September’s Advocacy Corner Update
IAA’s policy team have had another busy month, meeting with regulatory bodies and NBN Co mostly to reinforce IAA’s position within Australia’s Internet industry landscape. We’ve also engaged in consultations that are of relevance to our members, and prepared an educational guide to assist members in complying with new critical infrastructure obligations.
Recent submissions:
Discussion Paper – NBN Co Revised SAU Variation Proposal | NBN Co
The IAA policy team continued its involvement in the revised Special Access Undertaking after the NBN Co’s withdrawal of its previous proposal in late July. In this process, we participated in the industry forum, as well as met with the ACCC and NBN Co to express our concerns and seek greater clarity on the proposed SAU. In our response, we noted that although the Discussion Paper suggested the SAU was stepping in the right direction, lack of transparency seems to be a key issue. In particular, as NBN Co indicates that trade-offs will be necessary between service standards, and price to RSPs, we emphasised that NBN Co must be transparent in these decisions and seek industry collaboration to better inform their decisions. We will continue to be involved in this process as NBN Co seeks to lodge its revised SAU to ACCC by the end of the year.
Stage 2 Review of the Model Defamation Provisions – Part A | COAG
We also continued to be involved in the review of the model defamation provisions, with Stage 2 reflecting perspectives and suggestions made by IAA during the Stage 1 consultations held last year. IAA continued to argue for a statutory exemption to apply to ISPs, recognising that telcos are not involved in the content layer of the Internet and therefore should have assurance that they will not be liable for defamatory material published online. We’ve also argued that DNS registries, registrars and DNS cache operators should not be liable for the domain names people (registrants) register.
Open submissions:
Exposure Draft—Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Statutory Infrastructure Providers and Other Measures) Bill 2022 | DITRDCA | 30 September 2022
The Department of Communications is seeking feedback on proposed amendments to the Statutory Infrastructure Provider regime. The Bill indicates changes to various telecommunications laws to enhance the operation of the SIP regime. Overall, IAA approves of the principles and objectives guiding the amendments and will seek greater clarity on areas that require further explanation.
Industry Codes of Practice for the Online Industry (Class 1A and Class 1B Material) | 2 October 2022
Industry representatives have collaborated to draft the Industry Codes relating to Online Safety for the different sections of the Internet sector. This approach recognises the unique functions and roles of the various sections and thus the different responsibilities that should apply. IAA will predominately respond to Schedule 7 for Internet Carriage Services and make recommendations that will better ensure an appropriate balance between protecting end-user safety online, cost and limiting unnecessary burdens for ISPs.
5 Year Productivity Inquiry: Australia’s Data and Digital Dividend | Productivity Commission | 7 October 2022
The second interim report for the Productivity Inquiry has been released, focusing on data and the digital economy in Australia. The Commission has made various recommendations, including changes to government funding allocations for telecommunications services such as those within the Universal Service Obligation and Mobile Black Spot funding.
