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USTR Claims TPP Has 'Unprecedented' Transparency, But It Won't Reveal The Details Unless You're A Big Industry Lobbyist
from the not-how-to-do-things dept
You would think that after the response to SOPA as well as the ongoing (and growing) movement against ACTA, that the USTR would heed some of the warning signs, and stop pushing trade agreements negotiated in secret with the help of Hollywood. But, that's just not how the USTR works, apparently. When pressed to release a draft of the intellectual property sections of the new Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), the USTR apparently told a bunch of civil liberties/civil society groups that the current level of transparency on TPP was "unprecedented." And to prove it, they refused to let anyone see the draft document. At this point, it seems like the USTR simply thinks that lying to the public is its best course of action. We've already pointed out that the TPP negotiations are actually significantly more secret than even the already unprecedented levels of secrecy in ACTA.
So what could the USTR possibly mean in claiming that the TPP process has been transparent? Well, they like to talk about their "Industry Trade Advisory Committees" (ITACs), who get to see the documents and provide input. The USTR apparently insisted that "no one" on those boards were lobbyists. Yet, Jamie Love, over at KEI (who was present at this meeting) has listed out the members of these ITACs to show that, once again, the USTR is lying. Among the folks on the relevant ITACs are executives from a variety of lobbying groups, including the MPAA, the RIAA, the ESA, and PhRMA. In other words, all of the big corporate interests known for their desire to only expand IP law and enforcement to protect their own business models.
This is exactly the kind of thing that people have been protesting about SOPA and ACTA: crony capitalism with backroom deals involving old, slow and obsolete industry interests helping to write the laws that hold back innovation for the sake of keeping them from having to innovate. The USTR should be ashamed of itself. It should really open up the process. Release the drafts public, request open feedback, and stop just listening to one side of the story.
So what could the USTR possibly mean in claiming that the TPP process has been transparent? Well, they like to talk about their "Industry Trade Advisory Committees" (ITACs), who get to see the documents and provide input. The USTR apparently insisted that "no one" on those boards were lobbyists. Yet, Jamie Love, over at KEI (who was present at this meeting) has listed out the members of these ITACs to show that, once again, the USTR is lying. Among the folks on the relevant ITACs are executives from a variety of lobbying groups, including the MPAA, the RIAA, the ESA, and PhRMA. In other words, all of the big corporate interests known for their desire to only expand IP law and enforcement to protect their own business models.
This is exactly the kind of thing that people have been protesting about SOPA and ACTA: crony capitalism with backroom deals involving old, slow and obsolete industry interests helping to write the laws that hold back innovation for the sake of keeping them from having to innovate. The USTR should be ashamed of itself. It should really open up the process. Release the drafts public, request open feedback, and stop just listening to one side of the story.
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Is it because it is invisible?
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TEAR DOWN THE WALL
TEAR DOWN THE WALL
TEAR DOWN THE WALL
of secracy
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It's True
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They are being completely honest
"... the current level of transparency on TPP was "unprecedented."
The fact that you even know about TPP is unprecedented transparency.
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USTR isn't lying
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http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/3003
I think they need to amend it with a large asterisk next to the words "ACTA (or similar agreements)" and then a large arrow bypassing the congressional parts pointing directly to the "President Signs into Law" box.
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Re: USTR isn't lying
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Recourse?
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Re: Lobbyists
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Unprecedented
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Broken lawmaking process
"Hope and change"?...how's that all working out these days?.
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Re:
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Re: Broken lawmaking process
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http://www.change.org/petitions/united-states-trade-representatives-freedom-of-informatio n-office-to-make-the-supporting-text-of-the-acta-public
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Re:
The information about the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement you have requested has been [REDACTED] for [REDACTED] reasons.
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The Republican candidates could bring a copy to ask Obama about when he promises more transparency.
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Re: Re: Re:
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I gotta give this a try
Mike, you are just a pirate who doesn't want to pay for an artist's hard work. Go cry somewhere else.
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Re:
As Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." The problem is lobbyists are paid to be ever vigilant, whereas the public can be easily distracted.
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Sorry, stupid question:
(No sarcasm here, btw.)
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Re: TEAR DOWN THE WALL
Your pal,
USTR
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Re:
Not in terms of actual violence, necessarily, but definitely economic violence.
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
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Re: I gotta give this a try
2/5
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"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
- Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
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Re: I gotta give this a try
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Re: Sorry, stupid question:
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Senator Hatch
http://www.dethronehatch.com/orrin-hatch-is-no-friend-of-the-internet/
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Re: Broken lawmaking process
Considering it's Republican Reps like Lamar Smith who are behind it, I'd say "Toss the Republican Rascals OUT!"
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Republicans like Lamar Smith?
They're the ones preventing transparency!
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Re: I gotta give this a try
Please show what Mike has "pirated", boy.
Otherwise you've just committed libel!
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They're the ones preventing transparency!
Obama's record on transparency and openness has been pretty much awful. The Republicans have nothing to do with that (though plenty of their own problems).
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Re: Re: Broken lawmaking process
What does Lamar Smith have to do with TPP?
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Re: Re: Lobbyists
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You dont like it?!?!?!?
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