Post Tagged with: "tpp"

Panel Discussion: The Internet, Free Trade, and Transparency: An International Perspective

I participated in a panel titled The Internet, Free Trade, and Transparency: An International Perspective as part of Yale University’s Trade and Transparency in the Internet Age.

The panel was moderated by Margot Kaminski and the other participants were Peter Yu, Ante Wessels. We discussed the impact of WikiLeaks leaking a draft of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement , another free trade agreement. Both leaks led to considerable public debate over both the content of the agreement and the negotiating process. The leaks, and their policy effects suggest there is a need for discussion of trade and transparency in the Internet Age.

February 10, 2014 — Comments are Disabled — Conferences, Video

Another Step Toward the TPP: Canada Moves to Ratify Five Intellectual Property Treaties

The Canadian government quietly tabled five intellectual property treaties in the House of Commons on Monday: Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, five treaties, entitled, one, Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, adopted […]

January 29, 2014 — 3 comments — News

The Trans Pacific Partnership and the Fight Over a Cultural Exception

This week’s leak of country-by-country positions on a Trans Pacific Partnership included a notable reference to the inclusion of a cultural exception. Canada stands with a slight majority in seeking a cultural exception that would presumably exclude the cultural industries (broadcast, audio-visual, music, books, etc.) from the ambit of key TPP provisions such as foreign investment restrictions or other legislated forms of cultural protections. Other supporters of a cultural exception include Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Opponents include the U.S., Peru, Mexico, Singapore, and Japan.

The emergence of the cultural exception issue is interesting because U.S. lobby groups were specifically concerned with the prospect that Canada would pursue an exception if admitted into the TPP negotiations. For example, the IIPA (which represents the major music, movie, and software lobby groups) stated the following in January 2012 with respect to the possible admission of Canada into the TPP:

December 10, 2013 — 2 comments — News

The TPP and Privacy: What Are the Implications of the E-commerce Chapter?

While much of the attention on the Trans Pacific Partnership has focused on the intellectual property chapter, the e-commerce chapter raises potentially significant privacy implications. The details of the e-commerce chapter remain unknown – the chapter has not been leaked as the latest Singapore meeting wrapped up without a deal – but the leaked country-by-country position paper suggests that the participants are fairly close to consensus on at least two privacy related provisions.

December 10, 2013 — Comments are Disabled — News

The U.S. Stands Alone: How the U.S. Is Increasingly Isolated on Intellectual Property Policy

Each April, the U.S. Trade Representative releases the Special 301 report which represents its take on the countries with inadequate intellectual property laws. Inclusion on the report is often framed as an embarrassment as the U.S. seeks to paint those countries as out-of-step with international norms (Canadian officials have rightly dismissed the report as a lobbying document without substantive merit). The latest leaks of country positions on the Trans Pacific Partnership highlight that the opposite is true. It is increasingly the U.S. that is out-of-step with international norms as it seeks to export laws that are widely rejected by most other countries. From its demands for the criminalization of copyright (even in cases of inadvertent infringement) to the prospect of termination of Internet access over allegations of violations, the U.S. approach finds little support among most of its allies. While Canada opposes the U.S. on virtually all remaining IP issues in the TPP, the U.S. is often isolated on each issue, sometimes entirely alone or occasionally supported by one or two other countries.

December 9, 2013 — 12 comments — News