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U.S. Intellectual Property Demands for TPP Leak: Everything it Wanted in ACTA But Didn’t Get

With the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiation concluded, attention is now turning to the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement. The TPP currently includes the US, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam. Canada has not joined the negotiation, but there have been periodic rumours that wants in (it was apparently initially asked but declined due to the impact due to the agricultural impact).

Much like ACTA, there have been periodic TPP leaks, particularly on intellectual property issues. Last month, the New Zealand and Chilean proposals leaked online. Yesterday, the big one leaked – the U.S.’s 38 page intellectual property chapter. The U.S. plan is everything it wanted in ACTA but didn’t get.  For example, the digital lock rules are the U.S. DMCA, complete with exact same exceptions (no more, no less). The term of copyright matches the U.S. term of life of the author plus 70 years, beyond the Berne requirement and Canadian law. The ISP provisions including a copy of the U.S. notice-and-takedown system as well as provisions that go beyond U.S. law. In other words, the U.S. envisions using the TPP to export its copyright law to as many countries as possible while creating backdoor changes to its own domestic laws.  Moreover, the chapter extends well beyond copyright, with patent provisions that would restrict countries’ ability to restrict patentable subject matter.

KEI provides a good initial overview of some of the U.S. demands. While Canadians are not directly affected at the moment, it is certainly possible that pressure to join the TPP will increase in the months ahead with a deal that Canada did not have a hand in negotiating.

20 Comments

  1. So, the current spin [from the opposition] on parliament hill is accountability and transparency in government. Maybe such feelings will trickle down to our southern neighbors and the USTR.

    And if only raindrops … were gumdrops.

  2. Man the U.S. is going to pot and trying their best to drag everyone down with em.

  3. CndCitizen says:

    The US realized their mistake…
    When they started outsourcing all their jobs to other nations without any protection for their IP/Patent rights. Now that the cat is out of the bag, they want to rain in all these second/third world countries so they can’t sell cheaper knockoffs that end up on ships back to America undercutting the only revenue source left in US which is banking, stock market and management companies.

    I believe that the US now trying to protect the corporate greed that has been going on for the last 10 years. They (corporations) have invested millions in third world to outsource jobs and train those workers at the detriment to american jobs. Anyway…a mess is a mess and more protectionism will mean even fewer jobs in USA.

  4. it won’t end until we are all DMCA’d up
    I hope this is demonstration enough to everyone (here and elsewhere) that the U.S. will NOT stop until the entire world lives under the same (and worse) draconian IP and copyright idiocy that they have imposed on their own residents. And our governments are all willing and ready to be steamrolled.

    This is a fight that we, the constituents, and the oppressed, are going to have to fight every single day for the rest of our lives. And we are going to have to teach our children to fight also, as it will not end when we all die.

  5. Can we just built that brick wall already and block off the US?


  6. @end user: “Can we just built that brick wall already and block off the US? ”

    Nope. The Chinese have a patent on “Great Wall” constructions.

    Nap. 🙂


  7. The proves that the United States is insane. They keep trying over and over expecting a different result.

  8. “Nope. The Chinese have a patent on “Great Wall” constructions”
    I was hoping the US would get to our wall after they finish that nice one they are making for Mexico.

  9. CndCitizen says:

    @Nap – The US will ignore the Chinese Copyright/Patent on the Great Wall and build it anyway between Mexico and US, then they will sue China for CR/P/IP lawsuits and force the Chinese to release the great wall to US jurisdiction or destroy it all together because it infringes on their IP/CP/P standing….

    @crade – They won’t be able to afford the US/Canadian wall because they will not be able to afford the cheap Mexican illegal(s) cheap labour force that helped build the wall between US/Mexico before they expelled them all…

  10. Is there anywhere left on the planet that I emigrate to without having to worry about the USTR ruining the local IP laws? I was thinking Sweeden, but the between TPB and Wikileaks I wonder how long that’s going to last.


  11. @Owen:

    Brazil. No more snow too.

    Nap.

  12. Corporations are starting to get way to politically powerful.

  13. @CndCitizen
    I suspect that they’ve realized their mistake, but rather than repealing the Sonny Bono Act (that would be an admission that they screwed up) they want to force it on the rest of us.

    In any case, I can’t see why anyone would be surprised about this, or even have expected anything different. Certainly as a starting point for the negotiations it what I would have expected from the USTR.

    @Chris A: It has ever been thus. In the US corporations make large donations to the political parties; they wouldn’t do so unless they saw some reward for doing so. Certainly at the very least they can threaten to hold back campaign financing from the parties unless they get their way. In the US this occurs with both the Democratic and Republican parties.

    In Canada this has changed, but it is now trackable through Elections Canada. For instance, in 1997 the LPC got $11.15M from businesses, $4.5M from individuals, while in the same year the old PC party got $6.3M from businesses and $3.6M from individuals, and the old Reform party $1.9M from businesses and $3.1M from individuals.

  14. Copyright Litigation says:

    Similar story
    Here is a similar story

    The early reports on TPP was that the USTR would only consider ratcheting up intellectual property laws to more draconian states. It would not even consider the idea of decreasing the already too strict levels of intellectual property laws. It also would not bother with increasing consumer protections or important exceptions to stronger intellectual property law — even if it’s been shown that those exceptions have a much greater impact on the economy than the IP laws themselves.

  15. The Admired says:

    When will this end? The USTR is just causing more and more trouble. Leave the Internet alone! IP laws are too much already.

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  17. USA = New World Order

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