Since 2007 the US has been in secret negotiations to enact the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The proposed trade accord would criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, subject iPods to border searches and allow internet service providers to monitor their customers' communications. The Bush administration has refused to shed any light on these negotiations.
President Barack Obama came into office in January promising a new era of openness.
The White House this week declared the text of the proposed treaty a "properly classified" national security secret, in rejecting a Freedom of Information Act request "Please be advised the documents you seek are being withheld in full," wrote the 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.
Attorney General Eric Holder told senators that the Obama administration would review litigation inherited from the Bush administration in which the so-called state-secrets privilege was invoked. Despite the review, the Obama administration is not deviating from its predecessor.
Won't get fooled again my [expletive deleted]! More like duped!
Wanted to say Hi, noticed you were on my site. Please feel free to take Grassfires or any of the political stuff and post it. We need to get the word out. Hope all is well with you.
ReplyDeleteDitto...I am really frustrated with how the government is supposedly doing things different, only they seem to be just like the last admin, maybe worse. I really am kind of scared for the future if they dont get it together pretty quick...
ReplyDeleteHow are things down in southern California anyway? I hear the National Guard might be on the border soon?
The National Guard is on the border. It's scary. We have had 2 beheadings and there is nothing in the media about it. Most of the kidnappings are happening in AZ. But we have Mexicans at the bottom of the hill where I live that hang out for jobs. More and more of them and fewer and fewer jobs.
ReplyDeleteThe Gov. isn't going to get their act together. They have an agenda. I'm scared to death. We are so close to Socialism it isn't funny. If we are proactive we will wake up one day and say "When the hell did that happen?" Did you watch The Obama Deception? It's long...but well worth watching. If you only believe 10% of what it says........we are in MAJOR trouble. Watch it in little bits......but watch. Talk about scary.
Yes, this caught my attention as well. Welcome to the police state of the USA.
ReplyDeleteActually, all those countries are withholding the treaty details as well. It is as if they are all in cahoots over this treaty preventing anyone from seeing it. How the Obama administration could invoke state secrets is strange since all the countries involved would have access to those state secrets. Perhaps Obama is too busy partying to know what those he gave power to are doing? No, he is just as big an arse as Bush was.
I forget the date on this news article so those in the UK may be able to give an update.
ReplyDeleteBelow is from http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/european-parliament-to-eu-turn-over-acta-docs.ars
The European Parliament has demanded more transparency in the EU, and it made a point of singling out the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
Parliament has been considering a general transparency bill, but one amendment to the bill demanded access to ACTA documents—access that negotiators have so far been unwilling to provide.
"In accordance with Article 255(1) of the EC Treaty, the Commission should immediately make all documents related to the ongoing international negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) publicly available," says the amendment.
The amended transparency resolution was adopted by a wide margin—439 in favor, 200 opposed, with 57 abstentions. While the text has now been updated with the approved amendments, Parliament elected not to actually vote on the resolution itself. The delay will allow the European Commission to offer its own counterproposals; it also allows Parliament to hold off on the matter until transparency-loving Sweden takes the rotating EU presidency from the Czechs later this summer.
Regardless of whether the measure eventually passes, it's certainly a signal as to what Parliament wants. And, in this case, it wants those ACTA documents.
This is a axiom I follow religiously...kind of like where theres smoke, there's fire. I believe some of it, and pray the other parts are just over active imagination, but I doubt it. I lied about being concerned...I'm terrified that we are sleepwalking into a sweeping change in the way we live, and it starts little by little. The saying i got tired of in the last administration was if you aint breakin the law, you aint got nothing to fear. Sorry, but I have seen how that can be manipulated. And as other on her have pointed out there is a network of computers working to analyze ever bit of data crossing the lines nowadays. I havent been this scared for freedom since when Nixon was in and started to establish the imperial presidency ....
ReplyDeleteThe US is already in Socialism. My head hurts too much to go out and dig up the percentages, but the US government already owns a substantial percentage of several banks, as well as a large stake in AIG.
ReplyDeleteNixon was a cake walk........this is serious!! I can't understand how people can look at what is being done and not care or worse think it's a good idea!! Unfortunately, there are higher powers at work here. Obama is just a puppet. I also believe he is not a citizen and shouldn't be president. He's rushing things through before he's discovered. Justice Roberts has that info now and is supposed to be looking at it. Want to bet it gets buried? Ok my poor tired brain is going to bed. It's been tramatic around here for the last few days. What are the stars aligned in a way that the whole world is in chaos?
ReplyDeleteYou're right!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think he is a natural born citizen, which means he would not be eligible to hold office. A lawsuit was brought forward on this and the DNC and Obama filed a motion to dismissed. This gave the courts an easy out and they allowed the motion. If Obama was a natural born citizen, then he could have made the lawsuit go away by presenting his birth certificate/certification that would prove it. By filing a motion to dismiss meant he did not want anyone to see his certificate/certification, which shows he had something to hide And the document he presented on the web (outside of any controls) was not complete.
ReplyDeleteThere was an attorney from CA that travel to where Justice Roberts was speaking. He took questions after his speech and she got to ask him why he wasn't concerned and that she had info. She managed to get all of her information to him. Well he took it anyway. I could find the email if you want it. But not tonight, lol.
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