Intellectual Property Law

Details Lacking in Counterfeiting Treaty Paper

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

Vowing to public pressure, the Obama administration on Monday released scant information about the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

But good luck finding any details of substance in the six-page outline, which provides no justification for the government's position that the language of the proposed treaty is "classified in the name of national security."

The outline was published by the United States Trade Representative in response to outrage that the inner workings of the compact, being negotiated with as many as 27 countries, was "classified" and unfit for public consumption. And the outline mirrors a similar "fact sheet" (.pdf) the Bush administration released in 2007.

"A variety of groups have shown their interest in getting more information on the substance of the negotiations and have requested that the draft text be disclosed. However, it is accepted practice during trade negotiations among sovereign states to not share negotiating texts with the public at large, particularly at earlier stages of the negotiation," Monday's announcement said. "This allows delegations to exchange views in confidence facilitating the negotiation and compromise that are necessary in order to reach agreement on complex issues. At this point in time, ACTA delegations are still discussing various proposals for the different elements that may ultimately be included in the agreement. A comprehensive set of proposals for the text of the agreement does not yet exist."

And Monday's move did nothing to assuage concerns that the proposed act, according to leaked documents on WikiLeaks and comments from copyright holders and patents, would require ISPs to terminate repeat copyright scofflaws, criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, subject iPods to border searches and even interfere with the legitimate sale of brand-name pharmaceutical products.

Here is a copy (.pdf) of the government's six-page summary.

See Also:

• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction?
• September 15, 2008 Dear Minister, Re: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade ...
• The Heat Is On for Details of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ...
• AG Mukasey Says IP Theft Threatens Public Safety, Fosters ...
• Obama Administration Declares Proposed IP Treaty a 'National ...

Full post as published by Threat Level on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).