1 They're discussing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a proposed international agreement that has been in secret negotiations since before Obama took office. Because the negotiations are being kept secret, there is not a lot of real evidence of what the treaty will address. Much of what is floating about in the news-o-sphere is apparently based on speculation from a leaked discussion paper. The US is only one party to the negotiations. Also at the table are Australia, Canada, the European Community, Jordan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and the UAE.

First, this doesn't look like it will produce a treaty. Rather, it will probably result, if in anything at all, in an executive agreement. An executive agreement is a lot like a treaty, except it is not made "with the advice and consent of the Senate" as required under Article II. Executive agreements have been the primary vehicle for the US in international agreements in recent years, because they are easier to negotiate since the President (or State Department, by delegation) doesn't have to get the Senate's approval before accepting terms. The flip side is that executive agreements are not "treaties" under the Supremacy Clause, and are also never self-executing. Which means that the agreement, if adopted by the US, would be entirely without force <em>domestically</em>. Congress would have to pass new laws to implement the agreement at home, and those laws would be subject to the limits in the Constitution.

Looking at the hype now, many news outlets, like this one, are reporting that the US government will seize broad, unwarranted search powers over electronically stored information domestically. But that does not follow from the context. It is much more likely that the agreement will set up a uniform approach among nations to combating  international data piracy, which will probably include <em>border</em>-searches of <em>large</em> data stores of <em>international</em> travelers traveling with suspect cargo; a power the TSA has already claimed and has been using regularly since enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001 and which has been upheld in the face of a constitutional challenge by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (AK, HI, CA, AZ, MN, NV, ID, OR, WA).

Of course it's disturbing and quite inappropriate that your iPod might be subject to search if you decide to take a trip to England. But the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, if adopted by the US, will probably not impact domestic law much. When the US goes to treaty negotiations, it usually walks away with an agreement that closely mirrors the current state of US domestic law and foreign policy anyway.

In short, the reality of the ACTA is not likely to get my panties twisted up any more than they already are.

~Q

2 this Website is very good. you can find something surprise if click it. http://www.gucciusaoutlet.com/