• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, October 3, 2008

Digital rights advocates who are wary of a new anti-piracy treaty got an assist this week from two lawmakers.

Sens. Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter this week asked U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab to make sure the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement doesn't create new rules for Internet service providers.

"We strongly urge you not to permit the agreement to address issues of liability for service providers or technological protection measures," the senators write. "We encourage you to limit the agreement to improved coordination among nations and robust, but flexible standards for civil, criminal and border enforcement."

U.S. officials haven't offered many details about the negotiations, but a document that surfaced on Wikileaks led some digital rights groups to fear that the agreement could require ISPs to proactively monitor their networks for signs of piracy. This development would be troubling for many reasons -- including that U.S. law doesn't currently require ISPs to act as copyright police.

It's not clear yet whether negotiators are really considering including that type of provision in the treaty; some observers have questioned whether the Wikileaks document is even genuine. Still, the rumors that have surfaced are disturbing enough that lawmakers are weighing in on the matter.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to learn more about the treaty, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Trade Representative, demanding that the agency comply with Freedom of Information Act requests. That case is currently pending in federal district court in Washington.