International Organization Helps Development of YU Internet
Most Important is to Limit Monopoly

[Published 4 September 2002 in the weekly "Comm/Media" column of DANAS (Today), a popular newspaper in Belgrade]

By Dragan Varagic (translated by Biljana Horvitz)

The Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI) has opened an office in Belgrade. GIPI's main role here is to facilitate communication between state institutions, individuals and organizations which are directly interested in the development of our Internet. The basic characteristic of Internet development during the previous period was a lack of the strategic parameters needed for qualitative improvement in the use of the Internet as an all-purpose communication resource. There are very serious indications that, from September of this year, the situation will finally change for the better, with the release (and, one hopes, adoption) of laws that have been waiting to see the light of day for a very long time - laws for electronic signature and electronic business, as well as a long-anticipated answer to the question of the YU domain.

The international organization Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI), which recently opened an office in Belgrade, will bring additional seriousness to solving the problems of the wider ICT community now. GIPI's main role here is to facilitate communication between state institutions, individuals and organizations directly interested in developing the Internet in our country. This organization, among others, is also trying to protect the Internet against interference from politicians, as an open, decentralized, and free-market medium. On GIPI's website it is possible to find very interesting examples of different countries' answers to ICT problems that are well-known to us - the conflict surrounding VoIP technologies, telecom monopoly, the licensing of Internet service providers, etc.

Director of GIPI Yugoslavia Slobodan Markovic

Substantive communication between government representatives and individuals interested in the development of the Internet are led by Slobodan Markovic, director of the GIPI office for Yugoslavia. Markovic is widely known to the Internet public as the owner of the discussion forum Internodium.org.yu and his work for the organization GIPI is a logical continuation of the activities which Markovic started several years ago through Internodium.

We asked Markovic to tell us for "Comm/Media Edition" about the situation of the Internet's planned development in this country and how GIPI will participate in that.

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN THE COMING MONTHS TO IMPROVE THE INTERNET'S SITUATION FROM A LEGAL POINT OF VIEW?

Markovic: Before anything else, stronger support from the (republic) government for general development of the Internet and telecommunications. The [Serbian] Government and the Bureau for Information Technology and Internet should form a professional working team as soon as possible to work on draft laws, for example, on e-signature, e-business and protection of Internet users' personal data. Also needed is to amend the criminal code to add provisions about electronic theft and fraud.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE END OF THIS YEAR ON THAT PLAN, AND HOW WILL GIPI PARTICIPATE?

Markovic: GIPI will cooperate with the state organs responsible for development of the Internet, interested individuals and organizations on the following priorities (this is also the current agenda of GIPI YU):

• Help in reforming the administration of the YU domain (based on the model in which the state delegates responsibility for administering the national registry to an independent nonprofit organization)
• Work on limiting and alleviating the consequences of Telekom's monopoly in the field of fixed telecommunications (which also relates to development of the Internet).
• Support for forming and strengthening the association of Internet providers so they can better represent their members' interests.
• Help in promoting and implementing the idea of building an open internet traffic exchange point (which will provide not only a better quality local data exchange and new broadband services, but also make it easier to connect ISP/hosting/content providers to the Internet.
• Help in creating and implementing a national ICT strategy - on this point, GIPI is already helping the IT Bureau organize a regional conference on telecom policy which will happen in Belgrade at the end of October.
• Helping to create new laws which regulate relationships in any aspect of the Internet field. GIPI is pushing the principles of open development of the Internet, freedom of expression, free competition in Internet access services and e-business, defense of users' privacy, and strict regulation of the monitoring possibilities of state and investigative organs.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW MANY OF GIPI'S ACTIVITIES COULD REALISTICALLY HAVE A POSITIVE DEMOCRATIC INFLUENCE ON ICT?

Markovic: I think we can help a lot, because the main role of GIPI is to help in communications between state institutions, individuals and organizations directly interested in the development of the Internet in our country. Working together in that sense is something that we have lacked for many years, and it is very important for the qualitative improvement of the Internet, in the best general interest and for the long term.

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