Michael Geist sez, “The U.S. Trade Representative issued a release just prior to the launch of the New Zealand round of ACTA [ed: The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty that includes measures on border searches, internet censorship and disconnection, as well as internet surveillance] negotiations that has left no doubt that the U.S. is the biggest barrier to official release of the ACTA text. The full text of the release is couched in terms of improving transparency, but is really a thinly-veiled shot at the European Union’s public demands for release of the text.
Unlike most other ACTA countries that have called for transparency without condition, the U.S. has set conditions that effectively seeks to trade its willingness to release the text for gains on the substance of the text. The only thing needed to reach consensus on sharing the text with the public is for the U.S. to give the go-ahead. This statement indicates they will only do so for a price.”
U.S.: No ACTA Transparency Unless Other Countries Cave on Substance