| ...refuses to even classify ACTA as a treaty, which would then require ratification by the U.S. Senate... If we're modifying huge sections of IP law administratively without legislative oversight, that opens up a whole new area for fun and games. Now you have to petition your Congressman to petition the president to use a certain process just so your elected representative can actually have a say in how the laws are changing. There's nothing new here -- Congress has been ceding it's authority away for decades and this is just a bit of political posturing on Issa's part -- but still, it's really quite breathtaking when you stand back and think about it. The bureaucracy saw what it thought was a problem, then used existing international treaties as a framework to "fix" the problem without having that pesky review or oversight process. Next time they want more restrictions on the net instead of trying to get a bill through the Senate and the House they'll just use this avenue. I gotta admit it, the folks waving their arms and saying ACTA was much worse than SOPA were right. This not only does the same and more, it sets up a process to make future restrictions easier to get by. Wish I had something positive and upbeat to add, but if there's a silver lining here I don't see it. Perhaps the community can use Issa as a prop to get this thing opened up and eviscerated. Using the government oversight committee is probably the only road open at this point. |
Video of his speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&v=gzieTzart5s Transcript on his site: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6350/125/