EFF Delivers 210,000 Signatures Opposing Trans-Pacific Partnership (eff.org)

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: "The TPP is simply bad for tech users and innovators," writes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, arguing the proposed trade agreement for the Pacific Rim "exports the most onerous parts of U.S. copyright law and prevents the U.S. from improving them in the future, while failing to include the balancing provisions that work for users and innovators, such as fair use." At a press conference, the EFF delivered 210,000 signatures gathered in conjunction with other activist groups "to call on Democratic Party Leader Nancy Pelosi to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership from going to a vote during the 'lame duck' session of Congress following the November election."

More signatures are still being collected online, to be delivered on July 21. In a statement, the EFF adds that the TPP also "does nothing to safeguard the free and open Internet, by including phony provisions on net neutrality and encryption, trade secrets provisions that carry no exceptions for journalism or whistleblowing, and a simplistic ban on data localization...to buy off big tech."

Comments

Wrong, evil and going to happen

[frovingslosh]

Sure the TPP is wrong and evil, but Disney and others in Hollywood want it and have bought our political leaders, so it is going to happen.

Re:Wrong, evil and going to happen

[The Real Dr John]

There is massive public opposition to the TTP and TTIP on both sides of the Atlantic. When people learn what is in it, they invariably don't like it (unless they run a large multinational corporation, like Disney). It still may pass, but I wouldn't bet on it at this point. Even Clinton, the most corporate owned presidential candidate in history, has been forced to say it is a bad deal for the people. Of course, her surrogates at the DNC platform convention have refused repeatedly to formally denounce the TTP, so that says something about what Clinton would do once back in the White House again. Still, it is going to be a big stain on any politician's record who votes for it. There has never been this level of organized opposition to a trade deal. This time, now that there has been 20 years to assess NAFTA and CAFTA, many of the offending politicians may be voted out of office in the next election.

Re:Wrong, evil and going to happen

[ShanghaiBill]

I should add that there may be lots of opposition to the TPP on both sides of the Pacific, but I haven't heard as much about complaints from the Pacific member states as I have from Europe about TTIP.

TTIP is seen in Europe as purely an economic issue. But TPP is seen by many Asians as also a security arrangement, binding them into an American led world order, as opposed to the alternative of a Chinese dominated system. It is really too bad that TPP has so many flaws, because in principle it could have been good for both America and Asia.

Re:Wrong, evil and going to happen

[Fire_Wraith]

Very much this. A number of the Asian signatories, such as Japan, appear quite worried about the TPP not passing, because they equate it to being left to the mercy of China. It makes me rather angry with the assholes that pushed for all the intellectual property crap - not that there shouldn't be IP rights, but not the way that the eternal copyright maximalist group wants.

Re:Wrong, evil and going to happen

[Archtech]

TTIP is seen in Europe as purely an economic issue.

Not by me it isn't - and not by many others who voted for UKIP and Brexit. Just like the EU, TTIP is mainly designed to take effective power away from national governments - which, however imperfectly, represent and are answerable to their citizens - and give it to faceless and utterly unanswerable individuals and corporations.

As far as I am concerned, TTIP is purely a political issue. And it's as important as Magna Carta, Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, or representative democracy - because it threatens to undermine or demolish all of them.

Re:Wrong, evil and going to happen

[laughing_badger]

You do realise that you've taken the matter as regards the UK out of the control of the EU, where TTIP will never pass due to strong opposition by the French, and placed it in the hands of a Conservative UK government that is strongly in favour of passing it?

Re:The vote is on November 8th

[plopez]

Now that that pesky democracy thing has been nipped in the bud, the Democratic party is doing the right thing. Supporting their masters....
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/...

Trump is the Iron Fist. Clinton is the Iron Fist in the velvet glove. I'm voting Trump, at least he honest about who he is.

Re:The vote is on November 8th

[schnell]

Now that that pesky democracy thing has been nipped in the bud

People keep saying this and I really, really don't understand it. Donald Trump's nomination - in the face of implacable opposition from nearly every major Republican officeholder, megabucks donor and deep pocketed SuperPAC - is proof that democracy is alive and well, in the sense that the guy who got the most votes won. Against all the entrenched elites and gigabucks influencers, the guy who got the majority of votes from our assembled Joe Sixpacks actually got the nomination.

Personally, I believe he's a buffoon and would be a catastrophe as President. (I think Hillary would be awful too but for different reasons.) But how can you say that democracy has been replaced with the politics of oligarchs and moneyed interests has replaced "one person, one vote?" Republican voters voted and got who they asked for. Not liking the results of democracy is one of its hazards.

Oh, and FWIW, both Trump and Clinton oppose the TPP despite the "establishment" of both of their parties supporting it. So there's another reason not to suggest that the Powers That Be will always get their way...

Hillary and TTP

[oldgraybeard]

Hillary as Sec of State worked to create TTP along with President Obama. And early in the election cycle fully supported it. It was only as Bernie started to cause her problems that she said she was against TTP. This opposition to TTP is only a smoke screen. Once safely in the Oval office she will return to fully supporting TTP. And will be pushing hard for it's passage.

Re:The vote is on November 8th

[Tailhook]

Oh, and FWIW, both Trump and Clinton oppose the TPP

Trump's opposition to these trade deals goes back decades. Hillary's opposition to TPP goes back to when Trump started using it against her a couple months ago; before then she supported it, just like she supports NAFTA, MFN for China, etc., all of which her husband is responsible for. She'll enact TPP as well, after a suitable amount of time has passed and enough spin has been applied.

Hillary opposing TPP is as fake as a three dollar bill and the only people that believe it are her sycophants.

Re:The vote is on November 8th

[plopez]

If Hillary opposes the TPP why isn't she supporting Sander's fight on the topic?

Re:The vote is on November 8th

[HiThere]

No, Hillary started waffling on the TPP during the Democratic debates. But I didn't find any clear statements against in for a long time after that, and she's one of the authors.

She hasn't be pushing the campaign to take a stand against it. I think she's still in favor of it. I'm likely to vote "Other".

Is This Just Another Worthless On-Line Poll?

[westlake]

It used to be you had to go out knocking on doors to get people to sign your petition. Running the risk of getting the door slammed in your face. Now you just post the thing the thing on a web site where the nay-sayers won't be around to spoil your fun.

Re:The vote is on November 8th

[skids]

Hillary's opposition to TPP goes back to when Trump started using it against her a couple months ago; before then she supported it

Actually, she announced this posture in October of last year.

The truth, of course, is actually quite more nuanced than that, and had little to do with Trump. During her tenure as secretary of state, though, she did her job and represented the view of the administration that was employing her. After leaving that job, in 2014, she started to say she'd reserve judgment until the final deal was announced.

Here's the Scoop

[retroworks]

The "most onerous portions of USA copyright law" are tiddlywinks compared to the "most onerous portions" of Japanese copyright law (citation Fuji vs. Jazz Camera, Lexmark vs. Arizona Cartridge Manufacturers). Unfortunately, Japan's interpretation of protecting OEM rights internationally ("e-waste" takeback laws were invented in Japan for reasons having NOTHING to do with environmental destiny and EVERYTHING to do with re-manufacture and reverse-engineering) seems to have metastasized in Asia. EFF is on the right side of this, but pulling TPP's finger from the hole in the dike may result in "the perfect is the enemy of the good", ie if the USA was the strongest proponent to protect copyright - Disney lobbyists aside - then it's speculation whether TPP "could have done more".

I'm not an expert in TPP, or what concessions USA made or even brought to the table to protect USA lobbyists. But I'm above average as expert in the fact that trade is generally anti-protectionism, and protectionism is generally anti-trade, and TPP, NAFTA, TAP, etc. are generally trying to remove barriers. Glad EFF is there, but when I interviewed them about Chinese and Japanese law they said they didn't have enough bandwidth to be experts in that, and since the point of TPP is to leverage Japan vs. China (which despite certain idiot comments is NOT PART OF TPP), we had to find common ground, ie try to compromise with Japan.