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Civil Society Groups Demand Transparency and User Protections in Trans-Pacific Partnership

EFF news release: “Civil society groups are coming out in force against the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, following Wikileaks’ publication of the “Intellectual Property” chapter. The leaked chapter confirmed our worst fears that TPP carries Hollywood’s wishlist of policies, including provisions to encourage ISPs to police user activities and liability for users for simply bypassing digital locks on content and devices for legal purposes. Public interest groups and advocates are making a renewed demand for transparency in negotiations and ask that negotiators ensure users’ interests are fairly balanced against those of Big Content. As part of the Fair Deal Coalition, representing Internet users, schools, libraries, people with disabilities, tech firms, and others, we have sent an open letter to TPP negotiators and government leaders asking them to reject the restrictive copyright provisions as seen in the August 2013 leaked text. As they stand, the harmful proposals—set forth mostly by the U.S. and Australia—would limit the open Internet, access to knowledge, harm future innovation, and impose some of the worst features of U.S. copyright law on other countries, without the corresponding limits. In the letter, we ask that negotiators and government representatives stand for users’ interests, and respect fundamental rights like due process, privacy, and free speech. The letter is co-signed by over two dozen groups from around the world and has been sent to the leaders of all 12 negotiating countries.”

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