Most importantly, it is necessary to prevent the creation of trade barriers, either technical or non-technical, since such barriers would inhibit the job creation and economic growth potential of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce is a powerful driver to create new markets, new applications, new business, and new jobs. It has the potential to revolutionize the business environment. Through electronic commerce, small businesses can operate globally without the massive investment typically required to establish a distribution mechanism. Large corporations can relate directly with their customer, empowering the consumer with previously unavailable individual impact and commercial choice.
Governments can modernize their services, and offer more efficient support to their citizens.
Secure and efficient development can only be ensured by industry and governments working in partnership to enable that future. Industrys role is to lead in the development of the infrastructure necessary to support electronic commerce. It is critical that any regulatory approach be minimal, globally harmonized, technology neutral and promote global interoperability. The EU and U.S. should broaden the discussions on electronic commerce policy to all regions of the world. National privacy protection should allow for differences in protection measures based on national political systems and local cultures, with government regulation only as a last resort.