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Names of Advisors Cleared To Access ACTA Documents
1 a bee writes "With the White House claiming national security grounds for failing to release ACTA related information, including negotiating documents and even the list of participants, the spotlight is now on just who does have access. Turns out, according to James Love, hundreds of advisers, many of them corporate lobbyists, are considered 'cleared advisers.' The list looks a who's who of captains of industry."
weird how things seem to stay the same
ACTA raises serious concerns about citizens' civil liberties and privacy rights. The contents and text of ACTA remain secret, but a document leaked to the public last year shows that ACTA could include stronger criminal measures, increased customs border search powers, and requirements for Internet service providers to cooperate with copyright holders. Some public suggestions from content companies have included requiring ISPs to engage in filtering of their customers' Internet communications for potentially copyright-infringing material, mandatory disclosure of personal information about alleged copyright infringers, and adoption of "Three Strikes" policies requiring ISPs to automatically terminate customers' Internet access upon a repeat allegation of copyright infringement.
Why is it that so many 'merkins seem to think that Obama was considered "the second coming"? As far as I could dell, the ones who thought that were about equal in number to those who said that Obama was the New Dark Lord Of Evil (tm).
I.e. nutters.
Most seemed glad of a change because it wouldn't be Bush.
And you know what? It isn't Bush. Even if he screws up as badly as Bush did, it still wouldn't be Bush.
But the same people who seem to forgive Shrub for being as thick as a yard of treacle or making mistakes are exactly the ones who seem to consider Obama to have been "the second coming".
This is the part that confuses me. How on earth can something that deals with copyright be considered a matter of national security? How can anybody in the gov't say that with a straight face even? It's appalling, and it should be challenged in court NOW.
all that transparency, all that pro internet attitude, and even declarations of support for net neutrality to the extent of making full definitions of it on his website, getting support and donations through the net and actually succeeding to amass the budget needed to beat mccain through those donations and all that, and ...
so he fails us in the most important thing, at the most important moment, in almost half of those he promised us then ?
Read radical news here
It's pronounced Corporate Oligarchy
*DrugCheese rants*
From people that deem themselves much smarter than me:
"Piss off with your stupid conspiracy theories, you hippie asshole, there is no such thing as a secret society."
Thanks a lot unknown genius.
Can we look back in four years time and think of George Bush as a benevolent caretaker in light of the atrocities commited by the new administration? YES WE CAN! -- It's more and more obvious with each news week that all the glitzy promises and election rhetoric that came Barack Obama was a load of meaningless drivel to deceive people - please don't expect things to be better, lest you sink into complacency and don't notice the BS until it's up to your armpits.
/. crowd to be hold a degree of discernment an order of magnitude higher than that of the average person, yet I urge you all to avoid groupthink and keep your eyes open :)
Things are changing for sure, but NOT for the better; certainly not at all in the direction the American public was led to believe. The whole election campaign looked very surreal from here in New Zealand - our election was on at the exact same time. The Labour party had about 3 television ads that were seldom played on television. National didn't have any television advertisements.
The limits in place in this country to prevent candidates from spending HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in a clear crusade to brainwash the citizens highlighted the ridiculousness of the Obama insanity, while our puppet media sat there telling us more about Obama than about Helen Clark or John Key.
I sympathize with people that gave in to the herd mentality leading up to the election; these people made an absolutely unprecedented effort to deceive everybody with their silly puppets; because the media climate differs here in NZ it wasn't very hard for us to see through... Heck, every time I watch a video of Obama I feel that it's a movie, it just doesn't feel real.
I expect the
Peace from a New Zealander
This post was made in complete sincere seriousity; as such any attempts to derive humour are doomed to instant failure.
As I pointed out the other day, ACTA is about so much more than copyright. This "counterfeiting" treaty will almost certainly include provisions for stricter controls on generic pharmaceuticals, amongst other things.
Just take a look at some of the companies that are represented on that list: Eli Lilly, Merck, Monsanto, Schering-Plough... I guarantee they're not there because of pirated CDs.
Just to clarify, I don't think that changes the fact that the "national security" claim is bogus. It's just further proof of the enormous democratic deficit that exists at the international level.
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
The constitution still requires treaties to be approved by 2/3 of the Senate. Quoting from article 2, section 2:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
Without Senate approval, any treaty is just a worthless piece of paper.
-- Support a free market in the field of government
The more of this type of news I read... the more I feel like the time has come for the wooden ships sung about by CSN and Jefferson Airplane. A slight change in the lyrics might be in place as it was not nuclear destruction but corporate crookery which brought society to its knees so the 'silver people on the shoreline' get to wear pin-striped suits instead.
Go, take your sister then, by the hand,
lead her away from this foreign land,
Far away, where we might laugh again,
We are leaving - you don't need us.
And it's a fair wind, blowin' warm,
Out of the south over my shoulder,
Guess I'll set a course and go...
(who knows what laws I broke by quoting this excerpt from the lyrics... I'm pretty sure the authors won't mind.)
Here in Sweden ACTA
--frank[at]unternet.org
The FOIA denial letter is signed by Camen Suro-Bredie. From what I can find, she has been in the USTR office since at least 2004. While President Obama has sent down an executive order that FOIA requests should be responded to in preference to withholding information, that is a new policy and it is going to take some time to get everyone in line with it.
It will be instructive to see how this is handled now that it has been brought out into the daylight. If the Obama Administration overrides Ms Suro-Bredie and releases the treaty that would be a very positive step.
I suspect that at least one of the listed corporate overlords sometimes forgets to lock their filing cabinet at night. It's probably the only way we'll ever have a look at the text.
Every single thing we read, no matter how small and inconsequential, must be read as IRREFUTABLE PROOF!!!1! that Obama is a liar! He said he was for change, and that change didn't happen everwhere, all at once, and in every single nook and cranny of the government! Sure there's the changes at Justice and the release of various memos a docs there. And, ok, fine, the Gitmo thing and probably some other stuff.
But this one thing didn't change, and that means it's all 100% bullshit! Fascism and censorship!
Democracy provides the illusion of control, permitting people to act in ways that seem to benefit themselves as political actors, and thus permitting the hegemony of capitalist industrialist relations to continue as the modus operandi of civilisation, unabated.
Thankfully geology and nature get to play last, and will make harsh hash of this ponzi scheme called capitalist industrialism.
Obama is no different than Roosevelt. Contrary to right wing bullshit, Roosevelt SAVED the ruling class from self destruction. Obama is attempting the same.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
As a jaded cynic I have just this to say - You voted for one of the Republicans or the Democrats and you expected a change?
Then why not include the other (mini)parties as well?
It's not like voting for them would get you anything (especially considering your silly winner takes all system), but you still seem to think that voting for them would somehow "do you good" (or at least better).
The whole point of being a cynic is that you don't believe in "anything" anymore, not that you just don't believe in the status quo, but do believe in the workability of fringe beliefs (such as those espoused by silly paul)
This is the same president who hired two **AA attack lawyers to top Department of Justice positions. That wasn't old, entrenched bureaucracy. That was new Obama-picked bureaucracy and we saw what way he swings.
Instead of screaming fury from your computer chair, you should be organizing from your computer chair and screaming in the streets. Things will never change so long as people sit back and take it. You don't have to get violent but you need to be persistent. Protests are held against copyright abuse, but they bring in a few hundred people out of millions.
And don't bother giving examples of why people don't care, start giving solutions to make them care. We need to increase the visibility of the problems this poses. Plaster signs on walls, try to take out ads in news papers / websites, door to door campaigning, conduct nationwide surveys with the right questions, so on and so forth. The public can't form an opinion if they don't know what they are talking about and they certainly can't form an opinion over a situation they may not even know exists.
It's time for society to start standing up for itself again.
Does writing a letter (a real physical letter) to your congressman/senator/MP/representitive/elected politician still work?
Or do they destroy all letters sent to the government now in case they contain Anthrax, Model Rocket Fuel or other material that is illegal to mail as a result of the "war on terror"?
because copyright/ip is the modern, hard to defend excuse to implement all kinds of controls on public. FISA ? you already have a lot of arguments against it, and you already have strong public opinion shaped against it. you know what it is, you know how they do it, you know how you can stop it.
but copyright is the new excuse. with it, they can push for implementation of 'controls' that will allow for deep packet inspections of all traffic ( puts fisa to shame ) to 'throttling' of various protocols and even banning certain individuals or organizations off the internet through usage of stuff like 'three strikes'.
in middle ages, there was religion to use as excuse for controlling the people. in 19th century, it was the nation's interests. in 1950s, there was the commies. the world society has grown out of most of these excuses - they hardly pass as valid nowadays.
today we have copyright and child porn as the acceptable excuses to push for suppressing public freedoms. public doesnt know what these are yet, cant shape an opinion. and therefore they are the best excuses to use for pushing self centered agendas of interest groups.
Read radical news here
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
One leader never promised openness. Yet his party
was rightfully removed from office because he was
to secretive.
One leader promised transparency and to shy away
from deceptive cramming of bills through congress.
He re-nigs on both, immediately.
They both make you angry, but as I see number 2
is the bigger travesty.
Do you seriously think this was done without any White House knowledge?
And no, that policy shouldn't take ANY TIME to get everyone in line with it. If its a policy directive from the WH then it takes effect IMMEDIATELY.
So we had Bush Apologists and now we have Obama apologists.. conveniently trunctated to Obamapologists.
Stop listening to what he says and look at what he does (or does not).
Hmmm:
Some information is vital to national security.
*Picture flash*
So much so, the electorate cannot see it.
*Picture flash*
You are forbidden.
*Bars clamp on screen*
This information would be devastating in the hands of terrorists
*Mushroom cloud*
Clearly, the most strict of vetting is needed.
*Pictures of ebola victims*
Guess who has access to this information, vital to national security?
*Fade-out*
*Flashing photographs of lobbyists with unfortunate expressions (think tabloid celebrity photos)*
Call your representative today. Make sure only the most vital, most trustworthy people are trusted.
reneges.
your racial slur attempt to re-work the spelling shows that you don't care WHY Obama is bad, he's BLACK! He MUST be bad! He MUST be a muslim ('cos they aren't quite as white as the WASP, though often still whiter than Obama, that to you means he's MORE Muslim!).
Bush had thousands of innocent lives ruined by his McCarthy style of leadership and left a legacy of worldwide hate (and justified at that, unlike even the Regan era) against America that you will be reaping the harvest from for the next three generations.
Copyright has nothing whatsoever to do with national security.
A copyright treaty has nothing whatsoever to do with national security.
What's in the treaty is all sorts of extradition clauses. So USDOJ can prosecute people from other countries, and they can do the same with our citizens.
They're planting all sorts of nasty clauses related to downloading of copyrighted materials. They're planning on implementing jail time for torrent users.
Using an unlicensed copy of windows will turn you in to the DOJ and add you to a watchlist. They will put monitors on your Internet access. You won't be able to keep your ISP because they will log your downloading of copyrighted materials and send those logs back to DOJ who will then prosecute you. They will setup a factory court system to handle all of the traffic. They will send people to jail claiming they had umpteen millions of dollars worth of illegally downloaded software and content such as music and movies.
It will be a grand spectacle. many will protest and the American people will label downloaders as thieves. They will try to link it to terrorism and the American people will swell with nationalism.
It's all well and good. But it simply cannot be sustained due to it's simple problem with philosophy. Only the uploaders are infringing copyright.
They're using their grammar skills there.
So he (Obama) was focusing on immediate pressing issues (Stimulus, unemployment, taxes, education, health care) while delegating responsibility to the appropriate departments...
As part of that delegation he explicitly states that FOIA requests should be honored when ever possible and should be erred on the side of transparency.
OK, not seeing anything too scary yet.
A Bush appointee working in one of those appropriate department refuses a FOIA request on the grounds of National Security.
Again, nothing surprising. There are multiple possibilities:
1) The appointee is still following marching orders from Bush (doubtful)
2) The appointee is a corporate shill that is trying to hide corporate influence (less doubtful)
3) The appointee feels that there is something in the documentation that exposes information that could lead to a threat against US interests (compromising financial secrecy, negotiation arguments, etc...) (possible)
4) All parties involved are contractually obligated to NOT release any information under penalty of international sanctions (highly likely)
The question though, is what will Obama do about it? Will he demand the department to release the documents? Will he issue a statement explaining that they can not release the documents until the negotiations are complete? Will he comment that due to international responsibilities they can not show anything? Or will he do nothing until the treaty goes to the house for a vote?
Your best bet, other than whining about it on /., would be to contact a reporter who has access to the president and lobby them to ask about this specific situation and see if they can get an answer out of him.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
In the US, a treaty isn't law until the Senate ratifies it.
Yeah, not much consolation, but better than nothing.
"Upon attaching the waterblock to my penis, I began to notice that I know nothing about computers." -- JRockway
however google cache works.
You don't have permission to access /blogs/2009/03/13/who-are-cleared-advisors/ on this server.
davecb5620@gmail.com
Conspiracy theorists take note.
Suddenly I'm getting 403 errors from the whole domain. Not timeouts, but 403Forbidden.
The closer you are to the code, the happier you are. - Ancient Geek Proverb
I know everyone wants to moan and complain about this, but you might try contacting the white house and your congress critters and let them know this is a concern...this is an ongoing matter from a previous administration so don't expect a big 180 degree turn unless you let the new administration know it is a concern. Without being a conspiracy theorist or knee jerker.
Actually that's not irony, it's disturbingly what I would expect.
I can't even access the blog, I get "403 Forbidden"!
I am not fond of the word 'fascism' because it's become a catch-all word for describing any policy or action a govt makes that is not to our liking. But in this case, we have a secret govt action in open collusion with big business at the expense of the general public which I think could accurately described as being fascist, or at least not far from it.
I have to say, I'm seriously disappointed and surprised by BO's decision to continue with a pandering Bushco policy decision.
When all else fails, run.
I get the same error message too, when I try to access the article.
It's who doesn't have access: everyone else. It makes perfect sense to allow "trusted" individuals with relevant knowledge easy access these documents in order to encourage review. What's weird to me is how this is something so "confidential" that no one else should be able to see it. This list of people...not so interesting. That is, aside from demonstrating yet again that all those people who thought Obama would bring CHANGE are naive.
Sure, the wording there from your citation is also important: two thirds of the senators present. If ACTA gets drafted, the 'on-board' senators will simply schedule a weekend or holiday session quietly and hope no one notices. Once in session, even if there's only 3 of them, they could call the vote unanimous of senators present. The treaty portion you quoted simply needs to be re-worded as follows to fix this:
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the elected Senators concur;
Treaties are a big deal, and cannot be treated with enough seriousness for any country. If this loophole isn't fixed, you can literally kiss your virtual rights goodbye as corporate interests move to change our world to favor their greed and desire for control. Really, people, wake up.
But what on earth can be done?
You won't find the traditional media (Broadcast, Newspapers) talking about this, especially when they cloak the information in the "National Security" disguise?
Someone with serious money and power needs to take a strong legal challenge to this, enough to attract the attention of the general population. This during a time of economic meltdown, and middle east wars..
Bavarian Purity Law of Rice Krispie Squares: Rice Krispies, Marshmallows, Butter, Vanilla.
The wonderful thing about the internet is that no matter what the U.S. might consider "national security", there's always bound to be a more civilized and transparent nation out there. The EU is bending, and will probably start releasing documentation as soon as there's a solid draft.
In the meantime, it's important to realize that this treaty is still a work in progress, and nowhere near finished. It will be months yet before there's even a complete document to leak, I think.
That notwithstanding, certain general provisions and a few specific passages have already made their way onto the net; you can find out more here, here, and here.
You need a quorum to start a session. The framers weren't total idiots.
There's lots of scary stuff going on in the halls of Congress and the first thing on everyone's mind should be "How do I get involved to make things better?"
Have some political/social courage for once. Take a position and work for it.
but I voted for Obama because he was promising the least amount of change.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Corporate lobbyists are invited because the whole damn thing was created by them for their own benefit. There would be no treaty to begin with otherwise. It would be nice to get the public to demand that these things be opened up, but they're too distracted by the economy right now. Neat trick, huh?
What?
Obviously you've never managed people.
Yes, the policy directive should take effect immediately. However, policy is just that, policy. It's a series of directives that are then carried out by people. It's not like pushing a patch out to a bunch of computers. Each of those people carrying out the policy will bring their own interpretation, prejudices, etc. to their execution.
Now, the next step after you make policy is enforcing policy. This is where Rahm Emmanuel or one of his subordinates (we don't have a Commerce Secretary at the moment) comes by and applies the hammer to Ms Sudo-Bredie and says get in line with the policy or you can go down to the unemployment office this afternoon.
Policy without enforcement is just hot air. I'm not apologizing for Obama, I'm observing the reality of the world. Absolutely looking at what Obama does is the way to judge him. We just haven't seen if this is the White House yet or just bureaucratic intertia.
People with serious money and power have no interest in rocking the boat that they probably own part of.
mediocrity rules, man