Intellectual Property Law

Obama Administration Declares Proposed IP Treaty 'National Security' Info

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

President Barack Obama came into office in January promising a new era of openness.

He called on government agencies to err on the side of public access and divulge information whenever possible under the Freedom of Information Act. While the Obama administration just released a host of documents relating to the Bush administration's rational for torture of enemy combatants and such, the newest administration is holding its cards to the vest when it comes to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated across the globe.

Like President Bush, (.pdf) his successor is also declaring internal documents about the composition and ongoing negotiations of the treaty a "national security" affair. That's what the Obama administration just told (.pdf) Knowledge Ecology International, which requested and was denied information about the proposed treaty via a Freedom of Information Act request.

If ratified, leaked documents posted on WikiLeaks and other comments suggest the proposed trade accord would criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, subject iPods to border searches and allow internet service providers to monitor their customers' communications. Negotiating countries include the European Union, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand.

Photo: hyperborian

See Also:

• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction?
• Software Counterfeiting Brothers Imprisoned
• The Heat Is On for Details of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ...
• September 15, 2008 Dear Minister, Re: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade ...
• USTR complaint final
• AG Mukasey Says IP Theft Threatens Public Safety, Fosters ...
• Entertainment Industry Leaned On Los Angeles Politicos to Declare ...
• Senate Introduces IP Reform Bill Bolstering Enforcement
• Video: Inside a Credit Card Fraud Factory
• In Spy Case, Obama's Justice Department Holds Fast to State ...
• Obama Administration Supports Telco Spy Immunity
• Obama Administration: Wiretapping Legal Challenge Must Die ...
• Obama Sides With Bush in Spy Case
• Thoughts of Storm Troopers Filling Spy Case

Full post as published by Threat Level on March 13, 2009 (boomark / email).