After watching the Google DC debate on ACTA with its emphasis on the issue of transparency, it is worth revisiting the ACTA document spelling out confidentiality requirements among the negotiating countries. The document, which specifies the U.S. approach, discusses the confidentiality requirements associated with ACTA documents including marking the documents […]
Post Tagged with: "transparency"
Transparency Compared: FTAA vs. ACTA
Jamie Love has a great post comparing the level of transparency during the FTAA negotiations with the ACTA talks. Several drafts of the FTAA agreement were released to the public, refuting claims that ACTA secrecy is standard practice.
Why The Lack of ACTA Transparency Is Not Standard
In the face of widespread criticism of the lack of ACTA transparency, participating governments and music industry lobbyists have claimed that the transparency issue is much ado about nothing. As governments seek to keep relevant information secret, those same governments released a joint statement last week arguing that "it is accepted practice during trade negotiations among sovereign states to not share negotiating texts with the public at large, particularly at earlier stages of the negotiation."
It is important to emphatically state that this is simply not the case for many multilateral agreements and the activities of international organizations that typically serve as the forum for global agreement discussions. U.S. NGO groups have made a strong case for how ACTA's lack of transparency is out-of-step with many other global norm setting exercises. With regard to international fora, they note that the WTO, WIPO, WHO, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, UNCTAD, OECD, Hague Conference on Private International Law, and an assortment of other conventions have all been far more open than ACTA. For example, it notes that the WIPO Internet treaties, which offer the closest substantive parallel to the ACTA Internet provisions, were by comparison very transparent:
ACTA Negotiations, Day Three: Secret Talks on Transparency
The current round of ACTA negotiations wrap up later today in Seoul, Korea. Having spent the first day focused on the now-leaked Internet provisions and the second day on the leaked criminal provisions, negotiators will spend this morning discussing whether they should make the draft treaty public. Many countries continue […]
Celebrate Canada Day with Beers for Canada
As Canadians from coast to coast celebrate Canada Day, the people behind VisibleGovernment.ca have developed a novel way to celebrate. Visible Government is a Canadian non-profit that promotes online tools for government transparency. It encourages government leaders and organizations to share their information openly, and work with developers to build […]