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Trans-Pacific Partnership May Endanger World Health, Newly Leaked Chapter Shows
blottsie writes WikiLeaks has released an updated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) chapter on intellectual property. The new version of the texts, dated May 2014, show that little improvement has been made to sections critics say would hurt free speech online. Further, some of the TPP's stipulations could have dire consequences for healthcare in developing nations. The Daily Dot reports: "Nearly all of the changes proposed by the U.S. advantage corporate entities by expanding monopolies on knowledge goods, such as drug patents, and impose restrictive copyright policies worldwide. If it came into force, TPP would even allow pharmaceutical companies to sue the U.S. whenever changes to regulatory standards or judicial decisions affected their profits. Professor Brook K. Baker of Northeastern U. School of Law [said] that the latest version of the TPP will do nothing less than lengthen, broaden, and strengthen patent monopolies on vital medications."
Maybe Putin will do us a favor and launch the nukes.
Or maybe we'll all win the lottery.
Nothing will change until we make it change.
The first thing to do is to follow the money trail and identify:
1. The companies who've paid the politicians
2. The names of the people in the company who've made the decisions
3. The names of politicians who've taken the money
How do we get that effort started? What will it take, who can do it?
Prime Minister John Key has said that there would be a full public disclosure before signing, also that he feels the left should also be involved as it is very important to have across the board agreement on these polices, also that he has already signed it, also that it has no affect on snapper quota............
I tell ya, living in New Zealand is a little like living in Night Vale at the moment.
I reserve the write to mangle english.
Actually Europeans have looked up at Americans most of the 20th century. I even distinctly remember a folk song about what kind of celebrations are to be held "now that rich uncle from America is coming".
The change is not as long ago as you might think. It hasn't been more than maybe two decades that people form the US are seen as religious nutjob simpletons who sue everyone and everything if it doesn't go their way. Before that, US people were more seen as rich and self-confident with a "if anyone can accomplish that, I can" attitude that we actually aspired to.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Working with knowledge and not bricks does not mean you certainly need a lot more protection.
There are certainly some cost structures that should be changed if we abolish copyright and patents, but it doesn't mean no industry can survive, even the medical industry. Look for example at Aspirin. The patent is gone on it, but its still a big money maker for Bayer. Being first in the market brings considerable advantages. Never mind that the company is german that made it, likely not by chance, because germany has been one of the western countries that had no patent protection for a long time, so the german medical companies started kicking the asses of those outside of germany quite fast.
RD also wouldn't really go up, quite likely the other way around, you can more easily base your research on previous knowledge without having lawyers go through it and what not. The biggest cost that would be harder to recoup is the cost of trials, but these could instead become state sponsored if needed (and there is a good chance that its not all that needed).
This book is just great to understand copyright and patents problems: http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/papers/anew.all.pdf