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FOIA Request For Pending Copyright Treaty Denied
Penguinisto writes "According to CNET, Knowledge Ecology International's FOIA request for information about ACTA was denied. ACTA is the pending copyright treaty believed to have been authored by lobbyists for the content cartels. Even stranger, the denial cited 'national security reasons (PDF). While it is not unusual for the White House of any administration to block FOIA requests for national security reasons, one would think that a treaty affecting civil interests alone wouldn't qualify for such secrecy. Not exactly sure what involvement the former RIAA mouthpiece Donald Verelli (a recent Obama pick for the DOJ) may have in this." KEI is not alone; the European Parliament wants to see the ACTA documents too.
If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. -- Henry Ford
National security has become a thing used to protect illusionary profits, rather than real people. The solution is obvious: If our government is making treaties without the consent of the governed, then we should convene congress in our respective states and vote to remove from the constitution the power of the Federal Congress to make treaties without the consent and approval of the state legislatures. Of course, with as soft as the population has gotten lately and so indifferent to the affairs of its government, such a call to action is all but futile...
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
National security exemptions should be abolished. Allowing the government to hide whatever it wants just by saying "national security" is extremely dangerous. You don't have to look farther than the Bush administration to see this. They used national security to cover up illegal actions, and sway the people into an unnecessary war. This war has cost us more lives and more money than any terrorist attack.
Abolish national security exemptions entirely. Open everything wide up. Yes, that might increase the threat slightly from external enemies. But it will dramatically decrease the threat from internal enemies, who are far more dangerous.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
You still think that the new administration, and new congress, have the country's best interests in mind? Wake up and smell the 21st century.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
I think you're kidding yourself if you think that Obama really isn't the same as any other politician, even after he's shown us several times that all his talk of change was bullshit. As several others have said already: meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Didn't Obama say he was all for transparency?
Which part of "He's lying!" did you not understand when the Right was shouting it all the way through his campaign?
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
Yes because we all know how much integrity the Right has had over the last eight years. What fools we would be to not take them at their word.
I see the glass as full with a FoS of 2.
Wait... Didn't Obama say he was all for transparency? How less transparent can you get that you can't even disclose a treaty about copyright without it being a matter of "national security". Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Challenge the denial; have the media bump this question up to the whitehouse press secretary; demand an actual response from Obama.
Seriously did this particular FOIA request even crossed his radar?
"Not exactly sure what involvement the former RIAA mouthpiece Donald Verelli (a recent Obama pick for the DOJ) may have in this.""
If you're not sure what involvement the person has in any of this, why mention him? To politically polarize the discussion to follow? To create a sensationalized summary?
It would be nice if the submission summaries could stick to the details that are known and allow people to post their personal thoughts and opinions in the discussion's comments.
Yes because we all know how much integrity the Right has had over the last eight years. What fools we would be to not take them at their word.
Perhaps, but with all the integrity the Left has had over the same time period, what a fool you would be to take THEM at their word that they were honest. Hope and Change, my ass.
I think Obama has found a lot about how much power other people have in Washington in the past couple of months. He seems sincere about his desire to change things but change isn't going to come from one person.
I voted for Obama. I think he's a good person in a lot of ways. But I don't think that he can possibly live up to the "he'll change everything that I personally object to" idea that so many people had. Obama shares my (and your) views in some ways but not in others. Likely in a lot of cases, for instance copyright violations, he doesn't care much one way or another so he's not going to change anything.
If you want to get things changed you should use one of the lessons taught by Obama's campaign - get widespread support for your ideas via the internet, and then LEVERAGE that support into a more visible medium.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
It is not unusual for treaty negotiations to be secret. This is more common than you seem to think.
These are working sessions, and getting a zillion people ranting and raving about a casual word or phrase here or there is counter productive.
When submitted to The Senate for approval there will be no secret codicils attached and the written word will be available to all. Write you Senator and get on the list to be notified when the issue comes before them.
Poor choice of denial reasons? Perhaps. But don't go all conspiracy nut on the issue till you see the work product.
The writers of the Constitution worked mostly in secret too.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Forcing the legality of gay marriage in Massachusetts (Mass. supreme court vs. majority of the state's voters, I believe.)
Possibly Prop 8 in California, depending on how that state's supreme court rules.
So, let me get this straight. Your take on democracy has no ability to counter a tyranny of the majority?
Here's a hint - just because a bunch of people vote for something doesn't mean they should get it. Otherwise we could probably just do away with the court system and have people vote on everything, instead.
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
The fact that it's a democratic republic doesn't stop it from being a republic.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Blaming Obama directly is probably a bit of a stretch in this regard. It is VERY UNLIKELY he had anything to do with the FOIA request.
The only contact he would normally have would be a general guidelines given to the associated Agency. The Agency still is the one who deals with FOIA requests.
While this is probably true in this case, you should be very, very careful lest this turns into a slippery slope. The notion of "good ruler, evil advisors/subordinates" is an ages-old excuse for all kinds of tyranny.
Challenge the denial; have the media bump this question up to the whitehouse press secretary; demand an actual response from Obama.
The media will not be bringing copyright issues up with the President nor the People.
If this crap is actually brought into a signed treaty, without us, the people subject to it, ever being able to see what is going on, then this needs to be brought into courts.
Ignore the treaty, be prosecuted, then claim that it was illegally signed/partied to because of the FoIA violations.
Take it out of the hands of the "few" and put it into the hands of the many IN A COURTROOM. The guv'ment would have no choice but to make those very same documents available to the courts.
When your government isn't playing by the rules, stop playing hardball, and start pitching ROCKS.
Get over it :-(
Actually, pushing back is a good idea. In the last week, I have contacting my senators and congress woman concerning legislation that might make it difficult to have community and personal gardens (House and Senate bills HR 875 and S 425). I also contacted my congress woman to ask her to support Ron Paul's bills to add transparency to the Federal Reserve.
One thing that disappoints me about my family and friends: they never seem to want to take the time to talk to their representatives about important issues.