[kictanet] Fwd: [Chapter-delegates] Internet Society Expresses Concern over Impact of IPR Provisions in TPP Agreement Draft

[Barrack Otieno]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wende Cover <cover at isoc.org>
Date: Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:44 PM
Subject: [Chapter-delegates] Internet Society Expresses Concern over Impact
of IPR Provisions in TPP Agreement Draft
To: "chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org" <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>


 Internet Society Expresses Concern over Impact of Intellectual Property
Rights Provisions in Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) Draft



The Internet Society is concerned that the global Internet may be harmed if
countries adopt Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) provisions contained in
the recently leaked Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) draft.  We do
not believe that these provisions are consistent with basic principles of
transparency, due process, accountability, proportionality and the rule of
law.



The leaked TPP Agreement is a complex set of rights and principles related
to IPR and we believe that the current draft reflects a disproportionate
balance of rights in favor of intellectual property owners.  In addition to
other issues, these provisions could also have important consequences for
online privacy, a critical dimension in light of heightened awareness
worldwide about the importance of protecting the privacy and security of
end-users.



In particular, with respect to intermediary liability, some of the articles
appear to assign new levels of responsibility to private entities and
create an environment where content will be subject to extensive
filtering.  Some draft provisions would impose an unparalleled set of
conditions on intermediaries that would allow them to escape liability and
could ultimately lead to content blocking and affect legitimate speech and
online expression.



Such measures are neither new nor original; they have appeared in similar
forms in other national or international contexts. On the whole, these
measures have proven to be inefficient or unworkable. They have failed to
adequately address the stated problems or to provide sufficient answers to
the existing challenges.



The Internet Society has advocated for intellectual property discussions to
adhere to minimum standards of process and substance. In June 2013, we
released a paper in which we called on the international community to apply
standards such as transparency, due process, accountability and compliance
to the rule of law to all intellectual property discussions that relate to
the Internet. Similarly, we have been vocal in advancing these principles
in various fora, including the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the Organization for
Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).



We also joined other organizations (1) in a statement made in 2012, urging
the negotiators of the TPP *“to make [the] process more transparent and
inclusive, following the multistakeholder model, at least for those
chapters of the agreement pertaining to the Internet.”*



Throughout this process, the Internet Society has taken the position of not
commenting on substantive issues based on leaked texts. At the time, we
understood that the leaked texts provided only a snapshot of the issues
while many provisions were omitted.



The most recent leak, released by Wikileaks, appears to be the complete
draft of the TPP’s Intellectual Property chapter and has made us reconsider
our position.



That we feel compelled to comment on leaked versions of the TPP
demonstrates that these basic process standards have been ignored.  In an
era where the global economy depends on information and networks, we
believe that discussions that affect the Internet and its users should
reflect these basic principles of transparency and openness.



Once again, the Internet Society calls upon the TPP negotiators to abide by
standards of transparency as they complete this critical international
agreement that will impact Internet users worldwide. We also urge the
negotiating parties to reconsider the TPP’s intellectual property
provisions and to ensure they don’t have a negative impact on innovation,
creativity, prosperity and market participation.



(1) The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), InternetNZ, Knowledge Ecology
International (KEI), Open Media, Global Voices Advocacy and the
International Federation of Libraries and Archives (IFLA).



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-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
+254721325277
+254-20-2498789
Skype: barrack.otieno
http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/
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