The importance of all stakeholders in addressing the challenges posed by e-commerce was widely recognised. It was the responsibility of government to work to avoid this from getting out of hand. To get consumers involved more, the issue of public trust has to be resolved. OECD consumer protection guidelines are being drawn up and dispute resolution mechanisms are to be examined more thoroughly. One important question is authentication and work on this will continue.
Privacy protection remains a major concern too.
The 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines still have value, but how to implement them effectively in today s networked world remains a question, particularly where dispute resolution and enforcement are concerned. As to developing infrastructure and improving access, further progress needs to be made in developing broadband, particularly wireless broadband, infrastructures. Competition would also have to be further encouraged. When it came to the session on building stable predictable regulatory frameworks, the main issue was taxation. The international consensus on taxes is that they should be applied in a neutral fashion so that there is no discrimination between electronic commerce and conventional commerce.