Leaks can save many lives

Image by Moizsyed

Summary: Another good example of the need to protect and make possible anonymous leaks of material like TPP documents

THANKS in part to FOSS, which facilitates whistleblowing, TPP is out in the wild. There are so many articles about it (from many nations) and politicians respond to the leaks. It's having a huge impact.

To give just a short summary, the Washington Post calls TPP a "Hollywood wish list" [2], FOSS sites praise Wikileaks [2], digital freedom sites say that TPP is "worse than ACTA" [3], the Canadian Web sites accuse the US of pressuring Canadian politicians [4], and there is plenty more from New Zealand [5] and Australia [6-10] (all in English). European sites which publish in English covered this as well [11]. The reports are self explanatory and they don't necessitate further comments from us.

When people argue that leaks are a "Bad Thing", be sure to cite TPP for refutation. ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Leaked treaty is a Hollywood wish list. Could it derail Obama’s trade agenda?

   Officially, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a trade treaty that will ease the flow of goods and services among the United States, Canada, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, and other nations along the Pacific Rim. But it has attracted criticism for its secrecy, and for the inclusion of controversial provisions related to copyright, patent, and trademark protections.





2. Wikileaks publishes leaked draft of SECRET copyright treaty

   Wikileaks has published a draft document of a chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement–the year’s most controversial secret treaty. The secretive multinational free-trade treaty is currently being negotiated by 11 Pacific Rim nations.

3. TPP IP Chapter Leaked, Confirming It's Worse Than ACTA

   We've been waiting a long time for a major leak of the secretive TPP agreement, and thanks to Wikileaks, we now finally have it (pdf - embedded below). It's long and heavy going, not least because of all the bracketed alternatives where the negotiators haven't been able to agree on a text yet. Even though the draft is fairly recent -- it's dated 30 August, 2013 -- it contains a huge number of such open issues. Fortunately, KEI has already put together a detailed but easy-to-understand analysis, which I urge you to read in full.





4. BREAKING: Leaked documents reveal Canadian government being pressured by US to accept extreme Internet censorship proposals in the TPP

   This morning WikiLeaks released secret documents that have confirmed an extreme Internet censorship plan is being pushed behind closed doors as part of the International Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Over 100,000 people from around the world have already spoken through an online campaign at http://openmedia.org/censorship





5. Trans-Pacific Partnership leaks reveal trade battle

   
   
   Secret details show NZ opposed US on issues such as copyright and medicines.
   
   Secret details of the United States-Pacific trade agreement have been leaked showing New Zealand in serious dispute with US negotiators on many issues.





6. TPP 'A Substantial Threat To Australian Sovereignty'

   Part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement has finally been leaked - and the situation is grim. NM asked experts, including Underground author Suelette Dreyfus, what concerns them most





7. US pushing for more power over patents and copyright, WikiLeaks reveals

   The United States is pushing for greater powers over patent and property rights, according to a WikiLeaks release of secret negotiations behind one of the world's largest trade agreements.





8. TPP leak reveals Australian government secrets

   
   
   Wikileaks has leaked a draft of the IP chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, confirming the Australian government is backing a reinforcement of geoblocking and will also be opposing moves to make ISPs not responsible for what their users do.





9. CHOICE weighs in on TPP copyright debate

   
   
   Thousands of Australians could face new criminal penalties for illegally downloading content under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

10. Australia backs the US at every turn against its own consumers

    The extraordinarily detailed information on negotiating positions released by WikiLeaks shows Australia repeatedly backing the interests of the US against the objections of countries including Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam on questions involving intellectual property. Australia is often the only one of the 12 parties to the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations to do so.





11. Wikileaks’ Release Of TPP Chapter On IP Blows Open Secret Trade Negotiation

    For years, the United States and partner governments have worked vigorously to keep the publics they represent from knowing what they are negotiating behind closed doors in the top-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. But today’s Wikileaks release of the draft intellectual property chapter blew that up, confirming the fears of public interest groups that this is an agreement heavily weighted toward big industry interests.
    
    “If instituted, the TPP’s IP regime would trample over individual rights and free expression, as well as ride roughshod over the intellectual and creative commons,” WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange said in a release. “If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”