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A Policy Perspective on Electronic Commerce

Published

Author(s)

E Maxwell, S A. Wakid, J A. Moline

Abstract

On July 1, 1997, President Clinton issued A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce identifying nine areas in which international agreements would be needed in order to preserve the Internet as a non-regulatory medium.The implementation of global electronic commerce has been much more rapid than initially anticipated. Internet traffic is doubling every one hundred days. By 2003-2005, electronic commerce revenue is projected to total more than one trillion dollars. The information technology and telecommunications sectors account for about one-third of real growth of the U.S. gross domestic product. The Department of Commerce's The Emerging Digital Economy provides a snapshot of how electronic commerce and information are being used by businesses of all sizes and from all sectors thus creating new opportunities. Electronic commerce is changing the fundamental relationship between buyers and sellers, producers and consumers. The principles presented in the U.S. Framework have gained worldwide support and the specific policies outlined in that document are being implemented.Continuing the work of the Framework, the U.S. Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce: First Annual Report documents the U.S. progress in implementing the strategy. Further, the report identifies five new areas that have emerged since the original work was done.In this paper we discuss the infrastructural policies, the applications policies, and work of the G7/G8 Information Society Pilot Project on the Global Marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) as related to the development of electronic commerce.
Citation
IEEE Communications Magazine
Volume
37
Issue
No. 9

Keywords

bandwidth, consumer protection, Framework for Global Electronic Commerce, G7/G8 Information Society Pilot Project, privacy, security and authentication, SMEs, tariffs/customs, taxation

Citation

Maxwell, E. , Wakid, S. and Moline, J. (1999), A Policy Perspective on Electronic Commerce, IEEE Communications Magazine (Accessed March 19, 2024)
Created August 31, 1999, Updated October 12, 2021