst renewing the mandate for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The IIC has a rich calendar of events in Europe, Asia and the USA including two new additions to the TMF schedule. I hope you will be taking part. With best wishes,
Andrea Millwood Hargrave |
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Telecommunications and Media Forum and Regional IRF Miami, 26- 28 May 2015 Innovation, investment incentives and internet governance: Policy and regulatory decision making in the emerging and developed American markets This three day event runs concurrently with WSIS. Internet Governance is a key discussion theme and delegates were especially keen to hear the viewpoints of Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda of the US State Department, who joined the meeting in Miami and updated participants on how he worked with the international community to bring the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference to a successful conclusion and how they are now building on that success in the WSIS process. The three days included the Regional meeting of the IRF and a breakfast workshop hosted by ICANN in which they discussed findings from their commissioned research into ‘e-friction’ which defines the factors inhibiting full participation in the digital economy for some countries. Materials from the meetings will be made available to members and delegates shortly. |
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Upcoming Events |
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Armenia Forum 2015: Communicating for Better Communication, Yerevan, 29-30 June 2015 IIC Regional event, hosted by NCTR, the audio-visual regulator in Armenia The transition to digital television and radio broadcasting in Armenia is moving apace, and the telecommunications market is growing. The issues raised by the move to digitalisation and the growth of 4G and internet services will form the background to the presentations and points for discussion with senior expert speakers from the region and beyond. Discussions will cover:
The event free for IIC members and up to two delegates per organisation. Further delegates from the same organisation will pay a small fee. To register visit Armenia Forum 2015 |
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ASEAN Broadcasting Regulators’ Forum, 7-8 July, 2015, Bangkok IIC Regional event, hosted by NBTC, the Thai regulator This forum will examine the issues concerning current aspects of broadcasting regulation and the changing market including the transition and switch over to digital communications, regulatory responses to the new media landscape and devices, competition policies for the digital market, the digital dividend and spectrum. The event free for IIC members and up to two delegates per organisation. Further delegates from the same organisation will pay a small fee. To register click here |
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Communications Policy and Regulation Week, 5-8 October 2015, Washington DC The IIC’s 46th Annual Conference: Trends in converged communications, fostering innovation and growth This year the Annual Conference and the International Regulators Forum will take place in Washington DC. Join over 250 participants from the boardrooms and senior strategic teams of regulators, telecoms operators, broadcasters, content providers, IT and network providers, lawyers and many more to discuss ‘big picture’ themes that will affect the communications community in coming months.
Topics will cover: |
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International Regulators Forum 2015, 5-6 October, Washington DC Developing Models in Response to Regulatory Disruption Kindly hosted by the FCC The IIC International Regulators’ Forum (IRF) is solely for senior statutory regulators in the communications, media and technology industries. The group convenes annually as part of the Communications Policy and Regulation Week and regionally at other times in the year. This meeting brings together about 70 international regulators to discuss practical problems and share experiences and approaches within a collegiate, informal, learning environment.
2015 discussion themes will be led by FCC Commissioners |
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Event Calendar
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Regulatory Watch The IIC’s eye on the news. This bulletin is regularly updated with thumbnails of industry news. Follow the links for a round-up of latest industry stories. |
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Europe’s new strategy for “digital single market” The European Commission has set out 16 initiatives in a strategy document issued on 6 May, designed “to tear down regulatory walls and finally move from 28 national markets to a single one. A fully functional digital single market could contribute €415 billion per year to our economy and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs," it says. |
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A new regulatory body will begin overseeing the telecoms industry in Argentina at the end of May, according to Total Telecom. A presidential decree that establishes the Autoridad Federal de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (AFTIC) as the new regulator “AFTIC will replace a number of existing bodies, including SeCom and the National Communications Commission (CNC).” |
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Canada regulates mobile wholesale The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is taking steps to “ensure that Canadians benefit from sustainable competition among wireless service providers”. The CRTC has found that there is an insufficient level of competition among the national wireless companies in the provision of wholesale roaming services. “These companies can maintain rates and impose terms and conditions that would not prevail in a competitive market.” |
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Operators to block ads on their networks? Several European mobile operators plan to block advertising on their networks, setting the stage for a battle with players such as Google, AOL and Yahoo, reports the FT. “One European wireless carrier told the Financial Times that it has installed blocking software in its data centres and planned to turn it on before the end of 2015,” the paper reports. |
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App industry now bigger than Hollywood What is the major cultural force in America right now, asks Robinson Meyer in the Atlantic. “It might just be apps and the web. While reading a self-laudatory Apple press release, the technology business analyst Horace Dediu found something remarkable: the iOS App Store distributed $10 billion to developers in 2014, which, Dediu points out, is just about as much as Hollywood earned off US box office revenues the same year.” |
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Africa’s educators need more ICT awareness ICT is the key to improving education and boosting growth across Africa – but there is still widespread reluctance among teachers, trainers and managers to abandon traditional methods in favour of new solutions, according to the latest eLearning Africa Report. |
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In the current issue of InterMedia… The internet governance calendar is more packed than ever. In his article, ‘Meeting a New Agenda’, Professor Wolfgang Kleinwächter charts the key events that could shape the agenda for 2025. InterMedia is a rich resource of articles, reports and interviews and the contents reflect the IIC’s on-going discussion themes. To make is easier for you to find things we’ve created an index of all the articles published in 2014. |
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Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, US Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State
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Questions for Ambassador Sepulveda 1. Your career has been very much in ‘public service’, looking at policy issues. Please briefly describe how you came to be in your present post; was it a natural progression from your previous roles with Senator Cowen and Senator Kerry? 2. You will be speaking at the IIC event in Miami in May, and you spoke at the event last year: what have been the big changes in that time? What do you think is their impact nationally and, globally? 3. Do you see more coherent or greater fragmentation of policy decisions globally; you were in Brussels in April, talking about the data-driven economy among other subjects. Can we achieve coherent policies across national boundaries, or what do we need to put in place? 4. If you had to pick a policy, a trend or a technology that would be most disruptive in the medium term, what would it be?? |
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IIC Australia and CAMLA Seminar Series: National Security at what cost?
During April and May 2015, the IICA co-hosted a two part seminar series with the Communications and Media Law Association (CAMLA). The seminars focused on various elements of Australia’s new National Security legislation. The evening seminar series featured panel members from business, industry groups and academia. |
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Drinks reception 6th October, Washington DC, The Canadian Embassy The Canadian Chapter will not be holding its annual chapter meeting this year. Instead it will be joining forces with the IIC’s 46th Annual Conference and International Regulators Forum in Washington DC and will help launch proceedings with a drinks reception for all delegates at the Canadian Embassy. The chapter plans to hold a smaller half day seminar in Ottawa later in the year. Watch the website for details. |
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Upcoming Event
Hosted by Mayer Brown What are the key elements of a “cloud-ready” economy? What are the factors driving domestic and cross-regional investment decisions by large infrastructure providers and service providers? Where are the existing Asia Pacific regional connectivity and content delivery hubs, and how might this change? And in a post-Snowden environment, what is happening to the vision of a borderless global cloud environment? These questions will be discussed by business and academic speakers. Speaker details will be announced soon. The meeting is free to join but places are strictly limited - to register contact Connie Lam |
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Recent Event Discussion on the current landscape of online video services On April 30, 2015, the IIC Hong Kong chapter sponsored a candid discussion on the current landscape of online video services across the Asia region and in international markets. Led by Matt Pollins, Principal Associate at Olswang, and Matthew Kurlanzik, Director of Government Relations Asia at 21st Century Fox, the session discussed the evolving market place of digital content distribution and the challenges, from both a regulatory and commercial perspective. Read more |
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IIC Singapore is involved with a number of events in the coming weeks. To see a full list click here See the latest report of the region compiled by TRPC who manage the Singapore Chapter. |
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The Audio-Visual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) Success Story
The next series in a great European co-production For discussion How the ‘Country of Origin (COO)’ principle is challenged today and the proposed ‘Country of Destination (COD)’ principle for Video on Demand (VOD) services. Detractors and critics argue against COD because of the impact on the single market, on advertising and on national security. The event is free to members, there is a small fee of £30 for non-members. To register, please download and return the form to Laura Courbet with UKCHAP15-JUN in the subject heading. |
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Data Protection, Privacy and Surveillance
Will cyber insecurity fundamentally change how we use the internet? For discussion This panel will explore ways to combine a respect for privacy and the need to protect personal data and critical information infrastructures, while at the same time enabling government authorities to protect national security interests. The event is free to members, there is a small fee of £30 for non-members. To register, please download and return the form to Laura Courbet with UKCHAP15-JUL in the subject heading. |
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Future of Internet Governance and the IANA Stewardship Transition
A Conversation with Fadi Chehadé, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN Mr Chehadé will talk about he Future of Internet Governance and the IANA Stewardship Transition. He will discuss what is working and what isn’t with the current model of Internet governance, the multi-stakeholder process, and what needs to evolve to ensure the Internet remains available, open, stable, and secure. Seating will be limited. Please RSVP by Thursday, June 4, 2015, by emailing Lisa Barton or calling 202-383-3406. Please click here to download the registration form. |
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Feedback We’d be interested to hear your views on any of these stories so email Laura Courbet with any comments and we’ll publish a selection of viewpoints. |
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We asked members what they find most valuable and useful about their membership of the IIC. This is how they ranked the benefits -
“IIC membership allows us to… |
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IIC Sponsorship IIC Sponsorship is for organisations active in regulation or industry. These members work closely with the IIC, helping to shape the policy agenda, contributing to discussions from which the wider community benefits. |
Full Membership Full membership is for organisations active in the world of telecoms, media and technology and their regulation regardless of size. Members are drawn from regulators, telecoms operators, broadcasters, network providers, OTT players and smaller digital start-ups. |
Associate Membership Associate membership is for firms providing professional services and consultancy to the industry such as lawyers, consultants and analysts. The meetings give specialists in the TMT field the chance to keep up to date with new thinking and new players.
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