EU official proposes global Internet charter Copyright © 1997 Nando.net Copyright © 1997 Reuter Information Service BRUSSELS, Belgium (September 8, 1997 11:21 a.m. EDT) - The top telecommunications official of the European Union called Monday for an international charter to regulate the Internet and other electronic networks. EU Commissioner Martin Bangemann, in a speech prepared for a telecommunications conference in Geneva, said the charter should deal with questions such as technical standards, illegal content, licenses, encryption and data privacy. "The current situation may lead to the adoption of isolated global rules with different countries signing up to different rules agreed under the auspices of different international organizations," the German commissioner said. "An international charter would provide a suitable answer." The text of the speech was distributed in Brussels. Bangemann said industry should lead the effort to draw up a charter, which would be based mostly on self-regulation and mutual recognition of national licenses. "Its role would not be to impose detailed rules, except in particular circumstances (child pornography, terrorist networks)," he said. The charter would recognize existing pacts negotiated within the World Trade Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization and draw on principles agreed by other bodies such as the Group of Seven top industrial countries, he said.