Peter K. Yu (Drake University Law School) has posted ACTA and it's Complex Politics (WIPO Journal, Vol. 3, p. 1, 2011) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
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Written for a special issue on the politics of intellectual property, this article examines the "country club" approach the negotiating parties of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have embraced to establish new and higher international intellectual property enforcement standards. It points out that the agreement is flawed not only because it is a country club agreement but also because it is a bad country club agreement.
The article then views ACTA in the context of a recent disturbing trend of using bilateral, plurilateral and regional trade and investment agreements to circumvent the multilateral norm-setting process. It contends that developments in this trend could upset the political dynamics in the current international intellectual property regime.
The article concludes with a discussion of the multiple layers of complex politics behind the ACTA negotiations. It focuses on developments both within the new intellectual property enforcement club and without.