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Open Economies - Notes from iLaw session

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Notes from iLaw session

  • Subject: Notes from iLaw session
  • From: openeconomies(at)cyber.law.harvard.edu (Finbarr Livesey)
  • Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 11:34:14 -0400
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Here are short notes from the iLaw session that was held on July 5th. These 
are not verbatim notes, and so are relatively short. Any comments or 
questions welcome, please mail me at flivesey@cyber.law.harvard.edu.

Regards

Finbarr Livesey



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Notes from iLaw session, July 5}{\b\super th}{\b  2001
\par 
\par Open Economies and the specific case of Mauritius\rquote  desire to become a Cyber Island
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\widctlpar\brdrb\brdrdb\brdrw15\brsp20 \aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {
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, or notes taken from a recording of the session. These are notes as taken du
ring the session and so will have omissions and some inaccuracies. For these reasons none of the speakers are specifically identified, other than to separate comments from one another.
\par }\pard\plain \ql \li0\ri0\widctlpar\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\par }{\b Overview}{: As part of the iLaw Conference held at the Harvard Law School by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, July 2}{\super nd}{ \endash  6}{\super th}{
 2001, an extra workshop was run to have an open discussion on an actual case. The Republic of Mauritius wishes to become a Cyber Island, and so the group was asked to discuss the topics that they should consider and how they should move forward.
\par 
\par [Q \endash  question, R- response, S \endash  statement or comment]
\par 
\par }{\b Q}{: What is a \lquote Cyber Island\rquote ?
\par 
\par R: Look to the Caribbean Islands, they have already started to think through these issues.
\par R: The Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard has a Network Readiness Guide, surely that has a definition?
\par R: It is the same as what is happening in India, it is the same as cyber parks, or cyber districts where connectivity is provided via fiber and satellite and then companies can come and use the region, such as IBM or Cisco \endash 
 this is what Dubai has done.
\par R: But it is not just digital companies, it is the cement manufacturer in Mexico as well that should be e-enabled, ordering, checking progress, all processes sh
ould be on the web. For the public you should be able to pay taxes online, get your drivers license online, it should all be there.
\par R But we should think about this in a structured way \endash  People, Process, Tools, and Measures. It is not just a case of connecting to the outside world.
\par 
\par S: You need a purpose, an overall goal. There is no point in just building connectivity and capability, just getting people together is not enough, you have to establish business, government, and universities as partners.
\par 
\par S: An island like Mauritius should be a niche player, go for something like e-signatures and market the hell out of it. Like the Isle of Mann, do something that is enough to get you going and be the first player.
\par 
\par S: Look at Ireland, they used the legal tool of tax haven, and with no tax they suddenly had a lot of IT companies.
\par 
\par }{\b Q}{: Assume that the infrastructure is in place, the technology of having access to the Internet has been taken care of, what then do you need to do?
\par 
\par R: Education, and not just at the university level, but below that.
\par R: Contrast the existing set of norms in laws etc. to the target market and investors and see where there may be problems.
\par 
\par S: One of the issues is how do you make traditional industries (which were referred to in the session as analog industries) more and more digital?
\par 
\par S: Dual approach \endash  digital processing of analog materials (like putting old records online), and acting as a clearing house for African agricultural development.
\par 
\par S: Use that infrastructure to provide other services, such as Internet telephony
\par 
\par S: Skeptical of the idea of bringing big business to Mauritius, to take advantage of a technical infrastructure \endash  these companies already have these capabilities at home, there must be very strong incentives for businesses to use Mauritius.
\par 
\par }{\b Q}{: As lawyers what do you think are the necessary steps:
\par 
\par R: Provide security
\par R: Eliminate paper based requirements
\par R: Understand the corporate governance structure \endash  if it is radically different from Western practice it may scare Western counsel
\par R: Potentially companies can be encouraged to waive jurisdiction to \lquote nullify\rquote  outside law and depend on Mauritian law
\par R: Is it possible to import wholesale the required body of law from a desireable, predictable jurisdiction, i.e. UK, Delaware?
\par 
\par S: The stability of the government and the political process will be very important
\par S: The aim should be to enhance the existing business structures, less than bringing in outside companies.
\par S: They should focus on the security and privacy of the secondary customers as well.
\par 
\par S: The development should focus on moving away from manufacturing as much as possible and into knowledge industries.
\par 
\par S: Mauritius must also understand the image that it wants to project, will it focus on tourism, culture, and most of all what is it that is different that they can offer to the world?
\par 
\par S: They need to offer a single plan for corporations \endash  be it secrecy, or facilities for take-overs.
\par 
\par S: One good piece of advice is to adopt a simple, clear set of rules, make it easy for companies coming in. Also, in Brazil every bill and piece of legislation is posted on the Net, and so helps with corruption problems.
\par 
\par S: There should be some focus on Singapore, as a very wired place that had a lot of issues as it tried to become a digital center.
\par 
\par S: The place of incorporation does not matter much, you want people there not just shells.
\par 
\par }{\b Wrap-up}{:
\par 
\par The main question, of what is a cyber-island, can be difficult to tie down. The comments on purpose and vision are very important, as these types of developments can often be merely symbolic posturing rather than true developments. At the end of the day 
Mauritius will have to differentiate itself, and that is where opportunities will lie.
\par 
\par 
\par 
\par }}

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