ALERT: The Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Eviscerates Internet Freedom

08-28-2011 • ipsnews.net

"It’s exporting the enforcement provisions, supporting the more draconian features of U.S. copyright law, without all of the balancing features," Band said, citing fair use as a common exception to copyright law in the U.S., a provision not featured in TPP. Without such provisions, Band said, restrictions could be placed on entities like libraries and internet service providers, which provide access to information. The negotiation process for TPP has been plagued by criticism of free trade policies, with one of the biggest frustrations for advocates being a lack of transparency from negotiators, including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines Program at Public Citizen, said that not addressing the implications of TPP legislation could lead to a dramatic change in international policy. "What we’re seeing with the TPP is a whole slate of new proposals designed to get in under the political radar where no one’s watching, and expand patentability in as many ways as possible without going through a domestic political fight in the United States," said Maybarduk.