Obama's mixed record on tech policy

[Commentary] In December 2009, speaking at the World Intellectual Property Organization, Justin Hughes, a very distinguished and impressive senior advisor in the Department of Commerce, broke new ground.

"We recognize that some in the international copyright community believe that any international consensus on substantive limitations and exceptions to copyright law would weaken international copyright law... The United States does not share that point of view." The US, it seems, could actually stand up for the principle of a balanced copyright policy - at least in the context of the visually impaired. It is a mark of how reduced our expectations have been in copyright law that this seemed like a great victory. When the decision not to throw the blind under the copyright juggernaut counts as enlightened policy, it tells one a lot.

But sadly the rejoicing must have limits. Those of you who use that useful communications network known as "the Internet" might be interested to know that a treaty that could profoundly affect your rights is now being negotiated by a group of developed states including the United States and the EU. What is in the treaty? Well, that is something of a mystery. The treaty in question is called ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. When Knowledge Ecology International filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the draft of the treaty, the Obama Administration refused, claiming that this was "information that is properly classified in the interest of national security."