US Trade Rep Promises To Review Transparency Policies
from the well,-that's-a-start dept
After the highly questionable claim that the US Trade Representative couldn't release details over the secretive negotiations concerning the ACTA proposal because it somehow involved state secrets (though plenty of industry lobbyists were given access), it looks like the USTR has agreed to review its policies on transparency. It's definitely a good thing, but the USTR also says that the process will take a few months. It's unclear how that may impact ACTA, but it seems like the USTR could easily review just that particular decision before reviewing the entire process.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: acta, transparency, ustr
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Fairy Tales
They are all fairy tales to me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What we need is someone to send a copy to wikileaks.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Who watches the them?
The only state secrets that would be revealed with more transparency is how far politicians bend over for special interest groups... and let's face it... that's really not a secret.
They'll look up and shout 'Save us!'
And I'll whisper 'No!'
-Rorschach
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
hey..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Write to the white house
In fact, the only information I could find seemed to me to be campaign rhetoric, not actually legislation posting.
Anyhow, I pointed them to your previous article and asked the President to let me know why this was considered a state secret.
I guess, the President must have taken my request to heart and now they will let us know the answer in a timely manner.
It's nice to have politicians that understand the wants and needs of the people.
I assume we'll get a reply any day now.
You're welcome. . . .
Wow, I actually got through all of that with a straight face. I really did submit a letter at the white house site, and our fine leaders didn't even do me the courtesy of sending an automated reply that 'they'll look into it' like my senator does.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
fox, henhouse
[ link to this | view in chronology ]