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An international pact on the free flow of information was signed.
As a result of five years of negotiations, 91 countries agreed to new rules for e-commerce, including the extension of the moratorium on taxation of Cross-Border Data Transfers. The moratorium is significant because it covers almost everything that is transmitted over the Internet, including video, audio, and news content.
The e-commerce initiative states that neither party will impose customs duties on the transfer of data between individuals from different countries. Although such fees have never been introduced, the general message of the document is that the free movement of data benefits small and medium-sized businesses, which makes the introduction of such tariffs unlikely.
However, the agreement leaves open the possibility of introducing in the future internal taxes, fees or other duties on data transfers, if the state decides to do so. According to telecom operators, this prospect, which obliges large technology companies to pay for the traffic they generate, creates an unfair financial burden for organizations. However, telecom operators are not allowed to do everything: the document also provides for measures to prevent operators from creating network bottlenecks.
The idea of internal taxes also deserves attention in the context of attempts to force social networks and search engines to pay taxes that will finance local journalism, which is particularly contrary to the position of Meta.
Other elements of the agreement include a requirement that member states provide access to the Internet "taking into account reasonable network management, without blocking or slowing down Internet traffic in order to gain an unfair commercial advantage." Which is more like a net neutrality mandate.
The importance of electronic data exchange for small businesses is also noted as a means to develop cross-border e-commerce without excessive bureaucracy. The agreement requires signatories to provide open government data in a machine-readable format, fight spam, and take cybersecurity seriously.
Support for less developed countries is also on the agenda. The initiative was led by Australia, Japan and Singapore. However, the moratorium was extended for only 2 years with a subsequent review. Some issues have been simplified in order to reach an agreement, so there are still many international negotiations and discussions ahead.
Source
As a result of five years of negotiations, 91 countries agreed to new rules for e-commerce, including the extension of the moratorium on taxation of Cross-Border Data Transfers. The moratorium is significant because it covers almost everything that is transmitted over the Internet, including video, audio, and news content.
The e-commerce initiative states that neither party will impose customs duties on the transfer of data between individuals from different countries. Although such fees have never been introduced, the general message of the document is that the free movement of data benefits small and medium-sized businesses, which makes the introduction of such tariffs unlikely.
However, the agreement leaves open the possibility of introducing in the future internal taxes, fees or other duties on data transfers, if the state decides to do so. According to telecom operators, this prospect, which obliges large technology companies to pay for the traffic they generate, creates an unfair financial burden for organizations. However, telecom operators are not allowed to do everything: the document also provides for measures to prevent operators from creating network bottlenecks.
The idea of internal taxes also deserves attention in the context of attempts to force social networks and search engines to pay taxes that will finance local journalism, which is particularly contrary to the position of Meta.
Other elements of the agreement include a requirement that member states provide access to the Internet "taking into account reasonable network management, without blocking or slowing down Internet traffic in order to gain an unfair commercial advantage." Which is more like a net neutrality mandate.
The importance of electronic data exchange for small businesses is also noted as a means to develop cross-border e-commerce without excessive bureaucracy. The agreement requires signatories to provide open government data in a machine-readable format, fight spam, and take cybersecurity seriously.
Support for less developed countries is also on the agenda. The initiative was led by Australia, Japan and Singapore. However, the moratorium was extended for only 2 years with a subsequent review. Some issues have been simplified in order to reach an agreement, so there are still many international negotiations and discussions ahead.
Source
