Why cant Australian citizens read the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement? Journalists have been banned from a briefing about the TPP. Why the secrecy – and why can only wealthy lobbyists access the text? ~~~ If youve never heard of the TPP, heres a summary of the major issues: Complete lack of transparency. Beyond limited information handed out in public briefings and private meetings, there is almost no information as to the specifics of the text. We only know what is in the agreement due to leaks, and from what little we can glean, it is bad. The intellectual property chapter. There have been very few leaks of TPP text, but when the IP chapter leaked in 2011 it showed that a concluded agreement containing a chapter similar to this would include extensive negative provisions that affect Australias ability to maintain or reform its own patent and copyright legislation in the best interests of Australia. The inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement provisions. DFAT attests that any such clause would not apply to Australia, but the Liberals have previously stated they would support the introduction of ISDS, so this position is subject to change. The TPP could criminalise copyright infringement done without commercial benefit, ban parallel importation, expand copyright terms, and limit our ability to enact the reforms recommended by the Australian Law Reform Committees copyright review. theguardian/commentisfree/2013/oct/30/trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-dfat
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:14:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015