[A2k] M.Geist: Canadian Government Re-Launches ACTA Consultations

[Manon Ress]

Canadian Government Re-Launches ACTA Consultations

Click on the link to get all the documents:
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3513/125/

quote:

Friday November 14, 2008

The Canadian government has re-launched its consultation on the Anti-
Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.  The last consultation was conducted
in the spring.  While the government did not release the results of
that consultation, I recently reported on the findings based on
documents obtained under the Access to Information Act.

The new consultation will be treated as ongoing, meaning that there is
no fixed deadline for submissions.  The government notes that
responses to this consultation may be made available to the public.
While it is good that the government is open to public input on ACTA,
this new approach raises at least two concerns.  First, it has
provided no new information about ACTA, effectively asking Canadians
to comment on a treaty that they know virtually nothing about (almost
all public information comes by way of leaks).  Second, the rolling
consultation may simply allow the government to claim that it has
continuously consulted the public, while knowing that the response
will be ad-hoc and (by virtue of the lack of information) uninformed.
What is needed is more public information about ACTA.  Other countries
have brought together all stakeholders for more open and transparent
discussions about the treaty and the negotiations.  Similar open
discussions in Canada are long overdue.


End of quote

See Canada's consultation on ...mystery text at:
http://www.international.gc.ca/consultations/active/index.aspx?menu_id=2&menu=R




***************************************************************************
Manon Ress
manon.ress@keionline.org
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.:  +1.202.332.2670, Fax: +1.202.332.2673