Secret Treaty Could Land Americans in Jail
Secret Treaty Could Land Americans in Jail
Written by Alex Newman
The Obama administration is conspiring with corporate lobbyists and foreign governments to foist a secret treaty on U.S. citizens that public interest groups claim could lead to violations of privacy and due process rights.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been negotiated in the shadows for years, though leaks are starting to paint a picture of what the deal might mean. Discussions include representatives from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. Other countries will be “invited” to join later.
A Freedom of Information Act request by Knowledge Ecology International revealed a collection of 42 industry lobbyists and representatives — all of whom were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements — are also involved in the process. Other governments are sharing information with industry representatives as well, but not with ordinary citizens.
According to a statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the negotiations surround “enforcement procedures in the digital environment, criminal procedures to deal with counterfeiting and piracy, and transparency issues." But all of the information relating to the treaty is classified under “national security“ pursuant to an executive order.
“The Obama administration promised a new era of transparency, but we haven't seen meaningful changes at the Obama USTR,” said Robert Weissman, director of the non-profit Essential Action, one of the organizations pushing to make the documents public. “When the agency denies Freedom of Information Act requests for trade proposals that it has shared with other country negotiators — and has made available to hundreds of corporate lobbyists serving on official advisory committees — this is business as usual, not change we can believe in.”
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"New Era of Transparency"
Yes, it's very "transparent" that Obama is selling this country down the river, seems to be enjoying it too.
"New era of tranparency"
They are continuing to find ways around the FOIA requests. This treaty is very concerning
“When the agency denies Freedom of Information Act requests for trade proposals that it has shared with other country negotiators — and has made available to hundreds of corporate lobbyists serving on official advisory committees — this is business as usual, not change we can believe in.”
They did it with the Fusion Centers also..they didn't like having to answer to the MIAC report so now they are hiring mercenary/private contractors to get out of FOIA on fusion center abuses!
Fusion Centers Hiring Private Mercenary Contractors!
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/108934
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"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd