TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership)

The TPP, or (Trans Pacific Partnership) is being negotiated in secrecy. While it all seems reasonably good from the surface, it has the potential to compromise the ability of the people to communicate freely on a global scale. Language leaked from the agreement’s intellectual property chapter has been rather worrisome, and the public has no idea what is in the latest official draft, or what the U.S. Trade Representative is asking  for in this agreement. There has been absolutely no transparency at all during this process, which is being hastened to a quick finish. Why the secrecy? Why the hurry? Just what is in this mystery bill?

What’s worse is that the people pushing the bill, the people who actually have access to TPP’s content are the very same industry executives that tried to pass harmful laws like SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA. This is extremely worrisome.  How can we trust this TPP bill, when questionable people like these, who have attempted to infringe on free internet speech before are now trying to pass a new bill, which they are going to great lengths to keep in the dark. Not even the Congressional Committee in charge of such treaties have been permitted to see the bill.  This should tell us something. It can be assumed that it has, at least somewhere in it's language content similar to other bills, such as SOPA, and CISPA. We must demand transparency, and if transparency is not granted, we must assume the worst of the bill and take action to inhibit it's passing.

For more information on internet censorship see "Censoring The Internet "

Country	Status	Date
Brunei	Original Signatory	June 2005
Chile	Original Signatory	June 2005
New Zealand	Original Signatory	June 2005
Singapore	Original Signatory	June 2005
United States	Negotiating	February 2008
Australia	Negotiating	November 2008
Peru	Negotiating	November 2008
Vietnam	Negotiating	November 2008
Malaysia	Negotiating	October 2010
Mexico	Negotiating	October 2012
Canada[35]	Negotiating	October 2012
Japan	Negotiating	March 2013

Censoring The Internet

A sure fire way of angering every human rights organization and free speech activist is to mention the word "Censor". In a country that promises freedom of speech, you would suppose that the issue of censorship wouldn't even arise. But, like all other rights, the freedom of speech is under constant attack by government and corporations who would seek to silence the voices of the people. Every right must be actively defended or it will be taken away, the proof of this can be seen in many countries around the world. During the Arab Spring, foreign dictators attempted to prevent protest by censoring social media sites. "Come now", You must be thinking, "Our government wouldn't do that!" Really? How can you be so sure? Our government has done things you never thought they would before. This is the land of the free, not because our government is nice enough to give us freedom, but because we demand our freedom, and will have it at any cost. The second you loosen your grip on the government, your rights and freedoms will start to slip through your fingers. 

One example of government taking a swing at our freedom of speech is the "Stop Online Piracy Act" or (SOPA), which claimed to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking of counterfeit goods. Now, this all sounds good and well,  but like many other bills, this was right for abuse. 

Provisions include the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with websites they decide have infringed on a copyright.  It would also ban search engines from linking to the infringing websites, and force internet service providers to block access to the sites. It would also expand the existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of any copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison and possible fines.  

That could mean five years for uploading a video of yourself singing a song that was copyrighted by someone else.

 That could mean five years for creating a video, or uploading a picture of your child with a movie playing on your TV in the background. 

This bill would have made it very easy for government and corporations to censor what you say, and upload about their organizations, actions, words, or intentions, as well as keep tabs on your web activity.
 

 I know you will probably try to give the government the benefit of the doubt on this one. You're thinking, "Maybe they didn't intend for the bill to be used that way." But the reason for the bill is of no consequence. What matters is that it could have been used that way. What guarantee do we have that this bill wouldn't be abused? The government must realize that they have as much power as they possibly can without over stepping a very important boundary. We must hold fast against any further intrusion into our lives. We must refuse to give up anymore of our privacy. "What have we got to fear?", you might ask. "We aren't criminals. We aren't saying or doing anything illegal. Why should I care if the government is keeping tabs on my web activity?". And now I must ask this question of you... Do we need to be criminals to have the right to desire privacy? Maybe you aren't committing a crime, does that mean you want a camera on you every moment of your life?

Thanks to the many people and websites who apposed the SOPA bill, it was not passed. But where SOPA has fallen, many more internet censorship bills have, and will continue to arise.

 TPP,  SOPA, PROTECT IP Act, Cispa, and  ACTA are just some of the bills that have attempted to quiet you.

And there are others which may not be obvious to you, due to vague information, loose terms, or multiple interpretations or definitions. Keep your eyes on new bills and our politicians. Remember that we must stand up for ourselves. We cannot expect to be treated fairly by a government which has repeatedly attempted to pass laws that would strip away our rights.

It is up to you