USTR Releases Openness Plan, While Celebrating That It's In The Pocket Of Industry Lobbyists

from the see?-people-like-us! dept

Thu, Apr 8th 2010 6:49pm — Mike Masnick

We were confused a few weeks ago when the USTR started promoting letters from lobbyists in support of ACTA. After all, of course the lobbyists want ACTA. They're the ones who wrote much of it in the first place. In the meantime, thousands have been writing the USTR to express their concerns about ACTA... but the USTR doesn't bother mentioning them at all. It's as if the USTR is flat-out admitting that it's controlled by the lobbyists.

So it should come as no surprise that the USTR is gleefully hyping up two more letters from lobbying groups in favor of ACTA. But why won't it put forth the letters against ACTA or worried about the process? And, of course, as Jamie Love points out, isn't it weird that these lobbyists are proudly supporting an agreement when, technically, they're not even supposed to know what's in the agreement?

What's even stranger is that all of this comes on the same day that the USTR has released its plan on being more open. How about, for a start, you open up ACTA, stop hiding behind lobbyists, and allow for a real open discussion involving the real stakeholders? Or is that too much to ask? Well, included in the openness plan is the following:

During the building of this plan, recommendations centered around two issues: the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations and all other trade-related meetings. There was a desire to make all advisory committee, negotiating, and policy development meetings, and texts available to the public in "real time."

And yet, rather than any sort of real time release of information, we get the USTR still hiding the documents behind a bogus claim of "national security" and then showing off the fact that it's in the pocket of lobbyists who aren't even supposed to know what's in the document.

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Filed Under: acta, lobbyists, ustr

6 Comments

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vyvyan, 8 Apr 2010 @ 7:19pm

I see DEB chapter deux!
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NAMELESS.ONE, 8 Apr 2010 @ 8:19pm

as i have said
THE economy of the usa is tanking they are aiming all there balls and baskets into IP
WHY? cause then they can suck out cash form every economy in the world and not care what happens to those countries

THIS is why its national security ROFL, cause its the biggest scam ever DONE on mankind perpetuated by joe biden and hollywood. ALL at the behest of our rights, freedoms and YES our wallets.

Entr conspiracies. Obama is from Chicago so was al capone, he and his buds founded hollywood and they wanted control of the white house and until now never got it.

YEA a bunch a crooks are and ahve been running hte USA since reagan and until that changes and its gonna take a lot, well good luck cause once people see ACTA and the parts you ommited form the so called leaked documents they are gonna hit the fan world wide.

THATS the part no one can deny that parts leaked might only be 90% of things. A nice video form the EU eluded to that very same issue ....make ya wonder even more.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2010 @ 9:48pm

But they are being open, the documents leaked, didn't they?
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Hephaestus (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 6:51am

This is amusing ...
"employing nearly 18 million workers, accounting for more than $5 trillion of the gross domestic product, and comprising more than 40 percent of all exports."

The 18 million workers I can believe, after I have had a couple beers. The $5 Trillion and 40% of all exports not so much. Where do they get these numbers from?
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Joel (profile), 9 Apr 2010 @ 6:53am

No, I don't see.
The USTR is a joke...I can't wait to see the outcome of all that stupidity; they must have the world's most "intelligent people" sitting on their hands and typing with their tongues to come up with this load of Garbagè.
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NAMELESS.ONE, 9 Apr 2010 @ 9:40am

@ 3 no they havent leaked 100%
as a video in ht eEU eluded to there are notes and addons that are not in the leaked documents or might not be there and that those additions could be very very troubling to the end product of the treaty

read what i say TAMoid

lets just say there are more to come if they dont out them fully...
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