Why so secretive about copyright law treaty?

[JDPriestly]

The latest round of negotiations over the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA -- a secret treaty that contains provisions requiring nations to wiretap the Internet, force ISPs to spy on users, search laptops at the border, and disconnect whole households from the net on the basis of mere accusation of copyright infringement) is just kicking off in Mexico, and activists from around Mexico and the world have converged on the meeting to demand transparent, public negotiations of this critical treaty.
True to the secretive, crony-capitalist nature of this treaty, the organizers have done everything they can to harass and intimidate observers. Attendees at the so-called "public meeting" were booed by representatives from big business, and they ejected an activist for using Twitter to post updates on what was being said in the room.

There was even an effort to force members of the public who attended the meeting to sign non-disclosure agreements, though outrage forced them to reconsider.

. . . .

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/22/activist-ejected-fro.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+boingboing/iBag+(Boing+Boing)

Could the secrecy be due to the fact that Congress cannot pass laws that contradict treaties? Treaties overrule Acts of Congress. This is a way of disenfranchising the American people.

That is one of the objectionable aspects of world trade agreements.

It appears that this copyright law contains a lot of provisions that really have much wider repercussions that just for copyright law. These laws give the government the right to invade our privacy. In fact, if this article is correct, they would require us to permit our government to invade the privacy of our personal writings.

[midnight]

1. The beat goes on.....