Senators Begin Questioning ACTA Secrecy

from the this-ain't-the-transparency-we-were-promised dept

Mon, Nov 23rd 2009 8:25pm — Mike Masnick

Despite some sweet talk from Hollywood about how important ACTA and its secret negotiations are to America (and, once again, no, the secrecy is not at all "normal," as some industry lawyers would have you believe), it looks like some Senators are finally beginning to question how ACTA is being handled. Senators Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown have sent a letter to US Trade Rep Ron Kirk asking for ACTA documents to be made public. The letter points out that "the public has a right to monitor and express informed views on proposals of such magnitude" especially considering that "there are concerns about the impact of ACTA on the privacy and civil rights of individuals, on the supply of products under the first sale doctrine, on the markets for legitimate generic medicines, and on consumers and innovation in general." The letter also takes on the bogus claims of state secrets in protecting ACTA documents:

We are surprised and unpersuaded by assertions that disclosures of basic information about the negotiation would present a risk to the national security of the United States, particularly as regards documents that are shared with all countries in the negotiations, and with dozens of representatives of large corporations. We are concerned that the secrecy of such information reflects a desire to avoid potential criticism of substantive provisions in ACTA by the public, the group who will be most affected by the agreement. Such secrecy has already undermined public confidence in the ACTA process.... We firmly believe that the public has a right to know the contents of the proposals being considered under ACTA, just as they have the right to read the text of bills pending before Congress."

Unfortunately, these are just two Senators. Supporters of ACTA likely have many more who will blindly fight to keep ACTA secret and get it approved with little or no substantive input from those it will impact most.

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, bernie sanders, secrecey, senate, sherrod brown

32 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:32pm

But everyone knows ACTA won't affect US law, because, umm...

Oh look, a distraction!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:45pm

$10 says...
...Both those Senators suddenly get career ending scandals.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:52pm

Socialist Bernie? he must be a techdirt fave.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:59pm

The senate is only pretending to do something because elections are coming up.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:14pm

So when ACTA is finally introduced to the public, you know, after it's pretty much signed into law, can we have a breakdown of how much ACTA deals with copyright as opposed to counterfeiting?

I'm guessing that 3/4 of it is copyright and 1/4 of it is counterfeiting.

The Pro-Copyright Executive Decision Act, or, PCEDA.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:16pm

Re:
A copyright maximalist's "fave" is Joseph Goebbels. Truth hurts, doesn't it?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:31pm

If you like this, say thanks...
Hey, let's contact these Senators and let them know we appreciate their support:

">Bernie Sanders' Office
Sherrod Brown's Office
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:33pm

Use this link instead for Bernie Sanders
Updated link-

Bernie Sanders' Office
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 10:09pm

Ideas for contacting your Government Represenative
I just faxed a copy of the letter (warning:PDF) with a coversheet to my Senators and Representatives. In the coversheet, I (nicely) asked that they take a look at what Senators Brown and Sanders wrote, and let me know if "this ACTA thingie is something to be worried about".

I finished it off by asking the Senator/Representative also request this same information from US Trade Representative Ron Kirk. I hope this gives you some ideas, and maybe you feel inclined to do the same.

Here's a link to find Your Representatives
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 10:11pm

Re: Ideas for contacting your Government Represenative
Here's the link to the letter I faxed

http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/sanders_brown_acta.pdf
[ link to this | view in thread ]
US pirate party, 23 Nov 2009 @ 11:39pm

IS the US pirate party a joke
why aren't they organizing a massive senator letter campaign or some rallies.....must be like that canuck version all shilled out
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 1:31am

Re:
Elections were beginning of the month, moron.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dom S, 24 Nov 2009 @ 1:45am

Re: $10 says...
i second this...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Killer_Tofu (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 5:49am

Re: Use this link instead for Bernie Sanders
Thank you for the links to their contact sites. It is always good to our representatives actually care for a change. It happens so little.
Now if only they all acted this way all the time.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
known coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 6:33am

Re: Re:
Ha HA you brought nazi's up, you lose.

but for the record i am with that commie bernie on this one.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 8:13am

Re: Re: Re:
Don't get me started on what Bernie is all into. A little knowledge would make you love him a whole lot less.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Groove Tiger (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 8:33am

How unpatriotic and unamerican...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
jjmsan (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 8:59am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
As opposed to you just accusing him of unspecified conduct anonymously
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TheStupidOne, 24 Nov 2009 @ 9:26am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yes, because a person does something you don't like it becomes impossible to applaud him when he does something good.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Mad Hatter (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 4:04pm

Cynicism seems called for in this instance
Industry appears to want to railroad this through regardless of what the public wants or needs. And of course the problem is that we can't even comment sensibly about it, since they won't let us see the drafts.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
thepi (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 7:17pm

Wow, I agree with the socialist....that was weird to say....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 7:17pm

Nice to see that the EFF finally got a couple politicos who know nothing about the issues to troll on its behalf.

If a letter had been written by persons on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees then perhaps such a letter might hold sway.

But this letter? Likely DOA, no matter how much the EFF wants to believe otherwise.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 7:59pm

Re:
Good job explaining why they're wrong. It's very convincing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 8:33pm

Gotta say that Bernie also looks like the kind of guy that makes very neat and very tidy tin foil hats to wear at night, just in case.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 8:48pm

Re:
OR......... they are the only two with balls.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Forrest MacGregor, 24 Nov 2009 @ 9:39pm

Cool...
Bernie rocks. I love living in Vermont.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mike Masnick (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:28pm

Re:
Nice to see that the EFF finally got a couple politicos who know nothing about the issues to troll on its behalf.

Heh. Funny. Weren't you recently complaining about snide comments on this site?

But this letter? Likely DOA, no matter how much the EFF wants to believe otherwise.

What makes you think the letter had anything to do with the EFF?!? If it were from the EFF it would have come from the EFF's usual friends.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2009 @ 12:01am

bump
i'm really sure you'll all be happy voting for this bill
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bryan, 25 Nov 2009 @ 5:03am

Take Action
Don't just be a pawn to large corporation lobbying, Take Action.

EFF Take Action Site on this issue:
https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=420&pagename=homepage
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2009 @ 8:26am

Re: Re:
Weren't you recently complaining about snide comments on this site?

With rare exception, if any, my so-called "snide comments" have been directed to personal put-downs in response to comments otherwise made in good faith.

What makes you think the letter had anything to do with the EFF?!? If it were from the EFF it would have come from the EFF's usual friends.

If others feel free to to decry MPAA and RIAA involvement in preparing materials for "drone-like" presentation by members of Congress, then it only seems fair to reciprocate in kind.

Of course, there are some others who use the current ACTA negotiations to spread fear mongering. Public Knowledge is one such group, which is interesting since I believe it is one of the groups provided access. Michael Geist in Canada is another mouthing such fear mongering and "moral panic".

I have stated before, but it bears repeating, there is to my knowledge nothing in the negotiations to date that in any way would require the United States to substantively amend its current copyright law. For example, some issues were noted in a post, to which post I replied by reference to specific sections of US law wherein provisions related to such issues are already embraced within US law.

I believe it is worthwhile to note that while some persons and organizations heavily invested in the blogsphere have raise what I would call a misleading hue and cry, this is an activity that has not caused dissension within the ranks that under any reasonable interpretation can be faily characterized as a groundswell of opposition.

I have asked before, and I ask again, if anyone is able to identify issues that would require amendment of US law, then bring those issues forward for discussion. Thus far the few issues that have been raised do no such thing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Groove Tiger (profile), 25 Nov 2009 @ 9:45am

Re: Re: Re:
"With rare exception, if any, my so-called "snide comments" have been directed to personal put-downs in response to comments otherwise made in good faith."

TRANSLATION: Well, um, in my case it's different because my farts don't stink.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2009 @ 9:56am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Are you able to provide any substantive comments or are you merely trying to ingratiate yourself with others here?

By the tenor of your comment I take it that you are still in school and removed from the business world. I could be wrong, in which case were I your employer I would worry about your skill level for critical analysis of what you read.
[ link to this | view in thread ]