Sunday, March 15, 2009
Last week, the Obama administration refused to release copies of seven documents “in the interest of national security.” Did the documents have to do with torture, with warrantless wiretapping, with clandestine spy and antiterror activities? None of the above. These secret documents, too sensitive to be revealed by either the Bush or Obama administrations, are about…an international anti-counterfeiting trade agreement.
Many observers are concerned that the proposed agreement could include new restrictions related to file-sharing, online sales and even multi-region DVD players.
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Knowledge Ecology International, Carmen Suro-Bredie, the Chief FOIA for the president’s Office of United States Trade Representative, said that the various discussion drafts relating to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would remain secret. Although the U.S. public is prohibited from seeing them, the documents have been distributed to dozens of governments and, most likely, to lobbyists and others from interested industries.
Copyright Treaty is Classified for “National Security” (by Declan McCullagh, CNET)
Obama Administration Rules Texts of New IPR Agreement are State Secrets (by James Love, Huffington Post)
Freedom of Information Act Request Rejected (Knowledge Ecology International) (PDF)
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) (IP Justice)
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