디지털콘텐츠무역에 대한 통상법적 논의의 성과와 한계

The Outcome and Limitation of Trade in Digital Contents

This article is mainly based on unsolved problems concerning trade in digital products in the WTO and some FTAs. This article consisted of 3 separate chapters. Setting apart from Introduction, chapter Ⅰ and Conclusion, chapter Ⅴ, main body showed the following reasoning: Chapter Ⅱ mostly dealt with thc background issues between digital contents and trade liberalization. That is, this chapter firstly introduced the definition of "contents" and "digital contents," and more some issues raised by the character of the digital contents in terms of international trade law. As the result of this study, this chapter may show an important conflict between the U.S. and the EU based on a difference of viewpoint on "contents" itself. That is, the U.S. considers digital contents as an object of trade liberalization. However, the position of the EU is vice versa. And then secondly, chapter Ⅲ reviewed the outcomes and limitations of discussions on digital products in the WTO. The result of a variety of discussion in the WTO concerning digital products and/or electronic commerce is not clear. Nothing was agreed because of the differences on the way of trade liberalization in digital products between U.S. and EU. And the worse, the debate on trade in digital products in the WTO was interrupted and nobody knows when it will open again. After considering all these chapters, chapter Ⅳ gave several outcomes and features in some FTAs on trade in digital contents, especially KORUS FTA and Korea-EU FTA. This chapter wants to show the difference to get a way of trade liberalization on digital contents. That is, unlike the discussion in the WTO, the FTAs may try to regulate definitely a trade in digital contents in some ways. The former provides definite obligations concerning non-discrimination principles in trade in digital contents, but the latter FTA defines trade in digital contents as "cultural issues." The result of this different view on "contents" leads the problems in trade in digital contents to be unsolved again. However, as a "Model Law", the U.S. type of FTAs may show a possibility of regulating trade in digital contents in terms of trade liberalization, and the remaining is to narrow the gap with each Party.