bcrashmi

I'd like to add to Steve_Media's comments and mention that the TPP would rewrite rules not merely for intellectual property enforcement but also almost every aspect of IP. So for instance, it would increase the term of copyright protection. Under the laws of many countries, copyright in books, movies and other creative productions lasts for the life of the author and 50 years after her death. The TPP would expand that term to life plus 70 years. The problem with this rule is that valuable works of art would be locked out of public view for longer and longer periods of time.

I think the term "internet freedom" translates generally to "freedom of expression." This freedom has allowed societies to fight political oppression and many other socila ills. The Internet is a medium that dramatically increases citizens' power to use the medium to amplify their messages to a worldwide audience. Hence the emphasis on the importance of preserving Internet freedom.

However, the same limits that apply to free expression rights might also apply to free expression on the Internet. For instance laws place limits on the freedom of expression. You cannot use this freedom to incite violence or to defame someone. We can argue about the exact contours of these limits. But we generally agree that limits can exist. The same limits might also extend to free expression on the Internet.

I think free expression is a right and the Internet is a medium that facilitates that right.

Because the medium is becoming so vital to so many things we do - banking, education, social and political dialogue, commerce etc. - the ability to be connected effectively translates to the ability to exercise your free expression rights as well as the ability to participate effectively in society.

In addition, the question is not merely whether piracy is right or wrong. It is what you do to prevent it. The current thinking that any and every means to fight piracy is good has lost sight of many important principles. First, it has lost sight of the fact that punishment should be proportionate to the crime. So, laws are trying to punish small wrongs with prison terms. This has a particularly pernicious effect on young people. Second, the "piracy is evil" meme has lost sight of the fact that it is not ok to hurt the rights of innocent bystanders. Thus we have laws that allow the government to seize websites even where a vast majority of content on the site is probably lawful.

+1 to Mike Masnick. Also, Rebecca McKinnon's book "Consent of the Networked" provides great examples of the good and bad uses of technology. She talks about the important role that technology played and continues to play in allowing dissidents in China and freedom fighters in the Arab region to get their voice across to the international community. In contrast, she also provides good insights into how the communist regime in China uses technology to control the content that the Chinese people can access

I think technically the phrase is if the "TPP comes to force." That means, once the negotiation process is over, each country will have to go back to its parliament or Congress and ask for consent to sign or ratify the treaty. This may not be true in the case of all TPP countries. But it is true in most cases. So, if legislatures of TPP countries agree to bind that country to the terms of the agreement, many things are likely to happen.

Most countries would have to change their domestic IP laws to comply with the TPP. For instance, some countries will have to pass laws increasing the copyright term. Many would have to increase penalties for infringement.

The notable exception is the US. Domestically, the US government has said that the TPP would not require changes to US law. While, we think the TPP is not consistent with US law, the broad contours of the agreement are probably track US law the closest.

Failure to amend IP laws to comply with the TPP could result in trade pressures, notably through the US Special 301 process. That process has put in place a system of putting countries on a watch list and subjecting them to trade pressures if they don't comply with US's preferred interpretation of IP protection.

More information on that process is available here: http://publicknowledge.org/blog/2012-special-301-report-continues-do-bidding-