For this (hopefully last) installment of the “#Harper’s War(a) series we thought it might be a good idea to consider the actual costs vs benefit of the Harper’s ongoing far-right Economic Extraction Action Plan with regards to the current hybrid “Millennial” generation and next generation(s). At this stage in this game as the election draws near we must also ponder the mysteries within the “text” of the highly secret TPP that was “promised” to be released prior to election day but for rather lame “Go along, to get along” reasons, it will not be available.
The Harper Regime’s non-stop divisive Babylonian shell-game economics, fear-mongering, war profiteering, script regurgitation, hyperbolic rhetoric and it’s pandering for strategic voters to the extreme far-right minority segments for support is a very real and significant problem. They have purposely timed this coordinated operation to coincide with a very small Parliamentary calendar and will complete the far-right takeover with 3 successive blows. While all persist in the war-drumming and Bill C-51 distractions the delayed omnibus budget will go unchallenged, un-scrutinized and unnoticed. Since we know that there is no Parliament sitting until after the election, serious questions have and will continue to simply go unanswered and unaddressed. Win or lose, the Harper Regime wins in the end since if they lose, they won’t have to answer for a lot of issues that are bubbling over, the next group will yet if they do win, it’s full steam ahead until they ultimately lose control of the narrative, message and messengers. Unfortunately if they manage to steal a majority, it will propel us past the point of no return.
Before proceeding further down this rabbit hole, we should contemplate the shorter term consequences with regards to the safety and security of the younger generations, domestically. One thing that we are certain of is that each and every Government policing and security agency across the board are undergoing sweeping downsizing and compounding budget reductions. In other words, more budget cuts and downsizing measures are being implemented before any review of the cost/benefit analysis of past cuts to see where shortfalls have been discovered and persist to be problematic. With the massive and solitary refocus upon the minimalistic lone-wolf “terrorist” attack scenario, the already stressed system will deteriorate and downgrade the Police State’s collective ability to provide adequate resources for investigations into crimes that affect almost everyone, everyday. The trade off, we as a society are being forced to accept in the form of Bill C-51, is that all resources, real and imaginary, must be allocated to waging a war against an invisible needle-in-a-haystack boogeyman and not against those countless, easy to find, individuals engaging in organized crime, money laundering, Ponzie scheming, fraud, corruption, drug smuggling, gun running, child exploitation, human trafficking, gang warfare, armed robbery and the like. Since we must be made less-safe at all costs to be more-safe with future costs, all that will be needed in the future will be the stoke of a pen and an ever expanding list of “terrorists” can be determined and declared as necessary.
Even putting aside that all of the opaque enemies, boogieman and murky allies in these officially declared and unofficially undeclared ideological wars by the Harper Regime and their globalist comrades, aka: Bolsheviks, are between ultra-right entities fighting for dominance in their sphere of influence and then compound that with the way Bill C-51 is worded to declare the “official” far-right and ultra-right “enemies” and pay attention to the lack of certain “useful” far-right entities. Fast forward a bit and one may notice that in any foreign intervention scheme the Harper Regime’s choice is always in support of the furthest to the right of the embattled parties in the region with the most advantageous economic trade-route territories and better financed private mercenary armies. If we disregard any “left” opposition exists in any region, we can only presume that this Government sanctioned strategy in-itself creates an immediate far-right adversary within itself and is designed for almost immediate failure.
We also know that once any Party is beholden to an assortment of competing unholy fringe alliances for electoral convenience, ultra-far-right (or left) extremist segments can and will, easily coalesce, conspire and ultimately seize complete power and control over the government, economy and the military in one sweep. Isn’t this how the previously far-right Reform/Alliance coup transpired? First they acquired the party apparatus then they seized total control of the PMO and consolidated the powers within itself and the Treasury Ministry and Justice Ministry. Now we will bear witness to the evolution of extreme politics as the Liberal Party will transition further to the right to appeal to the former conservative base that oppose Harper and to piggyback on the politics of fear-mongering and war profiteering that made the “West” great. If recent history is to be proven correct, the best way to form a Party quickly is to coordinate, co-op and/or outright hijack one. In the above scenario, either way the vote goes, the “right” retains control of the Government apparatus with a solid plan b that on the surface seems palatable with the added bonus of redrawing the boundaries and redefining the “left” side of the spectrum.
Considering the generations that will pay for these wars, with their lives and limbs and odious unpayable debts by insulated older generations have zero voice, we must explore and understand the costs, ramifications and implications of an unfettered march to war policy for both the short term and long term. Having driven their carefully “controlled messages” this far into the collective psyche, the Harper Loyalists, propagandists and apologists can now begin probing even further towards the far-right extremes based upon zero facts, tin-foil hats and illogical fears by way of deception and subversive intimidation.
The oddly concealed and/or conveniently overlooked fact remains that these younger generations, with absolutely no voice, will be the bearers of the debts and actions of today’s political establishment. The veil is finally lifting and exposing the “invisible hand” of the economy and how many, if not most, of the publicly elected officials are beholden to the interests of the top 15% of the population. This may well be the ideal scenario, who knows, but even if it is there should be a system of checks and balances so that they do not go off the rail off into some ideological fantasy land. Contrary to the constant “…net new jobs…” mantra we hear repeated, consider real math and compare that to the actual number of newly work-aged employes into the workforce since the Harper Regime first came to power, their employment opportunities and their debt servitude.
The Harper Regime’s job creation results are truly pathetic and serve only the wants of a coddled 15% that will never serve in a war, nor suffer on any battlefield at the expense of the 85% majority. Compound that even further by looking at the age demographics of the actual hiring and associated pay scales, one will see that skewed in favour of the expanding 55+ segment as opposed to the expanding 25 and under segment. Once again, the beneficiaries will never have to serve in military services, but will be free to profit off such endeavours.
This seems to be the beginnings of the perfect generational storm as one generation seeks to reap the rewards of their labours, irregardless to their losses while the generations that will be necessary to fund these rewards remain jobless. This poses a problem since this age segment lost a significant portion of their savings, investments and pensions, aka: “wealth”, in the aftermath of the economic crisis and may never recover. This presumes that one will only have the freedom of choice to choose to be sent off to slaughter as cannon fodder abroad or exist within a rationed impoverishment at home. This also begs the question, how are such a select few able to initiate and instigate problems seeking solutions that they themselves never end up paying for, or adequately funding and/or administering, the long term solutions.
Pay close attention to the shell gaming by way of omnibus budgeteering only short gains profits and all real costs of their selectively interventionist backstopping practices are allowed to download the costs of their imposed austerity measures and military backed foreign financial adventurism, the lower 85% will continue to spiral downward and rapidly converge into a broader society with an overall lesser quality of life. Oddly enough, the data shows that within a zero-sum economic model, the top 15% are pretty much immune to the effects of deteriorating economy and due to the constraints and trade offs that accompany globalization schemes and economic integration agendas, the younger generations are constrained by the vary same global investors that discourage “public” investment necessary to properly educate our children and instead favour various privatization schemes. This financial downloading can be witnessed in real time with regards to health care, infrastructure, First Nations, Veterans and other public service cuts such as police, fire and other emergency first responder services.
We really can’t proceed without pondering the relativity of the abrupt resignation of John Baird, the shady foreign endeavours file, think Myanmar/Burma and Hillary Clinton’s email (treason) scandal, the pending Iraq/Syria and Beyond War Act, Bill C-51 and the delayed budget fit into this toxic mix. The combination of these three topics uncovers an entirely new perspective into how pervasive and powerful the anti-diplomatic, antagonistic, pro-war lobby has become and how any anti-war dissent will be stifled and suppressed with extreme prejudice and impunity.
Now, one must consider and compare how vigorously the Harper Regime fully endorsed, sanctioned and supported the Maidan, and set the stage for this tragically epic battle of the oligarchs civil war, in Ukraine with how vigorously, through legislation such as the Fair Elections Act and Bill C-51 or violence as in the case of the Toronto G8/G20 kettle filled crackdown, they are assuring that any popular demonstrations and/or uprising against their ideological rule, are fearfully discouraged and cannot happen in Ottawa or elsewhere. In this new norm, only Harper Loyalist’s and apologists will be afforded to any rights and/or freedoms such as speech, thought, association and/or assembly. The inconvenient truth is that all of these bits and chunks of power consolidation to the PMO and Treasury will be afforded to any/all future Governments.
It seems plausible that the fear-mongering, war drum beating and shell-game economics propaganda can easily neuter any opposition. It’s a major trump card and it is being played in much the same way as it was in the lead up to WW1. The pre-war propaganda that sets the stage campaign is in full gear as we speak.
First of all we should remember the timing of the “Arab Spring” and how the Libyan intervention, sprinkled with the “Assad Must Go” sideshow narrative, contaminated the 2011 election campaign that was fraught with several seedy and shady election shenanigans by outside market players beyond the legal jurisdiction of Canadian law enforcement agencies and the reach of Elections Canada. This deviously cleaver tactic conveniently led to major distractions with regards to the fundamental issues that lead up to the Election of 2011 and the ongoing epic failures of the Harper Regime at the time.
Remember, while some have slithered their way into the courts, the major issues with their governance and opacity were never resolved while their dirty deeds remain hidden and concealed from the public by the politicos and media alike for the most part. With cunningly shrewd manipulation of legislation and the subsequent consolidation of powers into the PMO and Treasury Ministry, their collective “documented” shenanigans will be sealed as classified far beyond the reach of the youth of today and tomorrow.
In other words, it is in their collective (15%) opinion, most of which invest and shelter their ill gotten “wealth” abroad, that after they themselves so greatly benefited from, and fully reaped the fruitful rewards of a rigged system, that very same system must be destroyed from the inside and out. This “controlled demolition” will hypothetically assure by way of distraction and diversion that their collective (15%) future prosperity, safety and security is assured at the expense of the remaining 85%, aka: serfs…
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So, what does the intellectual Harper Regime have to hide from “We the People”, aka: individual citizens, aka: taxpayers? Or, are “We the People” simply the property of faceless corporations? Why is the entire Canadian MSM establishment MIA with regards to TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP? What are the Secrets in the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership)?
If it weren’t bad enough that “We the People” are force fed diversionary neo-conservative scandal after scandal after scandal, while they secretly huddle away in their secret globalist enclaves with their secret globalist committees and secretive globalist cabals. Having to wait for “Anonymous” sources and WikiLeaks for leaked drafts of secret long term “trade” agreements that affect everyone is criminal in the opinion of many. That being stated, we thought we would provide a beginning point, a primer if you will, for those that may be concerned and/or interested. Do NOT allow this to “agreement” to pass blindly and unnoticed! If you care about anything at all upon reviewing the information below, feel free to comment, share, build upon and distribute it in the most expeditious manner possible…
Fill out this form to send world leaders our letter. They need to Say No to Internet Censorship before it’s too late.
Secret TPP treaty: Advanced Intellectual Property chapter for all 12 nations with negotiating positionsWikiLeaks release: November 13, 2013
Today, 13 November 2013, WikiLeaks released the secret negotiated draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Intellectual Property Rights Chapter. The TPP is the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP. The WikiLeaks release of the text comes ahead of the decisive TPP Chief Negotiators summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19-24 November 2013. The chapter published by WikiLeaks is perhaps the most controversial chapter of the TPP due to its wide-ranging effects on medicines, publishers, internet services, civil liberties and biological patents. Significantly, the released text includes the negotiation positions and disagreements between all 12 prospective member states.
The TPP is the forerunner to the equally secret US-EU pact TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), for which President Obama initiated US-EU negotiations in January 2013. Together, the TPP and TTIP will cover more than 60 per cent of global GDP.
Description: This is the confidential draft treaty chapter from the Intellectual Property group of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks between the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei Darussalam. The treaty is being negotiated in secret by delegations from each of the 12 countries, who together account for 40% of global GDP. The chapter covers proposed international obligations and enforcement mechanisms for copyright, trademark and patent law, and includes the combined positions of all of the parties as they were by the end of August 2013. The document was produced and distributed to the Chief Negotiators
on August 30, 2013, after the 19th Round of Negotiations at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
Leak of TPP text on copyright Limitations and ExceptionsKnowledge Ecology International 03 August 2012
Below is a leak of the negotiating text from the TPP trade agreement, on copyright limitations and exceptions. For some additional context on this issue, see: “What does the secret TPPA text say about copyright exceptions?”
Malaysia Rejecting TPP as Agreement Causes Political Turmoil in AustraliaWritten By Drew Wilson August 14, 2012 – The Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement that would, among other things, institute a global ISP level regime and three strikes law, allow corporations of any kind to operate above a countries local laws so long as their headquarters is located outside the country and further restrict limitations afforded to consumers in various countries (and that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg), has been back in the news once again for a number of reasons. We begin with the more dramatic developments coming out of Malaysia where the country is reportedly getting increasingly sceptical of the agreement altogether. From The Sun Daily:
Civil Society Groups Oppose US and Australias TPP Proposal on Exceptions and Limitations | Electronic Frontier FoundationBY CAROLINA ROSSINI AUGUST 28, 2012
Civil Society groups from around the Pacific Region join forces to oppose the exceptions and limitations framework in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) proposed by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) in a new joint statement [PDF] [TXT]. It reads:
We, the undersigned public interest organizations, oppose the current framework for exceptions and limitations proposed by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) as the language stands in the August 3rd leaked text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). It uses the most restrictive three-step test language, extends the test to exceptions and limitations not currently under the test and jeopardizes countries’ ability to set what best fit their needs. The US proposal misses opportunities to use the TPP to strengthen limitations and exceptions further.
The language in Paragraph 1 of the US proposal, specifically the excerpt “shall confine”, limits nations’ ability to seek a flexible exceptions and limitations system. This language would cause numerous potential problems for the kind of balance in copyright systems that the new USTR proposal claims to advance. Additionally, while the language in Paragraph 2, focused on copyright exceptions and limitations for the digital environment, may appear to reflect progress, the unintended consequences of the proposed three-step test language are many and will create chilling effects in the ability of users and entrepreneurs to innovate. This is a worse problem for those nations that do not adopt fair-use-like systems.
We firmly believe that countries should be able to tailor copyright exceptions and limitations to their domestic needs, and extend such limitations into the digital environment to create new exceptions as they find appropriate. We consider that the proposal pushed forward by New Zealand, Chile, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei—which also leaves to each country to decide what is appropriate for their digital environment—is a better solution.
Prominent Academics Respond to the TPPBY CAROLINA ROSSINI AUGUST 30, 2012
We asked several academics to let us know their thoughts about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The TPP is a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement, and it will do so in a way that will have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, privacy, access to information, and ability to innovate. Their responses are below. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/08/whats-wrong-tpp
Hollywood Gets to Party with TPP Negotiators, Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out of Hotelfrom the yeah,-that-doesn’t-look-corrupt-at-all dept – We’ve been talking about the ridiculous levels of secrecy around the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement — a trade agreement that is being designed to push through basically everything that Hollywood wants in international copyright law. Last week, we mentioned that various civil society groups were planning to hold an open meeting about TPP in the same hotel where the negotiations were being held (in Hollywood, of course). However, it appears that once the USTR found out about this, it got the hotel to cancel the group’s reservation at the hotel. According to Sean Flynn, the Associate Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at American University:
The TPP is a corporate coup d’étatKristinn Hrafnsson 15 November 2013, 23:51
The transparency site WikiLeaks has recently released part of a secret trade agreement called the Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty (TPP) being fast-tracked through the US Congress by US President Barrack Obama. What is astounding about the treaty, other than the fact that it is being pushed through without allowing US Congressmen access to the full text, is that only 3 people in each of the 12 prospective signatory countries, have access to the full text. Given that the treaty will affect countries which account for about 40% of the world GDP and over 800 million people, the fact that 600 corporate bankers are effectively hi-jacking the governments of the member countries and that only 3 people in each country know the full contents of the treaty, the document is a true step toward corporate fascism. The Voice of Russia spoke to WikiLeaks number 2 Kristinn Hrafnsson on the section of the TPP which they released.
Outcry Follows Leak Of Secret Trade NegotiationsEmma Woollacott, Forbes Contributor I cover internet piracy and copyright. Tech | 11/14/2013 @ 5:02PM
With two previous versions leaked, the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) was already causing rumblings of concern. But Wikileaks’ release this week of the latest draft has brought controversy to a peak.
The deal is currently being negotiated in secret between the US and Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam – and there are proposals to extend it further.
However, the 30,000-page draft agreement published by Wikileaks reveals intellectual property protection being broadened in an astonishing number of areas – from strengthening the rights of pharmaceutical companies to allowing the patenting of plants and animals. It is, unsurprisingly, supported by more than 600 large corporations, from Nike and Walmart to General Electric and Pfeizer.
Wikileaks does the work Congress and the media won’t – How can this tool believe what he’s saying? The “Free Trade” scam has helped the US in the last 50 years? How? Personal income has been in steady decline since the 1970s and whole industries have entirely disappeared. The latest scam is called Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The negotiation of this treaty-level trade agreement has been “fast tracked” so Congress hasn’t been involved. The negotiations have been held in secret. But Wikileaks comes to the rescue. A 95-page draft from the TPP agreement was released by WikiLeaks this week. We may not have a news media and we may not have a government, but we have have Wikileaks and the Internet.
Trade deal could be bitter medicineby Phillip Dorling Technology News Political News November 14, 2013
WikiLeaks has exposed details of secret trade negotiations that could leave Australians paying more for drugs and medicines, movies, computer games and software, and be placed under surveillance as part of a US-led crackdown on internet piracy.
A leaked draft of a controversial chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement reveals the negotiating positions of 12 countries – including Australia – on copyright, patents and other intellectual property issues, with a heavy focus on enforcement measures against internet piracy.
Intellectual property experts are critical of the draft treaty, which they say would help the multinational movie and music industries, software giants and pharmaceutical manufacturers to maintain and increase prices by reinforcing the rights of copyright and patent owners, clamping down on online piracy and raising obstacles to the introduction of generic drugs and medicines. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated that he is keen to see the trade talks pushed to a conclusion next month, saying “there’s always horse-trading in these negotiations, but in the end … everyone is better off”’.
Patent plan to push up cost of medicinesby Julia Medew Health Editor November 13, 2013
Australians are likely to pay more for medicines in coming years if intellectual property proposals contained in the powerful Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement go ahead.
The leaked treaty being negotiated by Australia and the US with 10 other Asia-Pacific countries reveals a range of measures that would enhance the ability of drug companies to extend and widen patents on drugs.
It also proposes compensation for companies that face delays in the granting or extension of patents, along with measures to ensure data exclusivity for companies so they can prevent competitors, specifically manufacturers of generic medicines, from using past clinic data to support new products.
The leaked TPP negotiations suggest drug companies will also be able to extend patent protection beyond the general 20-year limit by patenting different aspects of their products, such as an active ingredient, for a new use later. This process is called “evergreening”.
Australia backs the US at every turn against its own consumersPeter Martin Economics correspondent November 14, 2013
In public the Australian government is on the side of consumers. Yet behind closed doors it is siding with the US government to block them at every turn.
The extraordinarily detailed information on negotiating positions released by WikiLeaks shows Australia repeatedly backing the interests of the US against the objections of countries including Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam on questions involving intellectual property. Australia is often the only one of the 12 parties to the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations to do so.
In 2005 the High Court ruled that it was legal for Australians to use so-called ”mod chips” to bypass the copy-protection measures in Sony Playstations. In June this year a committee made up of both sides of Parliament unanimously recommended Australia amend its copyright law to put beyond doubt ”consumers’ rights to circumvent technological protection measures that control geographic market segmentation”. In other words, Australians would be completely free to modify their DVD machines to play discs made for use anywhere in the world. And to defeat the technologies that allow US giants such as Amazon and Apple to geographically segment their markets and charge Australians more than almost anyone else.
The committee’s report: ”At what cost? Information technology pricing and the Australian tax”, found Adobe software was 42 per cent more expensive than in the US, Microsoft products 66 per cent and hardware 46 per cent more expensive.
Yet in closed-door negotiations so secret the media was excluded from Australian briefings on their progress, Canberra has backed the US in trying to criminalise such measures. An amendment proposed by Canada and Singapore to the effect that it is legal to sell and import devices whose sole purpose is to defeat region coding, does not list Australia among its backers.
Canada and seven other countries want to make it clear that internet providers such as Australia’s iiNet cannot be held legally responsible for copyright infringement on their networks. In 2012 iiNet went to the High Court to enforce that right. But Australia and the US are listed in the negotiating document as opposing it.
In only one set of clauses does Australia consistently side with other countries against the US and those concern health. The US is pushing for even stronger patent rights for drug companies.
Wikileaks Release: Secret TPP Treaty. Text of Negotiated Draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Rights ChapterBy Global Research News Global Research, November 13, 2013
Today, 13 November 2013, WikiLeaks released the secret negotiated draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Intellectual Property Rights Chapter. The TPP is the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP. The WikiLeaks release of the text comes ahead of the decisive TPP Chief Negotiators summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19-24 November 2013. The chapter published by WikiLeaks is perhaps the most controversial chapter of the TPP due to its wide-ranging effects on medicines, publishers, internet services, civil liberties and biological patents. Significantly, the released text includes the negotiation positions and disagreements between all 12 prospective member states.
The Trans Pacific Partnership IP Chapter Leaks: The Battle Over Internet Service Provider LiabilityThursday November 14, 2013
The leak of the Trans Pacific Partnership intellectual property chapter generated global coverage as full access to the proposed text provided a wake-up call on U.S. demands and the clear opposition from many TPP countries. My first post highlighted Canada’s opposition to many U.S. proposals, but nowhere is that more evident than in the section on Internet service provider liability. In fact, ISP liability in the TPP is shaping up to be a battle between Canada and the U.S., with countries lining up either in favour of a general notification obligation (Canada) or a notice-and-takedown system with the prospect of terminating subscriber Internet access and content blocking (U.S.).
The Canadian approach, which enjoys support from Chile, Brunei, New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Mexico, establishes a general obligation to limit liability for ISPs for infringements that occur on their networks (the U.S. and Australia oppose this approach, Japan and Peru are undecided). The Canadian proposal includes more detailed descriptions of the limitations of liability, an exclusion for services primarily for enabling infringement, and a reminder that ISP liability is still subject to copyright limitations and exceptions. Under the Canadian model, ISP limitation of liability is conditioned on creating a notification process and “legal incentives for ISPs to comply with these procedures or remedies against ISPs that fail to comply.”
The U.S. proposal, which enjoys support from Australia (and support for some provisions from Singapore, New Zealand, and Peru) features far more conditions for ISP limitation of liability that could lead to subscriber service termination and content blocking (Canada, Brunei, Vietnam, and Mexico oppose the approach). Under the U.S. model, specific actions are required for specific limitations of liability. For example, a limitation of liability for automated caching is subject to four requirements, including “removing or disabling access, on receipt of an effective notification of claimed infringement, to cached material that has been removed or access to which has been disabled at the originating site.” Limitation of liability for network storage or linking users to online sites are also subject to compliance with notifications.
However, all forms of ISP limitations of liability are subject to several additional conditions (which Malaysia and New Zealand oppose):
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)The Council of Canadians
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is 12-nation (and counting) free trade and corporate rights deal that is being led by the United States but also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Thailand, The Philippines and South Korea have also expressed interest in joining the talks, which would eclipse the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the ways democracy would be constrained in the interests of multinational corporations.
Of the 26 chapters currently being negotiated in the TPP, only two have to do with trade. The other 24 deal with issues as diverse as how a government regulates corporate activity, what Crown corporations can and cannot do, how long pharmaceutical patents or copyright terms should be, how the Internet is governed, the sharing of personal information across borders, banking and taxation rules, and when a company or investor should be compensated when environmental or public health policies interfere with profits.
The TPP is also considered a geopolitical weapon of the U.S. government, which is trying to isolate China in the Asia-Pacific region, and to block alternative, and more successful, forms of development than the “free trade” model has to offer. But the TPP is being resisted by people across all participating countries because of how it will lock-in a myopic type of corporate globalization that is the main cause of runaway climate change and which has done little to create good, sustainable jobs or reduce poverty worldwide. People working across borders fought and defeated the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Our goal is to make sure the TPP suffers the same fate.
What Canadians need to know about the TPP’s Internet Censorship PlanBy Noushin Khushrushahi | November 15, 2013
After years of pushing for greater transparency around the ultra-secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), global citizens finally caught a break when Wikileaks released the full text of the TPP’s Internet censorship chapter on November 13, 2013.
The TPP is an extreme trade agreement being negotiated behind closed doors by Canada and 11 other countries. Until this latest leak, all we knew about the TPP was from previously leaked documents in February 2011 – and what we knew was not good. The 2011 leaked text showed that the TPP could end the open Internet as we know it by criminalizing our online activity, invading our privacy, and making our ability to access the Internet far more expensive.
We knew it was bad for the open Internet. We didn’t know it was this bad.
According to privacy expert Professor Michael Geist, Canada (with the support of a number of other countries) has taken a strong stand against extreme U.S. proposals around Internet Service Provider (ISP) liability. While Canada suggests instituting a general notification obligation for ISPs, the U.S. demands that ISPs institute notice-and-takedown regimes. What does this mean? If the U.S. has its way, it means:
What startups need to know about TPP, the secret global trade agreementEva Arevuo, Engine November 16, 2013 8:00 AM
In the name of “individual rights and free expression,” WikiLeaks this week released the draft text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement — an international trade agreement with the stated aim of liberalizing the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. Among other problems, this agreement may have an adverse impact on U.S. startups.
Negotiations over this trade agreement began in secret in December 2012 between Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States. Together, these nations are responsible for 40 percent of global production and one third of worldwide trade. Despite the secrecy, we know (from a previous leak) that discussions have covered intellectual property, competitive and State-owned enterprises, environmental policy, services and investment, and government procurement, among other issues.
New Bill Targets Patent Trolls Stunting Economic GrowthMike McGeary Oct. 23, 2013 – Today, several members of the House Judiciary committee released the Innovation Act of 2013 as an attempt to curb the pernicious growth of the patent troll business model.
Entrepreneurs, young businesses, and emerging, high-growth technologies are powering what resurgence there is in the American economy. But these businesses are subject to an arcane, onerous system of patent regulation that leaves them vulnerable, and that vulnerability is abused by patent assertion entities and their allies to leverage that system against innovators. With this reality, we are faced with two options: a broken system, or the chance of a reformed system that champions innovation and growth.
At Engine, we completed groundbreaking research this year on technology entrepreneurship in America. Our findings highlight that these young companies create more and better jobs with higher wage premiums than any other industry and that they do so in a way that strengthens communities, creating 4.3 local jobs alongside their own. Moreover, it has become clear that these young, high-growth businesses have created all net new job growth since the time of Ronald Reagan.
Meanwhile, the patent troll racket is directly responsible for $29 billion per year in lost capital and investment. It is this lost capital that could otherwise be used to create the next great American companies that would rejuvenate the American economy.
Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) – Threat To National Sovereigntyby Dr. Chandra Muzaffar – Editor’s Note: The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement represents the economic arm of the US pivot to the Asia-Pacific region, and threatens to undermine the sovereignty of participating countries. Washington lacks a fundamental economic vision, and as its influence in the world continues to wane, the TPP is an attempt to harness the growth and dynamism of South East Asia’s tiger cub economies as a counterweight to China’s influence in the region. The trade deal imposes familiar neoliberal policies written by and for the benefit of US multinational conglomerates. As the participating countries prepare to meet for trade negotiations in Malaysia later this month, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar lays out exactly what is at stake for countries who bend to US pressure and sign the TPP.
Op-Ed: Leaked draft of TPP agreement provisions on intellectual propertyBy Ken Hanly Nov 16, 2013
The draft sections of the Trans=Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement dealing with intellectual property rights has been leaked by Wikileaks. They show that the deal protects the rights of corporations while curtailing the rights of the public.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been under negotiation since 2010 and would expand the earlier agreement to many new countries:
WikiLeaks has published the secret text to part of the biggest U.S. trade deal in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). For the past several years, the United States and 12 Pacific Rim nations have been negotiating behind closed doors on the sweeping agreement. A 95-page draft of a TPP chapter released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday details agreements relating to patents, copyright, trademarks and industrial design — showing their wide-reaching implications for internet services, civil liberties, publishing rights,and medicine accessibility. Critics say the deal could rewrite U.S. laws on intellectual property rights, product safety and environmental regulations, while backers say it will help create jobs and boost the economy. President Obama and U.S. trade representative Michael Froman reportedly wish to finalize the TPP by the end of the year and are pushing Congress to expedite legislation that grants the president something called “fast-track authority.” However, this week some 151 House Democrats and 23 Republicans wrote letters to the administration saying they are unwilling to give the president free reign to “diplomatically legislate.” We host a debate on the TPP between Bill Watson, a trade policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.
This video is a long version of the event that occurred on May 28, 2013, when a group of panelists and activists assembled at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in New York City to learn about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and to organize opposition to it.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (or TPP for short) is being negotiated in secret between more than 12 countries around the Pacific region. Find out why it poses a huge threat to your digital freedoms.
"The negotiations over the multinational Trans-Pacific Partnership, or the TPP Free Trade Agreement, lack transparency. The U.S. Trade Representative denies members of Congress and the public access to the classified text of the agreement.
"This policy of secrecy undermines public trust and denies members of Congress the opportunity Congress has historically been afforded to provide input on trade deals. According to Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, the U.S. Trade Representative has consulted with 'over 600 mostly corporate advisors on the context of the classified TPP text,' while continuing to deny access to policy makers whose constituencies will be greatly affected by the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"From what has been leaked of the TPP, it is shaping up to be worse than NAFTA. The North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) legacy of deregulation, the outsourcing of American jobs, and the undermining of U.S. environmental and health laws is legendary."
"The devastating track record of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) thus far is clear, and recent reports confirm the fears of those of us who opposed the NAFTA-style FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama last year. Colombia continues to be the most dangerous place in the world for trade unionists. Our trade deficit with Korea in the auto sector has grown to nearly $8 billion, a 28% increase over the same period from last year.
"In June of this year, I joined over 100 Members of Congress in asking U.S. Trade Representative for more transparent negotiations and to provide Congress with the vital opportunity to provide input for the agreement. Our voices join thousands of people across the country and a broad range of civil society groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Medical Student Association and the AFL-CIO that are calling for increased transparency and accountability in the TPP negotiation process.
"When will the U.S. Trade Representative listen? Why is the process so secret? Shouldn't we know the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership before the election?"
On Friday, October 25, 2013 Louise spoke with Ed Shultz about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the need to end the era of giveaway trade. Louise has been a vigorous opponent of failed trade agreements and opposed her own party in voting against NAFTA when it was proposed in Congress. She is the author of the Reciprocal Market Access Act which would fix our trade negotiation process and protect American manufacturers from flawed trade deals that favor foreign countries.
Category: News & Politics
License: Standard YouTube License
Critics of the Trans-Pacific Partnership say it’s an attempt to impose an American system on Japan and would threaten Japanese public healthcare system
Stratfor Analysts Karen Hooper and Matt Gertken discuss the strategy behind the United States’ latest push for a trans-Pacific free trade agreement, and the challenges it faces.
For more analysis, visit: http://www.Stratfor.com
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a proposed free trade bloc involving twelve Asia-Pacific countries, including the world’s first and third largest economies. As delegates prepare to descend on Kuala Lumpur for the next round of secretive negotiations, Malaysia-based journalist Nile Bowie joins us to discuss the proposed treaty and its ramifications. Find out more in this week’s GRTV Feature Interview.
This is a must see for every country who is entering into free trade deals!
Murray Horton from the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa CAFCA lays out how the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) will destroy New Zealand’s economy and undermine our sovereignty.
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