KEI's Jamie Love recently had the opportunity to ask USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk about the lack of transparency associated with ACTA. Kirk responded implausibly that people might walk away from the negotiations if the text was made public.
USTR Ambassador Kirk On ACTA: People Would Walk if ACTA Public
Tags: acta / anti-counterfeiting trade agreement / copyright / Counterfeit / counterfeiting / kirk / USTR
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That is hilarious, but not so implausible. If their part in the illicit dealings became public, they would be forced to walk away. Makes perfect sense to me.
Perfectly Plausible
Makes perfect sense to me. A number of groups have had great success in embarrassing industry participants in copyright negotiations in other forums, by way of exposing the absurdity of their “evidence”, the consequences of their demanded policies, etc. Were the ACTA text and negotiation process to become public before it became law, they’d face the same embarrassment there and would, no doubt, walk away.
The problem they face is that the policies these industry bodies desire are so fundamentally hostile to the public interest that any attempt to justify or promote them in public will wind up being “embarrassing”.
If you were planning a scheme that you knew would screw hundred of thousands of others, and your partner went and announced it on the news, wouldn’t you walk away?