The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is no model of transparency, and the word is finally getting out. This week, the New York Times dug into the 'secret' meetings, coming back with nearly nothing new (itself a pretty good indicator of just how 'transparent' the negotiating process has been).
The article did manage to squeeze a quote from the Swedish Justice Ministry, where an official said, 'The Swedish government believes that we should release a consolidated text as soon as possible.'
Despite the efforts of the Swedes, US advocacy groups like EFF, KEI, and Public Knowledge, members of Congress, European legislators, bloggers, and even the MPAA, ACTA remains a profoundly secretive process. What could possibly be secretive about putting out government position papers or a draft text, as other international groups like WIPO routinely do? Who knows! It's a secret!
Now, Public Knowledge is urging the public to give the US Trade Representative—which is negotiating ACTA—comments related to ACTA. USTR is taking comments currently for its "Special 301" process, a name of remarkable obscurity that could only exist in Washington. Special 301 happens every year, and it's a chance for companies to complain to the US government about other countries who aren't doing enough (in their view) to address issues like copyright violations and counterfeiting.
But the Special 301 process is open to everyone, and this year, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk explicitly asked for more public involvement. 'With more robust, public participation in the review,' said Kirk back in January, 'we can better achieve the goal of identifying and addressing the most serious problems with protection and enforcement of IPRs.'
Public Knowledge wants to give Kirk that participation. PK is asking for the public to file comments on 'balanced copyright' in the Special 301 docket. Special 301 is really designed to put other countries on a 'watch list,' but it is a chance for public comment on copyright/trade issues.
Anyone who wants to file a comments can go to regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2010-0003, and include the term '2010 Special 301 Review' in the 'Type Comment and Upload File' field. You have one week left.
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