A second area of focus is policies facilitating the development of electronic business over the telecommunications infrastructure. This Conference has highlighted them. They are the trust issues of electronic business. For the most part they need to be industry-led with selective, targeted government overview or involvement. I do want to comment about consumer protection, however.
Consumer protection is very important, but it is an issue business is just beginning to address.
In August, consumer protection was one of several issues discussed at meetings in Tokyo by both the Global Information Infrastructure Commission and the US-Japan Business Council. A robust and constructive dialogue is needed in this area right now so all parties may better understand the impacts of proposed actions. I said there were three areas of focus. The third is barriers to electronic business in vertical industry sectors. What I am talking about, for example, is that the ability to engage in telemedicine is not restricted by technology.