the core of the newly-leaked TPP chapter is about granting Big Pharmas wish-list, with other worrying stuff for the copyright industrys benefit thrown in for good measure. But hidden away in the chapters 70+ pages theres something very different -- and very dangerous. Heres how the Australian newspaper The Age explains it: The draft text provides that TPP countries will introduce criminal penalties for unauthorised access to, misappropriation or disclosure of trade secrets, defined as information that has commercial value because it is secret, by any person using a computer system. Thats clearly an incredibly broad definition of trade secret, and will allow a vast range of materials to enjoy this kind of protection. And by requiring criminal penalties, TPP aims to make that protection very serious indeed: TPP countries may criminalise all such disclosures or, if they wish, limit criminal penalties to cases that involve commercial advantage or financial gain; are directed by or benefit a foreign economic entity; or are detrimental to a [TPP] partys economic interests, international relations, or national defence or national security. Notice that those are simply options: the default position is to criminalize everything. Moreover, even those limited cases could be applied very widely. Particularly troubling is the following aspect of the proposed text: There are no public interest or free speech exemptions. Criminalisation of disclosure would apply to journalists working for commercial media organisations or wherever the leak was considered harmful to the economic interests of any TPP country. The chilling effect that this would have on investigative reporting is evident. It would also represent yet another powerful reason not to become a corporate whistleblower.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 12:33:12 +0000
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