During my speech yesterday morning, I suggested that we
were betting on transforming this Forum into a dynamic, free and innovative gathering for
discussion, in short, a dialogue box. Today, I am thrilled with our success. I would like
to thank all those responsible for the Forum. UNESCO who welcomed us and President Hervé
Bourges, who has allowed us to share in its realization and who was the visionary behind
it all. He provided all of us with an opportunity to stimulate our thinking on these
issues. The participation of France in this Forum was particularly remarkable, highlighted
by the presence of the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Industry and the Prime
Minister, who is hosting us this evening. This shows the importance France attaches to the
development of the new technologies. Of course, I would also like to thank the CSA and its
entire team. Bravo to their organizational talents!
Through the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission, Canada has made its modest contribution, even if our
bilingual culture created a little confusion with its various terms for regulation. While
we may have helped to make some progress in the translation of texts, I would like to
remind you that Hervé Bourges’ team members are the real craftspeople of this Forum.
The calls for generosity, information and dialogue at the
beginning of this Summit were definitely heard. The submissions that were distributed will
serve as a reference and we were fortunate to receive a wealth of information from the
broadcasting and telecommunications regulators in attendance. During the course of this
Forum, we revisited the history of a very young technology. The Internet is really only
ten years old.
I feel very privileged to have participated in this Forum
and to have learned so much in your company. While it is important to learn through texts,
learning with passion and emotion is extremely enriching.
To restate the goal of this Summit, I would say that the
key is not to know whether we should regulate the Internet, but rather to know the extent
to which this network and its environment concerns our regulatory agencies, our
regulations, our legislation and our methods. I am glad that we were able to ask ourselves
these questions together.
There were a number of terms that accompanied our thinking
process. Terms such as "flexibility", "simplicity",
"open-mindedness", "free expression" and "generosity"
allowed us to adapt accordingly.
Following these two days, I now understand that the
Internet is not a linear phenomenon, a tool or a medium, but in reality the network of all
networks. Some have even gone so far as to claim that the Internet is life. In fact, the
World Wide Web is neither a new universe replacing the one we know, nor the final
technological development. We will learn to live with the Internet and continue to evolve
with this technology while awaiting the next wave.
To my mind, the Internet unites a package of
communications elements that we know well, but which from now on will take on other forms
and other meanings. As such, you can find telephone and audiovisual capacity, data
transmission, trade, messaging and discussion fora all on the Internet.
I learned over the course of our discussions that there is
no such thing as the right answer. There are, however, human beings everywhere struggling
with the information age. On the eve of the new millennium, we should be able to be
full-fledged citizens of the Internet universe.
We have seen that telecommunications agencies are most
concerned with the universality of access and its costs. For broadcasting regulatory
agencies, the main issues have to do with content. However, these are not just issues for
this type of agency, as Professor Vivant stated, regulation of Internet content is far
from being universally endorsed.
Today, we are witnessing a diversity of viewpoints on the
concept of worldwide governance of the Internet. Recognition of the global economy and the
activity of the new technologies does not imply, however, that we have agreed to create a
government of governments. As Chairperson of the CRTC, I am certainly not in a position to
speak in the name of the Canadian government.
Our concerns were certainly put into perspective when we
heard from developing countries whose main worry is the universality of access. While they
agree that every village should have access to the Internet, they know that they cannot,
on their own, guarantee that access. If we want the Internet to fulfill its promise, we
must create international cooperation in this area.
In the developed countries, there are two types of
concern. First, these countries emphasize the dangers of the Internet: the network’s
impact on private life; crimes in cyberspace; pedophile sites; offensive language; and
protection of intellectual property. I felt that a consensus had developed around the fact
that the laws of our countries should deal with these realities. Existing laws could be
adapted to curb the excesses of the Internet. Secondly, developed countries are seeking to
turn the Internet into a real opportunity and many productive ideas were put forward in
this regard.
Given the Internet’s ability to empower citizens, it
is up to us, in every country and in a spirit of international cooperation, to ensure that
the entire world becomes the hub of this network. This implies developing a proactive
approach as illustrated by the initiatives put forward by South Africa, Senegal,
Singapore, the Netherlands, the Media Awareness Centre and the Internet Watch Foundation.
As the French Minister of Industry stated, all of these initiatives represent
opportunities.
Through its bilingualism, Canada, a country in which civil
and common law coexist, brings a different perspective. The CRTC, which oversees both
telecommunications and broadcasting, places diversity of objectives and means at the heart
of its philosophy. Given the Internet’s youth, complexity and global scale, it is
imperative that we continue our discussions in any fora available to us, particularly the
IIC Forum which my colleague from Malaysia will begin chairing in January, and the
regulators’ fora held on every continent. This World Forum, organized under the
auspices of UNESCO, demonstrates how fruitful it could be to continue the discussions on a
global scale. In fact, the more we learn and the more we share, the more we are able to
cooperate and work in our respective spheres.
As to the future, I hope that we will be able to hold a
second World Summit under the guidance of UNESCO. Comments I heard during the sessions
lead me to believe that it would be useful to organize a more interactive forum to better
examine the state of affairs on each continent. This new forum would allow us to continue
our discovery and our journey in the "global village".
Thank you.
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Contact: Denis Carmel, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Tel.: (819) 997-9403, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 997-4245
e-mail: denis.carmel@crtc.gc.ca
Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782)
This document is available in alternative format upon
request.
