Can WTO law keep up with the Internet?
The regulation of Internet activities presents special challenges to the World Trade Organization (WTO), as its rules were mostly formulated in the pre-Internet era. The first difficulty lies in determining whether Internet activities should be classified as goods or services, as they are subject to...
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| Format: | text |
| Language: | English |
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Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
2017
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| Online Access: | https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3213 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/5171/viewcontent/108AmSocyIntlLProc350_pv.pdf |
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| Institution: | Singapore Management University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | The regulation of Internet activities presents special challenges to the World Trade Organization (WTO), as its rules were mostly formulated in the pre-Internet era. The first difficulty lies in determining whether Internet activities should be classified as goods or services, as they are subject to different regulatory frameworks. Traditionally, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) only applies to goods. It was not until the establishment of the WTO in 1995 that services trade was finally brought within the scope of the multilateral trading system. While some activities, such as the online delivery of books and audiovisual products could arguably be classified as goods according to the technology-neutrality principle, most activities conducted via the Internet share more similarities with services trade. For example, many Internet activities are intangible and non-storable like services. Similarly, many Internet activities are produced with joint input from suppliers and consumers and thus are tailor-made according to the needs of specific consumers, like other services. |
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