3 ms·
On the other hand, negotiators are pressured to come to some agreement, and a "compromise" halfway between the global consensus and one lone holdout isn't a tru
by FellowMarketer 11y ago
On the other hand, negotiators are pressured to come to some agreement, and a "compromise" halfway between the global consensus and one lone holdout isn't a true compromise -- it's extortion by a global power.
If the secrecy of the documents is supposed to protect that kind of extortion by major powers -- for instance, on the part of US negotiators insisting that the rest of the world honor US IP standards -- then they should be publicly named and shamed, not hidden by "the process", under the guise that their all-or-nothing extortion is a reasonable practice.
I think it's very likely that the secrecy is meant to hide bad actions on the part of some negotiators representing powerful interests, and not for the true benefit of the constituents the negotiators are (theoretically) representing. I think the entirety of the fast tracking process in the US (and other nations), the secrecy around the negotiations, etc is at the behest of and for the benefit of major powers extorting other people, and shouldn't be respected, at all.
Do you have some reasons to suppose that it's otherwise, given the nature of the drafts we've seen and leaked comments from negotiators suggesting that the US negotiating team is attempting to extort the world in to accepting the (rather ridiculous) US IP position?
- tptacek 11y agoI think you're referring to the TPP here, not TTIP, which is the agreement being discussed in the article. That TPP is an attempt to coerce Asian countries into adopting US-friendly IP laws is surely one of the most poorly-kept secrets in geopolitics. It's the stated purpose of the treaty. It's why the US is spending the time and effort on it. So I'm not clear on what "naming and shaming" you're referring to, or why it hasn't (a) already been accomplished or (b) will easily be accomplished once the treaty goes into public review.