Russia export controls and sanctions

China favors manipulating voluntary global technical standards via the revised International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) to favor Chinese-owned companies like Huawei, wrote Richard Bennett, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation senior research fellow. China is seeking to alter Internet governance by changing current voluntary global technical standards -- the ITU-T “Recommendations” -- into mandatory “regulations,” he said in a report. “Technical standards are a genuinely global issue, and China has already shown a willingness to involve the ITU-T (ITU’s technical standards arm) in their development when Chinese companies are unable to get their way in the legitimate Internet standards forum, the Internet Engineering Task Force.” Other nations that seek to change the Internet governance structure at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), including Russia, can address their underlying issues outside WCIT, Bennett said. Russia recently proposed amending the ITRs to give all ITU member states “equal rights in the international allocation of Internet addressing and identification resources” (CD Nov 21 p7). In Russia’s case, “while [Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers] has been a whipping boy for a variety of interests, its shortcomings are primarily the result of a lack of participation by interested parties. Most ICANN participants today are domain registrars, but others are free to participate as well,” Bennett said (http://xrl.us/bn3moh).

The European Parliament was to vote Thursday on resolutions aimed at pressuring governments not to yield to attempts by some countries to regulate the Internet through changes to the ITU’s International Telecom Regulations (ITRs). The Council of Ministers is preparing its position for the December World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, a position that will be adopted sometime before Nov. 29, an EU diplomatic source told us. Governments are fully committed to ensuring that the WCIT outcome aligns with EU law and its digital agenda, Cypriot Justice and Public Order Minister Louca Loucas told Parliament members during a Tuesday evening debate in the Legal Affairs Committee. The council is “fully determined to defend the EU interest in Dubai,” he said. Nevertheless, lawmakers said they're worried European values will fall victim to governments seeking a stronger voice on the Internet.

The U.S. is concerned that the Russian Federation’s newest set of proposed revisions for the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) would increase governments’ ability to control the Internet, officials and Internet governance experts told us. Russia originally submitted the proposals Nov. 13 before sending a revised version to the ITU on Saturday. Delegates will consider proposed revisions at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which begins Dec. 3 in Dubai.

The House approved legislation Friday to require the U.S. Trade Representative to report annually on Russian discrimination against U.S. digital trade. The Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal Act (HR-6156) passed on a 365-43 vote. The legislation also includes a provision to spur the Russian Federation to provide better protections for intellectual property rights. The vote was hailed by Computer & Communications Industry Association CEO Ed Black, who said it’s “encouraging to see signs that Congress is taking action to build in better provisions to discourage Internet censorship as part of our future trade relations."

Russia wants to include the Internet under revised definitions for the International Telecommunication Regulations, said a Russian language copy of a proposal to the December World Conference on International Telecommunications we obtained. Russia cited an outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society to back its proposal that said a government has the sovereign right to manage the Internet and national domain names in its territory, an unofficial translation said. The proposal also calls for language that requires other governments and operating agencies to cooperate in the development of the Internet on its territory. The proposed text would also require governments and operating agencies to cooperate on the security, integrity and sustainability of the national segments of the Internet. It also said governments have equal rights in the international distribution of Internet addressing and identification resources.

If portions of the revised International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) that come out of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) next month prove objectionable to the U.S., there’s no chance the Senate would vote to ratify the revisions to the treaty-level document and make it a part of U.S. law, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said Wednesday. But McDowell and others at an American Enterprise Institute event said they believed a worst-case scenario coming out of WCIT could result in a “balkanization” that would disrupt the growth of the Internet. The U.S. delegation to WCIT sees controversial proposals that would expand the ITRs into the realm of Internet governance -- including cybersecurity and Internet traffic compensation -- as “non-negotiable” items, said U.S. delegation head Terry Kramer. That makes it all the more critical that the delegation focus on outreach efforts to wavering delegations in the weeks before WCIT convenes in Dubai Dec. 3, he said.

Eutelsat teamed with the Russian Satellite Communication Co. (RSCC) to lease capacity for broadcasting and IP services on two RSCC satellites that will be launched in 2013 and 2015. The contracts for the two 15-year leases are valued at about $380 million, Eutelsat said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bnxm8o). The satellites, Express-AT2 and Express-AMU1, will be launched to provide follow-on and expansion capacity for Eutelsat 36A at the 36 degrees east position, it said. Express-AT2 will “more than double Ku-band capacity for satellite broadcasting at the key video neighborhood serving Russia’s Far East region.” Express-AMU1 will give coverage of part of the Russian Federation in Ku and Ka bands and ensure service continuity for broadcast markets developed by Eutelsat in sub-Saharan Africa, Eutelsat said.

A new set of proposed revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) outlines the U.S.’s vision for addressing issues that originally prompted other nations and trade groups to propose what the U.S. viewed as objectionable revisions. The proposals, which were to be submitted Wednesday to the ITU in advance of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), update the original set of proposals the U.S. submitted in early August (CD Aug 6 p2). Delegates will convene at WCIT in Dubai starting Dec. 3 to consider the proposed revisions. Proposed revisions to the ITRs must be submitted to the ITU by Friday.

Time Warner Cable began carrying some Russian pay-TV networks in its New York City and New Jersey systems, Channel One Russia Worldwide TV said. The networks are Dom Kino, Vremya and Muzika Pervogo, it said.

Europe saw a 16.4 percent increase in the number of fiber-to-the-home/building subscribers in the first half of 2012, and FTTH/B coverage is growing fast, the FTTH Council Europe said Wednesday. The survey covered the 27 EU members plus Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey (the EU27+9). By mid-2012, the EU27+9 had nearly six million subscribers and 32 million homes passed, it said. Russia offers “huge market potential,” with more than five million FTTH/B subscribers and 15.8 million homes passed, it said. Spain and Luxembourg have now made the list of leading FTTH/B economies, it said. But the top three rankings -- Lithuania, Norway and Sweden -- were unchanged, the council said. And some key EU economies, such as the U.K. and Germany, “are still conspicuously absent,” it said.