Monday, November 9, 2009

Groups Say IP Is Favored In Proposed Treaty

Two consumer watchdog groups are raising new concerns with a draft anti-counterfeiting treaty. In a letter sent Monday to key members of Congress, Public Knowledge and Knowledge Ecology International complained that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), being negotiated by the United States and several other countries, includes provisions from prior agreements that are more favorable to intellectual property owners, while leaving out provisions that favor consumers. "Current revelations about ACTA suggest that its provisions are overwhelmingly selected to advantage a narrow set of interests, failing to take into account its effects on the overall economy, the civil and economic rights of the public, and other elements of the public good," according to the letter sent to the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The groups, which relied on press reports and "credible leaked documents" since no public text is available, said it appears ACTA is seeking to expand upon certain elements from the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property agreement (TRIPS). "The result is an agreement that is therefore unbalanced. ACTA would appear to be an expanded version of the TRIPS enforcement sections, but without the balance and safeguards that have given TRIPS such legitimacy," the letter said.

Public Knowledge, Knowledge Ecology International and other groups have raised concerns in the past about the transparency of the ACTA negotiating process. In their Monday letter, the two groups urged lawmakers to press the Obama administration to release the "actual text" of ACTA so the public can provide input. "We urge you to end this exercise in unbalanced, opaque policymaking. The ACTA negotiations should be made open, or they should be stopped," according to the letter signed by Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn and Knowledge Ecology International Director James Love.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not have immediate comment on the letter. USTR has resumed negotiations on ACTA this month in South Korea. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and his team have indicated in the past that while they value transparency, keeping the details of the trade deal under wraps is essential. The USTR allowed some industry and advocacy groups to view documents as negotiators prepared for the latest meeting but notable watchdog groups were left out and took issue with the mandate that those privy to the text had to sign non-disclosure agreements.