Prescript: It seems that the USA and Mexico are also in these talks and that all North Americans are in jeopardy!
Now that you’re back from summer vacation, take note. Harper wants to throw you in jail just for clicking on a web link! If you were paying attention, back in June the Huffington Post ran an article on the trans-pacific partnership and how Canada would fall into [an] ‘Internet Trap’ under the Asia trade deal. As per this article in the Huffington Post in July, the 13th round of negotiations closed on the TPP in July, and thanks to Harper, we have now entered a new world of threats to our digital rights.
Although we don’t have access to the current, official TPP draft, a leaked agreement would give big media new powers to lock users out of their own content and services, and to shut down websites and remove content, thereby blocking users and entrepreneurs from enjoying the benefits of the open Internet. In addition, negotiators are talking about creating a dispute resolution process that would grant big media and other corporations special authority to challenge state law, regulations and court decisions in international tribunals.
But an even scarier aspect of the working draft is that it would criminalize some everyday uses of the Internet, including mash-ups (combining different media works to create a new one) and small-scale downloading of music. Under this agreement, there is no distinction between commercial and non-commercial infringement. This means that if you break a digital lock to copy a song for personal use, [you] could potentially face the same criminal sanctions as someone who copied songs to sell pirated music!
Plus, it would force service providers to collect and hand over your private data without privacy safeguards, and give media conglomerates more power to send you fines in the mail, remove online content — including entire websites — and even terminate your access to the Internet. And if you still don’t believe this is a bad thing, consider this — China, which was traditionally considered one of the most oppressive countries in the developing and developed world, is not part of the talks. In other words, the agreement is so oppressive that even China won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole!
And it’s all Harper’s fault that our rights are under threat! We weren’t supposed to be part of the TPP negotiations, and Canada was only admitted to these negotiations after the Harper government lobbied for two years to admit us. That’s right — Harper lobbied to have us admitted to a negotiation that wants to give corporations the power to be your judge, jury, and executioner on the internet. All I can say is, after you have signed the petition to Stop the Trap, that you remember this come election time!
In closing, Obama was right!
