The US is currently taking part in negotiating a new international agreement with allies such as Japan, Canada, and the EU, among others. And unfortunately, that’s about all we can say about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Why? Because the government is keeping the negotiations secret. That’s pretty crappy considering that lobbyists from rights holders groups are certainly attempting to much harsher measures added to the bill than any of us would like.
Luckily, more liberal groups are trying to work to shine a spotlight on ACTA. The EFF and the American Library Association, among others, are demanding to be let into the negotiations and for more information about ACTA to be made public. This makes a whole lot of sense. As of now, the only people at the tables are politicians, which sadly, means no consumer rights group is there telling the politicians about how they’re messing up. I think we’d all feel a lot more comfortable with a level-headed group like the EFF on the job.
The other big concern, the secrecy of the negotiations, is genuine. Why should a trade agreement be hidden from a country’s citizens? As we are a capitalist society, it’s not the government who ACTA impacts, but the private groups which comprise the American economy. We as private citizens are equal to corporations under law. We should be able to see what our government is agreeing to without having to pay a lobbyist to have dinner with a senator.
