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!
