Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and the government presumably hoped that pushing Bill C-22 through a House of Commons committee past midnight without debate or a recorded vote would put an end to the lawful access controversy. A new letter from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee that holds jurisdiction over trade, suggests the opposite. The letter, released last week, calls on the U.S. administration to treat Canada’s lawful access plans as a counterintelligence threat, to use the CLOUD Act negotiations as leverage, and to take regulatory steps to insulate American officials from surveillance demands directed at U.S. companies. Coming just weeks after House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan and House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Brian Mast warned that the bill harms U.S. national security and economic interests, the letter confirms that Bill C-22 has become a bilateral irritant with the potential to emerge as a full-blown trade issue. Given the latest threats of new tariffs, lawful access could add yet another complication in the increasingly fraught trade relationship.
Post Tagged with: "wyden"
U.S. Senator Wyden Raises Questions About ACTA Implementation
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has written to U.S. President Barack Obama to raise questions about the U.S. plans to implement the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement without Congressional approval.
U.S. Senator Seeks Legal Review of ACTA
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has asked that the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress undertake and provide to Congress an independent determination on the domestic impact of ACTA.
USTR Posts ACTA Responses
The USTR has posted responses to a series of ACTA questions posed by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden.
Legislators Worldwide Asking Questions About ACTA
Legislators around the world are demanding more information on the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. French Deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan raised ACTA questions in the National Assembly late last year, expressing concerns about a global three-strikes and you're out approach, increased costs for medicines, and the lack of transparency associated with the process.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden goes even further in a letter to the USTR this week that seeks answers to nearly a dozen questions about ACTA. Wyden asks about:
- possible constraints on domestic U.S. law reforms
- ensuring ACTA does not interfere with public health flexibilities in TRIPs
- the definition of counterfeit
- concerns about the inclusion of patents within ACTA
- the role of ISPs in ACTA
- whether increased monitoring of subscriber usage is envisioned by ACTA
- the privacy impact of ACTA
- details on border measures provisions
- third party liability for IP infringement
- possible commitments worldwide to comply with the DMCA
Wyden is not the first U.S. senator to raise questions about ACTA. Last year, Senators Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown also wrote to the USTR as did Senators Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter in 2008.
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