Detailed Outline chapter 10: The Politics of Global Communication

Lamiae Mejjane

The Politics of Global Communication

I) The Three substantive domains

• since the mid-19th cent, global com has developed into an important concern on the agenda of the international community
• Developed rules of conduct
• Telecommunications include data communication, intellectual property rights and mass media
• The main issues in telecom involve: Accessibility, confidentiality, allocation

The beginings

some norms adopted include the protection of the secrecy of correspondence, the right of all nations to use international telegraphy, and the rejection of all liability for int telegraphy service

International property rights

• Convention Establishing a General Union for the Protection of the Rights of AUthors in their Literacy and Artistic Works
• Ensure remuneration for an author by protecting his or her work agaisnt reproduction

Mass media

• spread of obscene publications across borders
• used as instrument of foreign diplomacy
• silent diplomacy vs public diplomacy

The New Multilateral Institutions

• Post 1945, UN and multilateral policy coordination
• Commission on Human Rights agaisnt discrimination

Specialized Agencies

• important in com (ITU, UPU, UNESCO, WIPO, etc)

The Non Governmental Organizations

• in post 1945 phase, a contribution was offered by a growing group of int NGOs.

Shifts in Global Com. Politics

• Global governance determines space that national govs. have for independent policy making
• Global com. defined by trade and market
• Powerful private players significantiv.
• Transnational corporations are prominent playersh.

The World Trade Organization

WTO

• Free trade pushed, global comm. generates $1.6 trillion annually

II)Current Practices

• Contemporary thoughti. Global comm. critical for development
• Installation and upgrading of infrastructure is expensive
• Private funding is needediv.
• Question of how much competition will result or will monopolies prevail?

WTO Telecommunicaitons Treaty

• Participating states need of liberalize to participate
• Public Telecom transport service
• Public telecom transport network
• TRIPS protects econ rights of investors over moral/creative rights of individuals or cultural interests of public at largee.

Domain of Mass Media

• Problem of oligopolies and cartels
• Preference for anti-cartle legislation clashes with free market agenda- liberal claims vs. protectionism

III) Lessons from a key project in the domain of global mass media politics

• New Intetrnational Information Order (NIIO) in the 1970s
• Lack of participation of ordinary people and nonstate actors

IV) Global Communications Polticis Today

• Access: Neoliberal focus on global consumer society vs. making sure people are literate so comm.. can promote democracy (humanitarian perspective)
• Knowlegde: As a commodity vs. as a public good
• Global advertising: Expansion vs. econological implications of global consuer society
• Privacy: Data collection to profile consumers vs. privacy for citizense.
• intellectual property rights: investors property vs. protecting communal property
• Trade in culture: Culture as any other commodity vs. exemptions on culture from trade provisions to protect autonomy
• Concentration: Business links vs. preventing mergers and oligopolies
• The commons: Private exploitation vs. public property
• Civil Advocacy: Humanitarian agenda and various lobbies
• The World Summit on the Information Society: In 2001, third sponsored by UN