Today Representative Darrell Issa has issued a press release blasting the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Issa notes that the agreement was negotiated in secret, may lead to poor consequences for consumers, and “appears to be an unconstitutional power grab begun by the Executive Branch to bypass Congress’ Constitutional authority over international commerce and intellectual property rights protections.” He cites a letter from Senator Wyden to the President objecting to the Administration’s assertion that ACTA does not need Congressional approval.
Additionally, Issa has put the ACTA text on his interactive site keepthewebopen.com, which allows people to comment on specific sections of text and suggest changes.
On keepthewebopen.com, Issa argues that “The Constitution gives Congress the power to pass intellectual property legislation – like SOPA and PIPA – and gives the Senate the power to ratify treaties. But the Obama Administration maintains that ACTA is not even a treaty, justifying the exclusion of both American citizens and their elected representatives.”
For more, see:
- Brendan Sasso for the Hill. Issa slams Bush and Obama over ‘secretive’ trade agreement. March 6, 2012.
- Ben Popper for VentureBeat News. Rep. Darrell Issa opens up secretive intellectual property “treaty”, ACTA, to the public. March 6, 2012.
