IPTV and E-Commerce

Earlier this year I attended the Pacific Telecommunications Conference and gave a paper on IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and international policy, primarily looking at the WTO and WIPO. I started off talking about how the WTO discussions in 1996 and 1997 led to the globalization of the Internet. Then I argued that IPTV would face some problems under the current classifications schemes of the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). One particular problem is the resistance to including broadcasting issues in the WTO. I suggested that IPTV should be considered e-commerce in order to have the same level of success approaching that of the Internet.