The latest round of negotiations on the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement started last week in Mexico. There was a public session to start off, but several amazing things happened. First, the negotiators told everyone at the public session they had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The attendees from the public protested angrily, and that was dropped.
When Geraldine Juarez was making comments on the negotiations, she stated that file-sharing was not contraband or counterfeiting, & two lobbyists booed her (actually, she notes they went "grrrrgooooggr".) Later, when she tried to twitter about what was happening at the public session, the lobbyists complained & had a guard escort her out.
Folks, we need to call our congressmembers and senators to tell them we want hearings on ACTA and what its' provisions are. The treaty, by its' title, is supposedly to stop counterfeiting of goods (Rolexes, DVDs.) But from leaks onto the internet, we know that the treaty would require governments to eavesdrop on the internet, require laptops to be searched at borders, force ISPs to police content, & would throw whole households off the Net on suspicion of copyright infringement. This secret treaty needs to be watched closely.
For more info, go here and here.