NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] New ACTA Leak: U.S., et.al Do Not Support Transparency
----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> ----- Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:39:35 -0500 From: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] New ACTA Leak: U.S., et.al Do Not Support Transparency Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: Richard Forno <rforno@infowarrior.org> > Date: February 25, 2010 10:09:57 AM EST > To: Undisclosed-recipients: <>; > Cc: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> > Subject: New ACTA Leak: U.S., et.al Do Not Support Transparency > > New ACTA Leak: U.S., Korea, Singapore, Denmark Do Not Support > Transparency > Thursday February 25, 2010 > > http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4819/125/ > > Throughout the debate over ACTA transparency, many countries have taken > public positions that they support release of the actual text, but that > other countries do not. Since full transparency requires consensus of > all the ACTA partners, the text simply can't be released until everyone > is in agreement. Of course, those same countries hasten to add that > they can't name who opposes ACTA transparency, since that too is secret. > > No longer. In an important new leak from the Netherlands (Dutch, Google > English translation), a Dutch memorandum reporting back on the Mexico > ACTA negotiation round names names, pointing specifically to which > countries support releasing the text and which do not (note that the > memo does not canvass everyone - Australia, and New Zealand are known to > support transparency but are not named in the memo). According to the > Dutch memo, Canada has played a lead role in making the case for full > disclosure of the documents. Within Europe, the UK has been actively > pushing for transparency and is of the view that there is consensus for > release of the text (there is support from many countries including the > Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, and > Austria). However, the memo indicates that several countries are not > fully supportive including Belgium, Portugal, Germany, and Denmark. Of > these four countries, the Dutch believe that Denmark is the most > inflexible on the issue. > > Outside of the Europe, the memo identifies three problem countries. > While Japan is apparently supportive, both South Korea and Singapore > oppose ACTA transparency. Moreover, the U.S. has remained silent on > the issue, as it remains unconvinced of the need for full disclosure. > In doing so, it would appear that the U.S. is perhaps the biggest > problem since a clear position of support might be enough to persuade > the remaining outliers. > > The memo also provides additional new information on the substance of > the Mexico meeting. It confirms that countries are still not willing to > make significant concessions. The countries are closing in on agreement > on the border measures chapter, but are finding disagreements on civil > enforcement due to differing legal systems. There is still no agreement > on transit shipments or exports, nor on the scope of the treaty (EU > continuing to push for broader coverage). > > This is an important leak, since it provides at least one perspective on > who remains a barrier to ACTA transparency. Given the information, > Canadians should be pleased with the position taken by its government, > while those in the U.S., South Korea, Singapore, Belgium, Portugal, > Germany, and Denmark should be demanding answers from their leaders. > ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----