The Obama administration is conspiring with corporate lobbyists and foreign governments to foist a secret treaty on U.S. citizens that public interest groups claim could lead to violations of privacy and due process rights. 

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been negotiated in the shadows for years, though leaks are starting to paint a picture of what the deal might mean. Discussions include representatives from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. Other countries will be “invited” to join later.

A Freedom of Information Act request by Knowledge Ecology International revealed a collection of 42 industry lobbyists and representatives — all of whom were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements — are also involved in the process. Other governments are sharing information with industry representatives as well, but not with ordinary citizens.

According to a statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the negotiations surround “enforcement procedures in the digital environment, criminal procedures to deal with counterfeiting and piracy, and transparency issues."  But all of the information relating to the treaty is classified under “national security“ pursuant to an executive order.  

“The Obama administration promised a new era of transparency, but we haven't seen meaningful changes at the Obama USTR,” said Robert Weissman, director of the non-profit Essential Action, one of the organizations pushing to make the documents public. “When the agency denies Freedom of Information Act requests for trade proposals that it has shared with other country negotiators — and has made available to hundreds of corporate lobbyists serving on official advisory committees — this is business as usual, not change we can believe in.”

A discussion paper about ACTA that was leaked through Wikileaks mentions several reasons why the treaty is allegedly needed. Among them is the “loss of tax revenue.” While pushing for an Internet Service provider regime to finger the “alleged infringer,” the document calls for “measures for raising consumer public awareness” (read propaganda), closer global law enforcement cooperation and even “cooperative enforcement actions.” It also proposes the establishment of criminal penalties for Internet piracy, even if it isn’t for financial gain. 

And there’s more. “Leaked documents show that ACTA could lead to new invasive monitoring of Internet communications by ISPs and raise serious potential due process concerns for Internet users,” explained Gwen Hinze of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), another public interest group fighting for transparency. “Because ACTA is to be adopted in the US as an Executive Agreement, it will bypass normal processes of Congressional oversight. Therefore, it is crucial that citizens have access to information about its contents in a timely manner.”

Referring to the criminalization of non-commercial intellectual property infringement,  Canadian law professor Michael Geist noted that “peer-to-peer file sharing would arguably be captured by the provision.” He explained that there are also concerns about devices like personal iPods being searched for pirated material and the like at international borders. “The treaty would require each country to establish a laundry list of penalties — including imprisonment — sufficient to deter future acts of infringement,” he said. 

Some foreign newspapers have reported the scheme, but with very few exceptions, there has been almost no major U.S. media coverage of this secret treaty. While a few magazines and blogs have followed the story, the American press is virtually silent on the issue. The next meeting is scheduled for early November in South Korea, where the proposal will hopefully pick up some more exposure.

The fact that a treaty which could land Americans in jail is being negotiated in secret with no input from the general public is troubling and suspicious, to say the least. It is also another example of Obama’s blatant disregard for his campaign promises. If it’s a good proposal, it should have no problems enduring scrutiny. 

Alex Newman is an American freelance writer and the president of Liberty Sentinel Media, Inc., a small media consulting firm. He is currently living in Sweden and has spent most of his life in Latin America, Europe and Africa. He has a degree in foreign languages and speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian and a little Swedish and Afrikaans. In addition, he earned a degree in journalism from the University of Florida, with emphasis on economics and international relations.

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DDW said:

Is anyone really surprised by this? I'm not. Not one little bit. Those who would rule have become smarmy and arrogant and are moving with ever increasing speed. It wouldn't surprise me one little bit if Obama were to call in foreign U.N. troops should the people of these United States ever reach the point where they've had their fill and rise up to crush these blatant, unconstitutional/unlawful power grabs. And It is my personal opinion that Obama is nothing more than an unimportant, petty puppet to those who would rule; perhaps even a joke to them. Step by step he does nothing more or less than their bidding.

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October 16, 2009
Votes: +6

Krum said:

Treaty of Terror Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty in Copenhagen, Claims British Lord Monckton in another treaty. (See here: http://victory1project.wordpress.com/ ) Between treaties and czars, Executive Orders all are creating laws where no checks and balances have protected Americans. The treaty to cede American sovereignty has now been picked up by Reuters as well. The above link shows the article, treaty copy is a pdf file 181 pages. You put out a video explaining an Oligarchy, Democracy, Republic and Fascism - the best video I ever saw explaining clearly why we have a Republic - NOT a democracy.

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October 16, 2009 | url
Votes: +3

Curtis o said:

It's not a war on terror its a war on normal people. Do you think the people creating these laws will be punished? NO, because they have all the money in the world. This is the u.s. "war on terror" coming to life, because we all know if you downloaded copyrighted material your a terrorist and should be punished to extent that you'll never do it again. The law is full of B.S. The government's the drug dealer in bed with the pharmaceutical companies and law enforcement making tax money like water. They want control over PEOPLE, these people are the one's that need to be controlled by citizens!

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October 18, 2009
Votes: +4