The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement ( TPP ). 
Ever heard of it? Probably not.

The TPP is a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement.  

There are twelve countries currently in the negotations:  Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Brunei, Mexico, Canada, and the United States and Japan.

The issues with it are :

(1) IP chapter: Leaked draft (WikiLeaks) texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate.

(2) Lack of transparency: The entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy.

Before I give a brief explanation on what this agreement would mean for us, I want to mention the biggest or scariest part of this agreement. 

This agreement is supposed to be "fast tracked." This procedure would limit the congressional role and debate over an agreement already negotiated and signed by the executive branch, which the Congress would have to vote up or down without amendments. 

This means that the Congress has pretty much no chance to vote aganst this law, or make changes to it. This is a very disturbing action, considering how many of our basic constitutional rights are at stake.

It is impossible for me to explain the ramifications of this agreement here. It would require further analysis of the leaked chapters and more chapters to be leaked. 

At least now you have heard aout the TPP! Now it should be in your own interest to read about it and see what you can do. 

Remember: a similar agreement is supposed to take place the on Atlantic side as well. Current NSA scandals have apparently put these negotiations on hold.

The TPP explained quickly and why YOU should care : 

TPP raises significant concerns about citizens’ freedom of expression, due process, innovation, the future of the Internet’s global infrastructure, and the right of sovereign nations to develop policies and laws that best meet their domestic priorities. In sum, the TPP puts at risk some of the most fundamental rights that enable access to knowledge for the world’s citizens.

The US Trade Rep is pursuing a TPP agreement that will require signatory counties to adopt heightened copyright protection that advances the agenda of the US entertainment and pharmaceutical industries agendas, but omits the flexibilities and exceptions that protect Internet users and technology innovators.

The TPP will affect countries beyond the 12 that are currently involved in negotiations. Like ACTA, the TPP Agreement is a plurilateral agreement that will be used to create new heightened global IP enforcement norms. Countries that are not parties to the negotiation will likely be asked to accede to the TPP as a condition of bilateral trade agreements with the US and other TPP members, or evaluated against the TPP's copyright enforcement standards.

To understand or to read more about the TPP I recommend :

https://www.eff.org/issues/tpp

What can you do to stop it? 

Www.flushthetpp.org 

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Thought on the side : 

There was once a word to describe the merging of governmental and corporate interests - fascism.

Someone needs to come up with a word for the domination of governments by corporations.

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Reminder: 

Please feel free to submit thoughts, poems, short stories, art, etc! 

- Manik