Trans Pacific Partnership Is a Terrible Deal

[Card Slinger J]

So in case you've been living under a rock recently, the Trans Pacific Partnership (a.k.a. TPP) is a trade agreement between the United States and other Pacific nations. It's an attempt to combine International law with United States law while also pushing previously defeated copyright screw ups like SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (The Protect IP Act).

WikiLeaks provided more information on the matter which was recently deleted on their server however the electronics civil rights group Fight for the Future posted a summary of what WikiLeaks unveiled in regards to the Trans Pacific Partnership:

Last week, WikiLeaks released the final text of the TPP’s intellectual property rights chapter and it is absolutely terrifying.

These are just a few of its most dangerous pieces:

Compel ISPs to take down websites without any sort of court order, just like SOPA. (Appendix Section I)

Extend the US’s copyright regime to require copyrights stand for life plus 70 years, preventing anyone from using works that belong in the public domain. (Article QQ.G.6)

Criminalize whistleblowing by extending trade secrets laws without any mandatory exemptions for whistleblowers or investigative journalists. (QQ.H.8)

End anonymity online by forcing every domain name to be associated with a real name and address. (Article QQ.C.12)

Make it illegal to unlock, modify, or generally tinker with a device you own. (Article QQ.G.10)

Export the US’s broken copyright policies to the rest of the world without expanding any of the free speech protections, like fair use. (Article QQ.G.17)

The worst part is that this is just one of the TPP’s 30 chapters.

So feel free to discuss corporate lobbying and it's ability to mess with International law...

I'll go ahead and provide links to online petitions for those who want to stop this trade deal with whatever window of opportunity we currently have right now:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-the-trans-pacific-45

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/tpp_2015_eu/?bVmiWgb&v=66243

https://www.credomobilize.com/petit...61580.lwmWoP&rd=1&suppress_one_click=true&t=4

http://www.jbs.org/federal-legislative-action-alerts?vvsrc=/Campaigns/42807/Respond

Here's an article explaining how it will affect the Video Game Industry, Journalism, and more:

https://taisensnews.wordpress.com/2...the-video-games-industry-journalism-and-more/