Left to chance

Special Interests See ‘Classified’ Copyright Treaty; You Can’t

Want to know the language of the ever-transforming proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement?

It’s classified. And, according to the Obama administration, it carries national security implications. According to leaked documents on WikiLeaks, the proposed treaty 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.

But as it turns out, the administration has shared the secret treaty’s contents with more than three dozen individuals in the private sector, from the left and the right of the copyright debate. Those individuals include Emery Simon, the Business Software Alliance attorney, Google copyright czar Bill Patry, and Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge.

Knowledge Ecology International disclosed the names, 42 in all. Although you can ask these individuals for details of the latest ACTA language that is to be negotiated in secret in South Korea next month, they likely won’t respond. They signed non-disclosure agreements “in the interest of national security.”

The government initially declined to divulge who saw the proposed treaty, saying it would undermine the national security of the United States. The government was forthcoming after KEI submitted a Freedom of Information Act request.

Hat tip : Boing Boing

See Also:

• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction?
• The Heat Is On for Details of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement …
• Details Lacking in Counterfeiting Treaty Paper
• Obama Administration Declares Proposed IP Treaty a ‘National …
• Senate Introduces IP Reform Bill Bolstering Enforcement
• Hollywood: Piracy Fosters Child Porn, Slavery
• New Lobbying Group Calls for Internet Filtering

Original article at Threat Level