Obama administration: releasing details of secret copyright treaty endangers "nationa

[Winehole23]

Obama administration: releasing details of secret copyright treaty endangers "national security"

Posted by Cory Doctorow, March 13, 2009 3:06 AM | permalink



The White House is refusing to release do ents about the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a super-maximal copyright treaty that a bunch of rich countries are negotiating behind closed doors to escape the activists who've started to report on their shenanigans at the UN's World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Incredibly, the Obama administration claims that disclosing the details of this secret copyright law would endanger "national security."

But now, like Bush before him, Obama is playing the national security card to hide details of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated across the globe. The White House this week declared (.pdf) the text of the proposed treaty a "properly classified" national security secret, in rejecting a Freedom of Information Act request by Knowledge Ecology International.
"Please be advised the do ents you seek are being withheld in full," wrote Carmen Suro-Bredie, chief FOIA officer in the White House's Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The national security claim is stunning, given that the treaty negotiations have included the 27 member states of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand, all of whom presumably have access to the "classified" information.

Obama Administration Declares Proposed IP Treaty a 'National Security' Secret (Thanks, Javier!)

[Winehole23]

Partial list of corporate lickspittles who are allowed to know what's in the secret copyright treaty the Obama administration claims is a matter of "national security"

Posted by Cory Doctorow, March 14, 2009 2:44 AM | permalink



Remember yesterday's post about how the Obama administration had refused to release the details of a secret copyright treaty because doing so would compromise "national security?" Well, it turns out that there are plenty of people who are cleared to be privy to this "sensitive" do ent -- strangely, they all seem to work for giant copyright companies!

Of course, they're allowed to know what's in the treaty -- but the public, activist groups, consumer rights groups, and the artists whom this treaty is supposed to protect are all forbidden from knowing what it says.



What an embarrassment for an administration that holds itself out as an end to the corrupt, business-as-usual beltway fandango.

Chairman , Mr. Eric H. Smith
President
International Intellectual Property Alliance

Vice-Chairman
Mr. Jacques J. Gorlin
President
The Gorlin Group



Sandra M. Aistars, Esq.
Senior Counsel, Intellectual Property
Time Warner Inc.



Kira M. Alvarez, Esq.
Director, International Government Affairs
Eli Lilly and Company



Mark Chandler, Esq.
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary
Cisco Systems, Inc.



Ms. Erin L. Ennis
Vice President
The U.S.-China Business Council



Francis (Frank) Z. wig, Esq.
Senior Associate, General Counsel
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.



J. Anthony Imler, Ph.D.
Director, Public Policy, Latin America
Merck & Co., Inc.



Ms. Mary A. Irace
Vice President, Trade and Export Finance
National Foreign Trade Council, Inc.



Jeffrey P. Kushan, Esq.
Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood LLP
Representing Biotechnology Industry Organization



Stevan D. Mitc , Esq.
Vice President, Intellectual Property Policy
Entertainment Software Association



Douglas T. Nelson, Esq.
Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary
CropLife America



Timothy P. Trainer, Esq.
President
Global Intellectual Property Strategy Center, P.C.
Representing the Thomas G. Faria Corporation



Neil I. Turkewitz, Esq.
Executive Vice President
Recording Industry Association of America



Ms. Susan C. Tuttle
Governement Programs Executive
IBM Corporation



Mr. Herbert C. Wamsley
Executive Director
Intellectual Property Owners Association



Ms. Anissa S. Whitten
Trade Director
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.



Ms. Deborah E. Wiley
Senior Vice President
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Association of American Publishers, Inc.



Shirley Zebroski, Ph.D
Director, Legislative Affairs
General Motors Corporation

Who are the cleared advisors that have access to secret ACTA do ents? Previously:

• Secret super-copyright treaty MEMO leaked - Boing Boing
• Obama administration: releasing details of secret copyright treaty ...
• Anti-counterfeiting treaty turns into maximum copyright free-for ...
• Anti-counterfeiting treaty turns into maximum copyright free-for ...
• Wikileaks publishes anti-counterfeiting treaty doc that tries to ...
• Canadian border guards to check iPods for infringment - Boing Boing

[Winehole23]

Bump. It should make an impression on someone besides WH23.

[clambake]

it must have some relevance.

if not, why do it?

[Winehole23]

the treaty negotiations have included the 27 member states of the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand, all of whom presumably have access to the "classified" information.

[clambake]

i see where you're going.

[Winehole23]

Why don't we?

[clambake]

no .

mexico? really?

[Winehole23]

Does the supposed harm to national security even have to be described? I'd think it would, but confess to being totally ignorant of classification protocol.

Don't they have to give color to the claim, or can the USG just say whatever it wants?

[clambake]

cheney would call it "executive privilege".

boy, did they up.

[Winehole23]

I mean, come on. Secret treaties?

[Winehole23]

Who all thinks this is a good idea? Will anybody speak for it?

[clambake]

the general motors one is funny.

who'd want to steal that? yak yak yak

[clambake]

IBM and Cisco are there. hmmmm

[Winehole23]

Ok. The companies on the list think it's a good idea. Check that one off on your chicken bingo cards...

[clambake]

why? these companies are global.

[spurster]

It would endanger national security because of what the hackers would do if they found out what was in the do ents.

OGJ, gung jnf fnepnfz.

[Winehole23]

It would endanger national security because of what the hackers would do if they found out what was in the do ents.

Plausible. Do you think it's true?

Also, the classification clearly favors the listed companies. They get familiar with the content of copyright law before the rest of the market.

I'll try to find out if the treaty is classified elsewhere.

[Winehole23]

http://williampatry.blogspot.com/200...acta-ante.html

[Winehole23]

http://www.petergallagher.com.au/ind...yright-treaty/

[Winehole23]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...provisions.ars

[Oh, Gee!!]

must they release details during the negotiation phase of the treaty?

[Winehole23]

must they release details during the negotiation phase of the treaty?

It apparently shows poor judgment, but info had already been leaked, forcing Obama to get in behind the story and push it.

My PFA take: what's commonly considered "fair use" may take it on the chin. It won't be popular. First-worlders and multinationals will have the jump on everybody else.

[Oh, Gee!!]

It apparently shows poor judgment.

how so? what's the protocol during the negotiation phase of a treaty?

[Winehole23]

how so? what's the protocol during the negotiation phase of a treaty?

Broken this time, hence the announcement about classification.

Pesky citizens. They never leave things alone.