If the TPP moves forward as proposed by US and Australian negotiators, these legal burdens will apply to ISPs. Onerous legal responsibilities will oblige them to place their customers under pervasive surveillance simply to limit liability. Through this one indirect measure, freedom of speech on the Internet could be arbitrarily restricted. For good measure, as drafted, the TPP will criminalize copyright infringement. Rather than facing a lawsuit, whistleblowers and any ISP that carries their disclosures -- if copyrighted -- could face jail time. As the TPP talks proceed, its clear that the US and Australia are the main promoters of draconian rules making ISPs the enforcers of copyright. For example, Chile, Brunei, New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada, Singapore and Mexico sought to include the following provision in the IP Chapter: Each Party shall limit the liability of, or the availability of remedies against, internet service providers when acting as intermediaries for infringement of copyright or related rights that take place on or through communication networks, in relation to the provision or use of their service. As far as we can tell at this point, only the US and Australia rejected the proposed language, and intend to make ISPs bear unlimited legal responsibility for the content they carry.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 00:03:34 +0000
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