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Trans-Pacific Partnership Enables Harsh Penalties For Filesharing

Posted by Soulskill on from the legislation-via-industry dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Electronic Frontier Foundation went through a recent leak of the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, an international treaty in development that (among other things) would impose new intellectual property laws on much of the developed world. The EFF highlights one section in particular, which focuses on the punishments for copyright infringement. The document doesn't set specific sentences, but it actively encourages high monetary penalties and jail terms. Its authors reason that these penalties will be a deterrent to future infringement. "The TPP's copyright provisions even require countries to enable judges to unilaterally order the seizure, destruction, or forfeiture of anything that can be 'traceable to infringing activity,' has been used in the 'creation of pirated copyright goods,' or is 'documentary evidence relevant to the alleged offense.' Under such obligations, law enforcement could become ever more empowered to seize laptops, servers, or even domain names."

4 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. youtube video summary of trans pacific partnership by doug141 · · Score: 4, Informative

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  2. It's even worse than that .. by lippydude · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's even worse than that. Under TPP a corporation can sue sovereign governments in secret courts if such governments are deemed to have impinged on the corporations right to sell product. Laws such as those to protect against excessive toxins released into the environment. Or if a local government decides to make cheaper generic drugs, instead of buying the corporations more expensive patented product.

    1. Re:It's even worse than that .. by mbone · · Score: 3, Informative

      WTO and similar arbitaration boards existed for many moons now. They deal with protectionist tariffs

      No, they don't.

  3. Re:Worked for drugs by hawguy · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm not sure methamphetamine is a direct replacement for Sudafed. You might want to double check that.

    The point isn't that Sudafed is the same as meth, but that it is restricted because it can be used to make meth, yet I can buy the meth directly easier than I can buy Sudafed.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/da...

    Also, this war on meth has resulted in the pharmaceutical industry selling what is essentially a placebo in the form of a "meth-resistant" Sudafed PE:

    http://consumer.healthday.com/...

    Seven other studies, according to the authors, found that phenylephrine didn't work better than a placebo.

    "It does nothing," Hendeles said. "Clearly the 10 milligram (dose) does not work."

    So consumers are being guided into buying a product that doesn't work by a drug policy that also doesn't work.