The discussions exclude almost all civil liberties groups, and include mostly industry groups. It's hard to get a handle on what's really in the agreement. One thing that seems fairly certain, given all of the discussion about it, would be a provision allowing for a 'three strikes and you're off the internet' policy. France just enacted such a law, Britain is flirting with one, and Wired just posted this article today about the US.

(more at the link)
Copyright Treaty Is Policy Laundering at Its Finest
www.wired.com/threatlevel...-laundering/
* By David Kravets
* November 4, 2009

The blogosphere is abuzz over an apparently leaked document showing the United States trying to push its controversial DMCA-style notice-and-takedown process on the world. But since Threat Level already lives in the land of the DMCA, we’re more bothered by the fact that the U.S. proposal goes far beyond that 1998 law, and would require Congress to alter the DMCA in a manner even more hostile to consumers.

At issue is the internet section of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being developed under a cloak of secrecy by dozens of countries.The leaked document is a three-page European Commission memo written by an unnamed EU official, which purports to summarizes a private briefing given in September by U.S. trade officials.

The language in the Sept. 30 memo shows the United States wants ISPs around the world to punish suspected, repeat downloaders with a system of “graduated response” — code for a three-strikes policy that results in the customer eventually being disconnected from the internet with the ISP alone deciding what constitutes infringement and fair use.

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Older info in chron order

Secret ACTA treaty can't be shown to public, just 42 lawyers
arstechnica.com/tech-polic...-policy.ars

As the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement rolls forward, it's clear that some kind of Internet "enforcement" will end up in the text; but what kind? Thirty-eight corporate lawyers and 4 public interest lawyers are the only ones with a say.
By Nate Anderson | Last updated October 15, 2009 9:37 AM CT

Newer info:

The ACTA Internet Chapter: Putting the Pieces Together
Michael Geist
Tuesday November 03, 2009

www.michaelgeist.ca/content/.../4510/125

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotations continue in a few hours as Seoul, Korea plays host to the latest round of talks. The governments have posted the meeting agenda, which unsurprisingly focuses on the issue of Internet enforcement. The United States has drafted the chapter under enormous secrecy, with selected groups granted access under strict non-disclosure agreements and other countries (including Canada) given physical, watermarked copies designed to guard against leaks.

Boing Boing coverage

Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad.
www.boingboing.net/2009/11/...-tre.html

The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked. It's bad.