Frankenstein's trade pact: Frightening stuff

Leaders of TPP member states in 2010

Is a film, painting or technical marvel ever created entirely ex-nihilo? Could it spontaneously generate with virtually no debt to previous works of art, texts or discoveries? This is only one of the raging debates related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is being hashed out at this moment in heavily-shrouded meetings across the globe.

Altering the economies and lives of possibly billions is a complex affair. Generally only the U.N. tries global interference of this scale, but trade agreements seem to have more teeth than the U.N. and are quickly enforced.

NAFTA was our local Tradezilla, and its fallout was considered disastrous by many on both the left and right. The TPP is the Son of NAFTA, with a long reach planned for several fronts. Rumors over the TPP are alarming diverse groups who are opposed to it, including some art spokesmen.

A few leaks are all we know about the TPP, which is a bad sign – especially after Congress inconceivably passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) or Fast Track. Now the POTUS is bestowed with super powers to push for the TPP, even as its contents remain unknown. That's the deal.

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Obama has been pushing for U.S. involvement and passage since 2009, extolling TPP as "the most progressive trade agreement in history." Progressive should have been a red flag. Will we just have to "pass the [TPP] to see what is in it?"

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) charges this trade pact will "extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules" to enforce it. Viewing leaked drafts, they claim that the U.S. is leading the charge to extend endless copyright protection for the benefit of the few. Specifically this would be led by Obama appointees of the U.S. Trade Office.

America already has some of the longest copyright terms on earth. Currently a writer retains rights for novels in America and Canada for 70 years after his death. Who really cares if their great step-nephews (twice removed) become wealthy due to their efforts?

Leaked drafts of the TPP reveal that the U.S. is rooting for even longer copyright extensions of at least another 20 years or more, that are "more restrictive than current international standards." It will also require other nations to significantly change their laws as well.

Detractors charge this only benefits large corporations that "live" or expect to last an extended length of days. Disney, HarperCollins and Hachette Livre may hope for eternally royalties. Producer John Landis blasts the tendency of film studios to become subdivisions of huge multinational corporations. "Time Warner, British Petroleum, Sony – these aren't companies, they are f-----ng nations," he notes.

Source: WikiLeaks.org

An example is Universal, owned by Comcast through its subsidiary NBC Universal. Family members and agents of some successful individual artists who profit from prints and royalties also benefit from telescoping copyright periods as well.

Public Domain is a very big deal. Rumor has it the TPP plans to limit or change "Fair Use" rules, with global laws trumping our national ones. American works published before 1923 are all squarely in the realms of "public domain." This means you can (at least for now) republish, satirize, illustrate, perform, post, spoof or otherwise play with this huge body of work. It includes almost all of what we consider classics, as well as Christmas carols, old encyclopedia entries and material we use every day. Once again the "stakeholders" (before 1923) are not present, unless the trade talks include séances.

Even non-commercial users of "copyrighted" material could be jailed or fined for private file sharing, according to TPP watchdogs. Internet police are extrajudicial, too, in this new world. The trade pact could allow seizure of property or domains, even with no complaints by the copyright holders.

Canadian filmmaker Andrew Hunter is opposed to TPP extending term limits, which he calls "copyright maximalism." As he explains, "the foundations of culture is our ability to share, re-tell and rework stories" and restrictions to those stories will be detrimental.

Hunter finds major flaws behind "copyright maximalism"; or perhaps it could be called radical copyright law. Belief that one's work is entirely original is the first issue. Doesn't every work of art, literature, science and industry build on something else?

In a letter to Canadian party leaders, Hunter pleads that "culture is the sum of the modulation of different mediums to convey human expression. Copyright maximalists do not acknowledge this contradiction, as it serves their interests."

Artists, writers and filmmakers refer to familiar objects and shared cultural history. It is almost impossible to write a manuscript without some quotes, images or clichés from literature and pop culture, some of which may be patented. Without reference to past and current events, all art forms would be severely abstracted and internalized.

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Even more controversially, Hunter questions whether copyright is an innate human right "which should be protected and expanded at any opportunity." This type of argument is forbidden in the gay marriage wars and other hot topics.

Your favorite websites may be under the gun as well. Enforcement of the TPP will greatly hinder "freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process," the EFF claims. Language suggests that Internet Service Providers (ISP) may be forced to trawl for and report on obscure copyright violations in word, image and sound.

Search engines and providers are already pressured to promote political correctness, police bad behavior and report to the NSA. The EFF warns that enforcement of TPP would further "hinder innovation to publication and open expression" on the internet. More nails for hammering shut the casket of a free web – something this administration has been working on tirelessly.

No one was too shocked that megaliths Apple, Google and Facebook have said little about the TTP. The White House has been so nice to them. Apple and AT&T are now unofficial subsidiaries of the state, being wooed into Obama's International Trade Advisory Committee.

Serious problems involve more than only the arts, copyright or patents. Member nations of TPP such as Brunei and Vietnam expect big rewards for their cooperation.

Human trafficking woes in Malaysia haven't improved a bit, but they were magically moved from tier III ranking (very bad ) to tier II (much better) merely for signing on. Just two months after mass graves of human trafficking victims were discovered in Malaysia, the U.S. State Department made this sudden adjustment. Well, human trafficking is definitely a "trade."

Leftists and many labor unions are opposed to TPP because leaked drafts show foreign investment appears sovereign over workers' rights and safety. It took them six years, but progressives just noted that this administration is as transparent as a buried brick casket. Almost all complain of the "lack of transparency" over contents, participants and even the venues of the meetings. All is shrouded in a cloud of secrecy.

Publications of the U.S. Trade Representative office make opposing claims and they sound quite reasonable and substantiated. Lots of statistics. They "support American products," enforce "fundamental" labor rights and so on. But they also insist the TPP will "improve transparency and regulations to help U.S. companies" – as they operate in extreme furtiveness. Even some Democrats have a point where they stop suspending disbelief.

This puts the Obama administration at odds against Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and a long line of Democratic cheerleaders. It renews hope for mankind to see a glimmer of idealism in Democrats after decades of blind party obeisance.

Conservatives are shut out as well at the clandestine TPP meetings. Cabals of multinational oligarchs and wealthy elitists sending lobbyists should set off shrieking alarms in the camp of the conservatives. But it didn't.

There isn't space here to review all the areas of concern that stem from this trade bill. They range from charges of library materials drying up to "harsh criminal punishments" against whistleblowers accessing "confidential" information through a "computer system."

Since the claims of opponents of the TPP and the official U.S. Trade Rep are entirely at odds, this comes down to who is most credible.

This is frightening stuff. Perhaps only organizations such as the EFF have thought out the possible ramifications and ends of this trade pact, as it appears now in leaked fragments. Or perhaps the drafters and supporters are fully aware, which is even worse.

Sources

• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Duration of Copyright (government pdf)
• Public Citizen
• A Fair Deal
• The Hollywood Reporter
• The Whitehouse