ACTA goes public

Computerworld reports:

A controversial plan to crack down on online piracy and counterfeiting will be opened up to public scrutiny for the first time next week, when the negotiating text of a secret international copyright treaty will be made public, the European Commission said on Friday.

Negotiations over the past two years have been conducted in secret. Leaks of the draft text have sparked a public outcry, mainly because of how the text deals with online copyright infringement.

Countries involved in talks on the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) agreed unanimously to make the documents available to the public at a meeting in New Zealand this week, the Commission said in a statement.

This is excellent news and a real win for those who have been pushing for transparency. Having the draft text out there helps people make informed submissions.

However, they don’t plan to reveal their individual negotiating positions.

Which would be useful also. However the release of a draft text means the Government can be asked questions relating to that text.