If you are curious about about what goes on in copyright and trade negotiations and more specifically how the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) functions, or if they function, you would be on the same page as Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. He has had enough of the secrecy when it comes to these negotiations and he would like the Senate to once again begin overseeing the process.

Currently, The US Trade Representative signs off on the transactions, but he would like that decision reversed. A new bill currently under review in the House calls for reduced restriction in order to help small and growing entities more easily generate capital. Currently titled, the jobs bill, the legislation seeks to relax the Security and Exchange Commissions’s regulation for qualifying business’s.

Many see the bill as an opportunity for reform current regulation practices, and a chance to expose dishonest dealings overseen by ACTA and others in the business of regulating trade. Essentially, Wyden wants more transparency for all trade dealings especially ones that obligate the United States. He believes these negotiations are vital to national security and should not be allowed to persist in their current capacity.

It is unclear what will happen with these new amendments from Wyden or how they will factor in to the jobs bill, but it sounds like a positive thing for copyright and patent treaties. I suppose it is much more complex than we can gain an understanding from this short article, but I feel out lawmakers are headed down the right path with this new legislation. It just isn’t clear how they can come to a compromise that will work for all parties and keep us safe from fraudulent actions.