Sherwin Sly from Public Knowledge writes in about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secretive copyright treaty being negotiated without participation from public interest groups, poor countries, or the press:
There's a lot of anger and frustration about ACTA, among users, legislators and policymakers, and even in the tech industry. The problem now, though, is that Congress isn't directly involved in the process, and the White House isn't paying sufficient attention to the issue to see all of the problems that lie in the details of the agreement.
That's why we're encouraging people to write to the President and key members of administration staff to let them know what the stakes are for the Internet in passing an agreement that can introduce bad laws overseas and lock in bad ones here.
Right now, it seems that higher-ups feel that ACTA is an easily popular thing to do–since no one likes fraudulent goods. But we need them paying more attention if we don't want ACTA so closely resembling a US entertainment industry wishlist.
ACTION ALERT: Tell the Obama Administration What You Think of ACTA
(Thanks, Sherwin!)
