Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2010-11 3.5.3.2 Cooperation between ICT regulators and 3.5.3.3 Cooperation between ICT regulators and law enforcement agencies education sector authorities As previously addressed in Section 3.4.2, the num-ber of crimes committed using communications net-works, ICT regulators and education authorities are increa-singly working together to facilitate deployment of e-learning applications and services continues to grow in and knowledge programs. Similarly, initiatives the digital age as more and more activities are con-ducted to forge alliances among private actors, donor agencies and non-governmental organizations have proven criti-cal via electronic communications. Lawful intercep-tion of and access to electronic communications (e.g., in implementing many successful initiatives to inte-grate ICT and education. wiretapping) has been a nexus between ICT regulators and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for decades, first with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and more recently with packet-switched and virtual networks. Although ICT regulators have begun to play a stronger role with respect to consumer protection is-sues Afghanistan offers an example of how the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) are collaborating on a project to improve both the education and ICT sec-tors. 139 Beginning in September 2008, the MoE and such as spam, these laws have traditionally re-quired LEAs, as well as defense or security agencies, to MoCIT launched a “One Laptop per Child” (OLPC) project in a public-private partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Roshan, a mobile operator in Afghanistan, and Paiwas-toon, take the lead due to public safety and national security interests in issues including interception of communica-tions, data privacy, cyber theft and fraud.134 a local information technology company. The MoE distributes the laptops to schools, and the MoCIT ensures the quality of the content, as well as the tech-nology. However, due to its technical expertise, the ICT regulator’s role in supporting or advising LEAs may in-crease By March 2010, more than 3,700 laptops had in the digital age through 1) assisting LEAs in the been distributed in Afghanistan through the OLPC project.140 coordination of various LEAs and national security agencies at local and national levels, and 2) assisting service providers and consumers in understanding their rights and obligations.135 In some instances, the ICT regulator may take the lead in enforcing cybercrimes. For example, in the United Kingdom, the recently passed digital piracy law136 places most of the imple-mentation As set out in Box 3.13, the ITU has developed a checklist of issues that should be considered by author-ities when considering and implementing school con-nectivity initiatives.141 Notably, the checklist highlights and enforcement powers with the ICT regu-lator, the need for school connectivity programs to be prop-erly Ofcom, rather than with an LEA (see Box 3.13).137 coordinated with the country’s national plans and all the relevant agencies. In particular, school connectiv-ity Where both LEAs and the ICT regulator are given au-thority plans should be consistent with policies to promote over a particular area of cybercrime, the laws overall ICT connectivity within the country. and enabling regulations should clearly define the roles of all parties, as well as provide adequate resources for enforcement.138 Box 3.13: Ofcom’s expanded role in enforcing digital piracy law in the United Kingdom • The Digital Economy Act of 2010 (DEA) assigned Ofcom new duties to create and to implement obligations regard-ing online copyright infringement. • Ofcom, rather than a law enforcement agency, will enforce these obligations through a code of practice, which de-tails a three-stage notification process for informing subscribers of infringements and requires ISPs to provide in-fringing subscribers’ IP addresses to the relevant copyright holders. • Ofcom’s powers include deciding upon the appropriate enforcement action against any person found to have breached the code, including imposition and collection of a financial penalty up to £250,000. • The DEA further requires Ofcom to establish an independent appeals tribunal for subscribers who have had copy-right enforcement actions taken against them. Source: Ofcom, Consultation on Online Infringement of Copyright and the Digital Economy Act 2010: Draft Initial Obligations Code Chapter 3 111