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TPP Copyright Chapter Leaks: Website Blocking, New Criminal Rules On the Way

An anonymous reader writes: Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) [Wednesday] morning released the May 2015 draft of the copyright provisions in the Trans Pacific Partnership (copyright, ISP annex, enforcement). The leak appears to be the same version that was covered by the EFF and other media outlets earlier this summer. Michael Geist unpacks the leaked documents, noting the treaty includes anti-circumvention rules that extend beyond the WIPO Internet treaties, new criminal rules, the extension of copyright term for countries like Canada and Japan, increased border measures, mandatory statutory damages in all countries, and expanding ISP liability rules, including the prospect of website blocking for Canada.

23 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. They will strangle by catmandue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The goose that lays the golden egg that is the internet one day.

  2. They _ARE_ strangling by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 5, Informative

    and considering the utter populace indifference, they will prevail.

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
    1. Re:They _ARE_ strangling by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The populace is hardly indifferent. Look at the mass amount of letters and phone calls and emails sent in during the SOPA and PIPA hearings, or during the FCC "Fast Lane" proposal. I'm sure you've heard the term "bread and circuses" - screwing with the Internet is the modern equivalent of taking away the circuses.

      The "mass amount of letters and phone calls" mean absolutely nothing and will in no way stop the lockdown of the Internet. And as long as there are cat pictures on YouTube and Reddit forums for people to vent their 2 minutes hate, and plenty of stuff to buy from Amazon, that's all the "circuses" that most people care about. As long as there's online porn, most people don't care who's listening in, because they think their browser's "incognito" setting is protecting them.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:They _ARE_ strangling by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Look at the mass amount of letters and phone calls and emails sent in during the SOPA and PIPA hearings

      They had no effect whatsoever. It wasn't until Google, Apple, HP, etc got involved did anybody listen. We simply don't have the capital to direct anything. People could try voting for different politicians I suppose, but they seem unwilling out of the irrational fear of losing what they have.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. Re:Well shit by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Funny enough in some countries that are pushing for 'hard time' for copyright infringement, I could commit manslaughter(maybe as much as 2nd degree) here in Canada and be out before they would be.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  4. Re:Well shit by ewibble · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well there is no bigger crime than potentially reducing the profits of corporations

  5. Global framework of laws by jmd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This global framework of laws will render the nation state useless. Corporations will have ALL of the power nation states used to have. And you will have none.

    1. Re:Global framework of laws by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Now, ask yourself, which nation states are most actively advancing corporate interests because their politicians are on the payroll?

      This is the world being taken over by corrupt politicians who report only the those corporations, which means the rest of the world needs to be looking at these "trade" treaties and asking "in what way does this benefit our citizens, our economy, or our jobs".

      Because the short answer is "it doesn't, it maximizes corporate profits at the expense of everybody else".

      We're basically being robbed to allow multinationals carve up the world for themselves. And it's being championed by politicians who are lining their pockets at our expense.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Global framework of laws by Revek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The media pushes that crap so people won't worry about the real threats to their freedom.

    3. Re:Global framework of laws by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think there are certain issues like abortion that the two major parties have agreed upon as suitable for political theater - it distracts the public from the other issues on which they are in agreement, and would rather the public not talk about.

    4. Re:Global framework of laws by jez9999 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And it's being championed by politicians who are lining their pockets at our expense.

      Exactly. Anyone who says Obama gets an unfair amount of criticism - no he doesn't. He doesn't get nearly enough. TPP and TTIP will have happened on his watch, and not by accident.

  6. Yet more proof ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yet more proof we live in a global oligarchy, championed by assholes, who have stacked the deck so heavily in favor of corporations the rest of us are completely fucked.

    Everything in these damned treaties are about maximizing the profits of multinational corporations, and don't benefit the citizens.

    The treaties are basically theft on a global scale designed to give corporations more rights than people.

    This is really American politicians fucking over everybody else in the world because they're so undeniably on the fucking payroll of the corporations it isn't even funny.

    It is now pretty much a moral imperative we either start eating the rich, or start copyright infringement on such a massive scale they simply can't do anything about it.

    We've sold the farm on the bullshit promise that what is good for greedy assholes and corporations somehow uplifts us all, when nothing could be further from the truth.

    The pressing problems we need to solve in the world haven't got a fucking thing to do with copyright.

    This treaty is a terrible idea.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Yet more proof ... by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."

      "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

      ...Thomas Jefferson

      When in doubt children go back to the founding fathers, they were the revolutionaries of their time and saw a LOT of this shit coming and did their best to stop it. It was only by decades of perverting the law of the land, through treasonous bribery and outright corruption, that this country was able to get into such a state.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    2. Re:Yet more proof ... by yoink! · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Some interesting insight with regards to the possible breaking down of negotiations: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com...

      It's a longer-than-a-slashdot-summary-read, but insightful.

  7. You gotta view it from the *ELITE* pov by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Internet may be the goose that lays the golden egg, to 99% of the people, but to the *ELITES* the same Internet has become a threat to their exclusivity

    Before the Internet the masses had no way to know what the *ELITES* were doing - yeah, we may have the trash rags with occasional pics of the *ELTES* doing _something_, but all in all the *ELITES* were well protected, even their scandals could be covered up easily

    With the advent of Internet, more and more of the scandals of the *ELITES* have been pried open and leaked into the wild. As more and more of the internal dealings are being known to the masses the status of the *ELITES* has started to crumble

    That is why for the *ELITES* the Internet is no necessarily the goose that lays the golden eggs. It is a big threat to them, and is becoming more and more threatening

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
  8. Re:Just a reminder... by Fwipp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do you think voting for any other candidate would have created a better outcome?

  9. Fighting back the only way it seems I can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I used to buy all of the media I consumed. It seemed to be the right thing to do.

    Now they say I can't rip the media I bought to use it when and where I want. I'm infringing simply by watching it where I work and on my way to work (oil rig, hotel on the way).

    A treaty from another country gets to write my country's laws? And we don't have any say in it?

    I am so sickened by all this that I stopped purchasing media. It only funds these assholes. I have no respect for copyright any more. Why should I? There is no respect for the consumer any more. I'm a freetard now.

  10. How Odd! by edibobb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who knew that trade negotiators could pass legislation without the knowledge, let alone approval, of Congress? Do countries other than the U.S. also kowtow to the music and film industries? Google or Microsoft could buy the entire music and recording industry, and never bat an eye. How does such a small industry carry the weight to mandate worldwide legislation?

    1. Re:How Odd! by CrashNBrn · · Score: 4, Informative

      You would think... except many of those media companies are themselves owned by multi-nationals that dwarf Microsoft and Google put together.

  11. It's election time in Canada... by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And we have a Prime Minister who's vowing and trying to get TPP ratified just before the vote. He's disappointed he couldn't get it ratified before the election call, but in the middle of his campaigning, that's one of his key pillars.

    Might also try to participate in that debate as well and ask about it. Though given bill C-51, and the other bills he's trying to get passed, website blocking might be the least of your problems.

    And always - go vote. I know he also passed a new law making it harder to do so, and the courts have even admitted that while the law is bad, they won't overturn it because it will screw with the election. All the forms and all that were printed out and it's too troublesome for the courts to repeal the bad law because it's too close to an election. Between that and his efforts to disenfranchise voters through other means (including fake phone calls directing people to the wrong location - and handcuffing the officials in charge of investigating election fraud...), well, make sure you have all your ducks in a row, because unless you bring in a Conservative party member card, they're going to make it hard for you to vote.

  12. Re:WTF can we do? by Chas · · Score: 5, Informative

    1: Buy a gun, preferably something rifle-like with a decent range on it and a reputation for accuracy.
    2: Buy ammo.
    3: Buy MORE ammo.
    4: Shoot anyone involved in advancing this idiotic agenda.
    5: Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 until you achieve your objective or are caught and killed.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  13. TPP minus USA? by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Although it is hard to know because of the secrecy, it seems like there is a whole lot of stuff around 'intellectual property' and corporations getting to sue governments over policy changes which has been pushed hard by the USA and opposed not quite as hard by everyone else. So there is lots of stuff that objectionable to everyone but the USA. (Given that the USA parliaments haven't been allowed to see the TPP, possibly not even they want it. This could be stuff wanted only by the USA negotiators, not the country.)

    What I want to see is USA kicked out of the TPP, then renegotiate to get rid of all the bad stuff USA pushed in. After that, the USA can negotiate for a late entry into the agreement. They can propose all this IP stuff, and the rest of us can consider whether we that badly want USA in the TPP.

    That is pretty much a pipe dream, but more realistically: I'd like to see the governments of all participating countries go through all the provisions and state how strongly they are for or against them. If there are any bits that are liked only by negotiators, this would show them up.

    It really worries me that this is secretly negotiated by people with almost no democratic oversight and will be presented as a monolithic take-it-or-leave-it with greater effective force than the laws of the participating nations.

    Buying into the TPP is effectively accepting a huge lump of laws you had almost no say over and are almost impossible to modify in future.

    --
    Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
  14. Ok, kids, here is the deal by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Next time you want to have music, don't download it. Go into a store, kick the guard in the nuts and grab the CD. Alternatively, find some old granny on the street, hit her over the head and grab her purse, then pay for your downloads.

    The reason is simple: If you get caught, you'll be doing much less time.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.