Why is President Obama pushing so hard for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Pact?

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22. How the TPP could effect the internet

The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) has sparked much debate over its many chapters, but many discussions have thus far overlooked the serious consequences the TPP’s copyright provisions could have for internet freedom and emerging technologies.

Those who have been following the TPP negotiations know the TPP is a trade agreement currently being negotiated by the United States and eight other countries bordering the Pacific Ocean that holds major implications concerning international copyright law. Excessive copyright protections in the TPP would not only affect producers and distributors of content, but also stifle the ability of technology companies to make products that can be used to copy, store, access, use, and repurpose copyrighted works, and threaten users’ ability to utilize digital technology to use content in new ways.

Before any public interest advocate can begin a meaningful analysis of the TPP, it is important to note that the TPP has been negotiated under shocking levels of secrecy, so consumer advocates can only rely on outdated leaks of the text to evaluate the public harms the TPP would cause. While the U.S. Trade Representative has been willing to receive comment from the public, meaningful transparency cannot exist until the USTR publicly responds to public interest groups’ analysis, or officially confirms what negotiating objectives the USTR is seeking in negotiations.

Some say the USTR must operate in secrecy to achieve its negotiating goals, but this is cold comfort if the provisions the USTR secretly seeks would stifle internet freedom or user rights and fail to actually incentivize new creative works. The TPP copyright provisions in particular are not limited to provisions on trade and tariffs—they would require countries to implement detailed substantive provisions of copyright law, which affects users, technology companies, and creators alike. These provisions are much more akin to domestic legislation than they are to trade quotas or tariffs, and therefore the process and substance of the TPP should be as transparent as we expect domestic legislation to be. Otherwise, consumers will be in a position with little time to act and with little information to act on. The public should be involved in these conversations that may decide the fate of the world’s most innovative communicative resources.

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http://www.diplomaticourier.com/news/opinion/1505-the-costs-of-copyright-in-the-tpp