http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/internet-awa...
"That final version has been publicly available for months, but many ACTA opponents continue to focus on these deleted provisions in their arguments against the treaty."
Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
11–20 of 25 posts
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#12Congress is angry because usually their approval is needed to ratify a treaty - see the letter below - http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=12a5b1cb-...
Treaties are ratified by the Senate. Not the House. Congress refers to both houses, or sometimes just the House of Representatives, but never to the Senate alone. Anyway Issa is a Congressman, not a Senator.
Maybe he had help from Sen. Wyden. I know he was trying to open up ACTA and get it ratified by the Senate.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#13I don't want to ding a politician for doing the right thing, but Issa is also a sponsor of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Works_Act , (co-sponsored with a Democrat, btw) so this looks more like an act of political grand-standing than political idealism.
He was also one of the key Congressmen fighting against SOPA. I think Issa is generally a good guy, who just like any other politician (except Ron Paul) can be swayed by lobby money to support a certain bill that in the end the public might not like.
It's not that different than Al. Franken supporting net neutrality, only to become a strong supporter of PIPA later on. Although, I'm not sure Al Franken ever was a good guy. Perhaps he was just generally for more Government control of the Internet - which I guess net neutrality could be part of that.
Either way, the core problem still seems to be how campaign financing works right now, getting politicians desperate for campaign money, and ending up supporting bills that may or may not be compatible with their own ideals.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#14Does this count as a breach of some sort of constitutional duty on behalf of the President? Or would it just be a valid argument that the "treaty" is null and void? Sorry - not intimatey familiar with the US government.
No, that's the beauty of the thing -- if you can call a shitstorm on net freedom beautiful.
Usually when the legislative and executive branches get crossed up, the courts sort it out. But in this case Congress (the Senate) already ceded these powers to the executive branch under some other treaties. So there's really nothing to sort out. Congress (the House of Representatives and Issa) could make a big fuss and cause the administration not to implement ACTA, but it'd just be a temporary measure. You'd have to have a law passed specifically restricting the Executive branch from interfering with internet rights via previously existing treaties in order to really fix this thing. A long shot at best. You'd probably have more luck trying to teach beavers to fly airplanes than actually straighten out this situation "correctly."
Internet freedom, including privacy, anonymity, access, and publishing rights, are in desperate need of a constitutional amendment. Nothing else is going to work. There's simply too many structural avenues for attack by vested corporate interests.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#15For those looking for more information:
Problems with ACTA, from Michael Geist, a Canadian on the EFF advisory board: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6350/125/
From his points, the main substantive change from what I can tell is more oversight and liability for 3rd parties, with one likely target being ISPs: "Within ACTA, Articles 8 and 12 apply in the civil enforcement context, Articles 23 and 24 add “aiding and abetting” to criminal offences, and Article 27 targets third parties in the online environment. "
A defense of ACTA from the European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/tackling-unfair-trade/acta/index_e...
Defense summarized here: http://venturevillage.eu/acta-myths-explained
All in all it seems like a pretty vague agreement designed to bring all the signers on the same page in terms of oversight and investigation of ip importing and exporting activities. It hardly says that countries must do anything, but that they "may" do many things they agree on. That's not to say that the agreement would be a good thing in its current form. Agreeing to potentially criminalize activities without mandating protections from false charges etc seems like a poor decision to me.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#16I don't want to ding a politician for doing the right thing, but Issa is also a sponsor of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Works_Act , (co-sponsored with a Democrat, btw) so this looks more like an act of political grand-standing than political idealism.
He was also one of the key Congressmen fighting against SOPA. I think Issa is generally a good guy, who just like any other politician (except Ron Paul) can be swayed by lobby money to support a certain bill that in the end the public might not like. It's not that different than Al. Franken supporting net neutrality, only to become a strong supporter of PIPA later on. Although, I'm not sure Al Franken ever was a good…
He also led the all-male congressional hearings against contraception. I support most of his opinions, but I wish I could elect politicians with authority in specific fields only.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#17...refuses to even classify ACTA as a treaty, which would then require ratification by the U.S. Senate... If we're modifying huge sections of IP law administratively without legislative oversight, that opens up a whole new area for fun and games. Now you have to petition your Congressman to petition the president to use a certain process just so your elected representative can actually have a say in how the laws are…
The only critic allowed to officially voice concerns during the hearings last week was Canadian law professor Michael Geist. He provided a very good and detailed overview on the issues and dangers already foreseeable. When people applauding his speech at the end the chairman of the EU parliament workshop treated with throwing people out.
Video of his speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=gzieTzart5s Transcript on his site: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6350/125/
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#18Does this count as a breach of some sort of constitutional duty on behalf of the President? Or would it just be a valid argument that the "treaty" is null and void? Sorry - not intimatey familiar with the US government.
No, that's the beauty of the thing -- if you can call a shitstorm on net freedom beautiful. Usually when the legislative and executive branches get crossed up, the courts sort it out. But in this case Congress (the Senate) already ceded these powers to the executive branch under some other treaties. So there's really nothing to sort out. Congress (the House of Representatives and Issa) could make a big fuss and cause…
And for purely political reasons, you will NEVER see Congress as a whole come out against the President like that. For example, back when Obama (illegally) attacked Libya, our Congress wouldn't even formally condemn Obama's actions.
The Democrats won't put the brakes on it because it would interfere with the power they're currently enjoying. And the Republicans won't do it because they too covet that power after the next election.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
He was also one of the key Congressmen fighting against SOPA. I think Issa is generally a good guy, who just like any other politician (except Ron Paul) can be swayed by lobby money to support a certain bill that in the end the public might not like. It's not that different than Al. Franken supporting net neutrality, only to become a strong supporter of PIPA later on. Although, I'm not sure Al Franken ever was a good…
He also led the all-male congressional hearings against contraception. I support most of his opinions, but I wish I could elect politicians with authority in specific fields only.
You're thinking of liquid democracy if you want to demand that from your representatives.
Re: Congressman demands details of secretive ACTA treaty be made public
#20The ACTA worries Medecins sans Frontieres: http://www.msfaccess.org/content/counterfeit-substandard-and...
More:
http://www.msfaccess.org/content/counterfeit-confusion
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2155038/acta-kills-...