SETTING THE COURSE FOR A 21ST CENTURY DIGITAL TRADE POLICY

On May 24-25, 2018, the Internet Governance Project (IGP) at Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy held its 4th Annual Workshop in Atlanta. This year’s workshop explored the scientific and public policy questions raised around digital trade. It aimed to help develop a digital trade policy agenda that preserves and advances Internet freedom while being grounded in evidence and sound economic analysis.

The IGP workshop on digital trade proved to be very successful in creating a discussion among various stakeholder groups on the impact of trade policy on Internet governance and the intersection of trade agreements and digital rights. IGP will publish a special issue on digital trade based on the contributions of the workshop in the Journal of Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance. The proceedings of this workshop and the papers can help develop a digital trade policy agenda that preserves and advances Internet freedom while being grounded in evidence and sound economic analysis. IGP will work on using and expanding the outcome of this workshop in processes and discussions about digital trade. You can read the workshop report here: https://www.internetgovernance.org/2018/06/12/cyber-nationalism-and-digital-trade-igp-workshop-report/

Workshop Description

A backlash against the globalization of Internet-based information industries is producing many new restrictions on digital services by governments. The flow of information services and data across national boundaries is under growing scrutiny and assault, and not just in authoritarian countries. Interventions include data localization laws, ownership and investment restrictions on information services by foreign firms, privacy laws, cybersecurity exclusions and outright blocking of domains or services. Operators of the transnational Internet platforms are looking to e-commerce chapters in intergovernmental trade agreements to push back against market access barriers. On the other hand, national security advocates in many countries are targeting foreign players in information markets as security threats, while some progressive advocacy groups are opposing “e-commerce” chapters in trade agreements and data localization prohibitions, claiming that they are just ways for Big Tech to evade privacy protections. Both call for greater alignment of digital trade with national boundaries.

Underpinning these policy disputes are a number of unresolved scientific questions. How do we reconcile a globalized information infrastructure with nationalistic concerns over cyber and economic security? How applicable is the trade in services paradigm to the globalized digital connectivity fostered by the internet? How are information flows related to capital flows, goods and services flows, supply chains, immigration flows and payment flows? What effect do policy interventions in one country have upon the nature of these flows? If digital information exchanges are ‘trade,’ how do we measure surpluses and deficits and do they mean anything? How can we best evaluate the impact of digital trade-related policies on the global economy?

The relationship between information-related trade agreements and various legal rights also demands more research. The relationship between cross-border data flows, trade and privacy rights is the most prominent issue now. But the inclusion of copyright and trademark provisions in trade agreements is also a controversial matter that has divided industry and policy analysts.

IGP holds this meeting with the goal of helping to develop mutually beneficial digital trade policies that preserve and advance Internet freedom. The two-day workshop will bring together academics in trade, cybersecurity and Internet governance with industry, government and civil society practitioners in trade policy.

The workshop agenda will devote sessions to the following topics:

  • Cybersecurity, global data flows and foreign investment 
  • Rights and trade: Trade agreements and privacy, intellectual property, free expression and intermediary immunities
  • Measuring information flows and the impact of policy interventions on information flows
  • Data localization laws: trade barriers or security prerequisite?
  • The geopolitical context of trade: an overview of NAFTA revision, the fates of TPP and TTIP, and the significance of China’s RCEP and “Belt and Road” proposals.
  • The emerging IoT and digital protectionism

 

Program

Thursday, May 24

Welcome and introductions (9:00 – 9:30)

Panel 1: Understanding the nature of digital trade (9:30 – 11:00)

This panel examines the fundamental economics of digital trade. How do we measure digital trade? How applicable is the trade in services paradigm to the globalized digital connectivity fostered by the internet? How are information flows related to capital flows, good and services flows, supply chains, and other factor flows? If digital information exchanges are ‘trade,’ how do we measure surpluses and deficits and do they mean anything?

  • Jessica Nicholson, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Measurement of digital trade
  • Milton Mueller, Georgia Tech/IGP, Data flow balances and the nature of “trade” in information
  • Discussant: Christopher Hooton, Internet Association

Coffee Break (11:00 – 11:30)

Panel 2: Data localization and digital trade (11:30 – 1:00)

This panel examines the issue of data localization and related efforts to align information flows with national borders. Are data localization laws inherently protectionist or are they justified by governments’ needs to bypass time-consuming barriers to trans-jurisdictional access to information?

  • Farzaneh Badii, GaTech IGP, Moderator
  • Nigel Corey, ITIF “Security and the Persistent and Misguided Appeal of Data Nationalism”
  • Charles Duan, R St. Institute, “Data Localization Through Intellectual Property Enforcement: Examples from US Law”
  • Jon Neiditz, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, Atlanta, “Deck Chairs on the Titanic?  Protecting the Industrial Internet of Things Against Cyberthreats”
  • Annegret Bendiek, SWP, Germany, “The EU’s role in digital trade and data protection.”
  • Helani Galpaya, LIRNEasia, Discussant

Lunch (1:00 – 2:30)

Panel 3: Digital trade in geopolitical context (3:00 – 5:00)

This panel looks at ongoing negotiations and strategic positioning on various trade agreements that might affect digital trade, including the future of NAFTA, TPP-minus, RCEP, TTIP. Is there any hope for digital free trade in the current geopolitical environment? What can be done to turn the tide?

  • Damien Levie, European Commission
  • Carolina Aguerre, Professor and Co-Director, CETYS
  • Gus Rossi, Public Knowledge, Trade Agreements: Bringing people back in. EU as a blueprint?
  • Will Hudson, Google, Discussant

Dinner

Friday, May 25

Panel 4: Cybersecurity and digital trade (10:00 – 12:00)

One of the key drivers of cyber nationalism is cybersecurity. We have seen a growing tendency to link trade in information technology and services to national security and national industrial policy. This panel will examine the relationship between cybersecurity and trade in digital goods and services.

  • Hans Klein, GaTech, Moderator
  • Tara Hairston, Kaspersky Labs, US efforts to ban Kaspersky products
  • Karl Grindal, Georgia Tech, Regulating Cyber through Trade Regimes
  • Jinhe Liu, Tsinghua University, China’s transborder data flow regulations
  • Claude Barfield, AEI, US CFIUS actions and digital free trade

Lunch (12:00 – 1:00)

Panel 5: Rights and Trade – IPR and Privacy (1:00 – 3:00)

Trade in digital services are often linked to rights protection (or rights conflicts), most notably around privacy and intellectual property. This panel brings together academic and civil society experts in advocacy groups active on issues related to digital trade to discuss the extent to which trade and individual rights are complementary or conflicting.

  • Ishan Mehta, Georgia Tech, An assessment of the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules model
  • Jeremy Malcolm, EFF, The Political Economy of Data Localization
  • Discussant: Shannon Coe, U.S. Commerce Department

Panel 6: Where to go from here (3:15 – 5:00)

This panel begins with two short thought pieces leading to a general discussion of where to go next: what principles and policies should guide us going forward?

  • Susan Aaronson, A New Approach to Regulating Data in Trade Agreements
  • Milton Mueller, Discussant

 

 

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