The White House's Annual Report on Intellectual Property Enforcement is out, and there are some encouraging words in the 130-page document. The policy compendium reiterates what the Obama Administration declared in mid-January when pressed to take a position on the Stop Online Privacy Act.

Back then, the White House announced itself a SOPA skeptic. Apparently, it still is. "Online piracy is a serious problem," says US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria A. Espinel, but the administration "will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk (including authority to tamper with the DNS system), or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."

And the Annual Report emphasizes the importance of openness in making IP policy decisions. "The IPEC continues to encourage improved transparency in intellectual property policy making," the survey insists. The Coordinator maintains an "open door" policy, and consults with "hundreds of stakeholders, large and small, across a broad range of sectors in developing and implementing the Administration's strategy for intellectual property enforcement."

This is a refreshing statement, if the US really means it. We didn't see a lot of that open door spirit in recent negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It's a multilateral deal that would extend Digital Millennium Copyright Act dogma on digital lock rules and subscriber disconnection policy to a dozen or so countries in South East Asia.

Recent talks on the agreement, held at a West Hollywood hotel, were so hush-hush that opponents of the deal couldn't even book a "public interest briefing" at the venue. "We have a confidential group in house and we will not be allowing any other groups in the meeting space that day," a hotel attendant told them.