U.S.-Japan Report Cites Tech Progress
The United States and Japan released the results of their work under a joint regulatory reform and competition policy initiative on Monday, citing progress in a number of areas, including several tech-related topics. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk welcomed the progress, noting it helps to further open Japan's market, improve its business environment, and stimulate new opportunities for growth. Japan is the United States' fourth largest trading partner and goods export market.
Some information technology progress from Japan:
• Strengthening protections for music and motion pictures by amending the copyright law to make illegal Internet downloads knowingly made from unauthorized sources.
• Creating new opportunities for certain electronic fund transfer providers by introducing the legal framework necessary to offer such services in Japan.
• Completing reviews by ministries and agencies of their privacy guidelines to ensure consistency with standardized cabinet office guidelines, thereby improving predictability for companies to comply with privacy requirements.
• Launching an improved database of government information systems procurements to provide more transparency for all IT vendors and potential bidders, including by posting procurement plans, specification documents and tender notice information.
• Ensuring opportunities for input by U.S. rights holders in policy deliberations affecting limitations and exceptions to copyright protections in Japan.
• Committing to further strengthening of bilateral cooperation to boost intellectual property protections, including through work in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and through an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
• Establishing reimbursements for remote diagnostic imaging technologies used in telemedicine, creating new opportunities for medical equipment suppliers.
• Launching a three-year personal health record project to facilitate the collection and storage of lifetime personal health information in a manner compliant with international standards.
More highlights from the report can be found here. The full report can be found here.
Categories:
International
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus