Electronic Public Transmission Act of 2002--- As the Minimum Regulations
on the Internet
First presented to Brown Bag Lunch, Feb. 11th, 2002, at CITI, USA
Second presented to SSGRR 2002, July 29-August 4, 2002, L’Aquila, Italy
Third prepared for ICNCC, March 9-10, 2005,Taipei, Taiwan
Koichiro Hayashi, Ph. D., LL.D.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Institute of Information Security
E-mail: hayashi@iisec.ac.jp
URL http://lab/iisec.ac.jp1

Source: Hayashi[1984]2

Purposes of EPTA
(Electronic Public Transmission Act)
1. Convergence of Telecommunications andBroadcasting ex：： A Copyright Infringement
Litigation on Audio Transmission via CS(Communications Satellite)
２．Astonishing Growth of the Internet
What is the best treatment for the Internet as aMedium?
Investigation into the Possibility ofComprehensive Act to cover Broadcasting,Telecommunications and the Internet

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Conduit v. Content
Economic v. Cultural

Regulation

ContentYes

NoYes

Broadcasting

Common Carriage

NoC’ (Internet)

Publishing

ConduitYes means that there is a sector-specific law other than general laws such as
criminal law or anti-trust law.
①Obscene (Indecent) materialInternet Content②Libel (Defamation)③Copyright infringement
Original idea came from Pool [1983]
4Demarcation between Communications
and Information Processing

Computer InquiryInquiry-１②②´Information
Processing

HybridProcessing①´①

HybridCommunications

Communications

VAN（Unregulated）
Unregulated）（Regulated）
Regulated）

Computer InquiryInquiry-２

Enhanced Service

Separate subsidiary

Telcos(Regulated）(Regulated）
Basic Service

AT&T
Other telcos

Provider otherthan telcos

5Four MethodsPlan A: Internet-type Communication Inclusion

Old Broadcasting

Enact GeneralLaw extracting
the general(common)
provisions included
in individual laws.

Broadcast Law

Old Communication

Let non-regulatory Internetabsorb the old communication
and broadcasting* which is apart of communication in a broadsense. Legally, only confirmationis possible. No active action will betaken (can be taken).

Communication Law

Internet

Plan C: General Provisions Extracted* “ Wireless transmission
aiming to be directly received
by the public ” (Section 1 ofArticle 2, Broadcast Law;
Section 4 of Article 5, Radio Law)

Plan B: Multimedia Law Supplemented

Multimedia Law

Broadcast Law

Communication Law

A new law such as Vice
President Gore’s“Communications
Act, Chapter 7 ” proposalor the German Multimedia
Law to be supplemented,
while leaving the existinglaws untouched.

General (comprehensive) Provisions

Plan D: Horizontal Separation(Trisection of Messages, Media, and Right of Way)

Message Comprehensive Law

Media Comprehensive Law

Multimedia-type communications
would become the mainstream infuture. A system suited to suchenvironment may be planned on
the basis of horizontal separation
which is stressed in the recent
studies of Industrial Organization.

Right of Way Law

6Pros and Cons of Each Plan
PlanProCon

Plan A
Internet-type
Communication
Inclusion
Plan B
Multimedia Law
Supplemented
Plan CGeneral
Provisions
Extracted

Special actions not necessary.

No orientation as a policy. Unexpectedbad effects may arise.

Orthodox way to enact new law.
Legislation comparatively easy.

Plan D
Horizontal
Separation

Methodology suitable in the age ofMultimedia.
Activation of media industries
expected by a new system which
may be better than that of the otherleading nations.

The US example shows that justsupplementing new law is not effective,
without weakening vested interests.
Doubtful to realize, as even the Radioand Broadcast Laws could not be
streamlined for nearly 50 years.
No bill is possible if the stakes are notwell accommodated.
No orthodox way.
Wisdom of various fields required to befocused.

Appropriate as the process to reachconsensus among concerned
industries.

General
Evaluation
Bad

MixedBadGood

7

EPTA depending mainly upon Plan D<New Idea*><Tradition>

InternetInternet

Telecom

One-to-ManyTransmission

Broadcasting

Regulated
Unregulated

One-to-One
BroadcastingTransmission•Receivers’ Right prescribed explicitly
7
Spam8

“Public Transmission”
Concept in Copyright Law
Public Transmission

Automatic Public Transmission(Interactive Transmission via WWW））

Broadcasting(SimultaneousTransmission
via Airwave)

Cable Transmission(SimultaneousTransmission
via CATV)Other Transmission i.e.Manual Transmission via
Fax etc.

General PublicGeneral Meaning:“an unspecified large
number of persons
excluding thoseconcerned withspecific legalrelationships”
Copyright Law:“includes a specificand a large numberof persons”
If extended:
may include “oneperson”
9Major Provisions in the Act
I. General Rules for Anyone
1. Freedom of Speech and Prohibition of Censorship
2. Protection of Privacy
3. Freedom of Reception
4. Prohibition of Unauthorized Access
II. Obligation for Electronic Public Transmission Operators
II -1. Obligations for Operators in General
1. Security of Essential Transmission
2. Security of Requisite Services
II-2. Obligation for Business Operators
1. Protection of Personal Information
II-3. Obligations for Large-scale Business Operators
1. Guaranteering of Open Access
2. Interconnection with other Service Providers
III. Electronic Public Transmission Commission
Ⅳ.Indemnification and Penalties

10Electronic Public Transmission Act of 2002
Telecommunications
InternetBroadcasting

Broadcasting

CATVCATVSatellite

New Act

Existing Laws

New Act is a combination of Plan A, B and D shown in Chart 211

3DD (Three-Dimentional Plan-D)
I (Internet)

Media

Right of Way

DB (Digital B)

No Act is desirable from theViewpoint of Freedom of SpeechEPTA

RoW ACT

AB (Analogue(Analogue Broadcasting(CATV))Ve
rtical I
nte
grationMessage

CLast One Mile
12

Digitized
Digitized except Last One Mile

12

Residual Differences=Privilege and Obligation forBroadcasting Operators[Privilege]Neighboring Right to Copyright[Obligation]
Fairness Doctrine

13Thank you for your attention.
More information at the following sites;
URL:http://lab.iisec.ac.jp/~hayashi/hayashi.e.html
Digital Works by Koichiro Hayashi“Electronic Public Transmission Act of 2002 (Brown Bag Lunch
Presentation at CITI, Feb. 11,2002)“Electronic Public Transmission Act of 2002 as the Minimum
Regulations on the Internet”“Electronic Public Transmission Act of 2002 , Attached Materials”
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