Thanks to support from Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), I had a chance to attend the latest round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, from December 3rd to the 12th, in Auckland, New Zealand. I agreed to attend and make a presentation to the negotiators. It’s clear to me that the TPP is extreme, and that its problematic secrecy is due to it being driven by industry lobbyists rather than citizens. While the entire process is illegitimate by any democratic standard, I hoped that through my presentation and presence, I could demonstrate that citizens are engaged and have a right to participate. I also wanted to make it clear that new restrictions on Internet freedom will not be tolerated. I recount my experience below, but for a rundown of the major developments at this TPP negotiating round, be sure to check out this excellent piece by OpenMedia’s Catherine Hart. You can also find great reports from the EFF, KEI, and the Australian Digital Alliance.

The latest round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership may have concluded, but the controversy continues on the effects the TPP may have on Canadians' Internet use. When we presented your comments and messages from OpenTheTPP.net directly to TPP lobbyists last week, Canada's chief negotiator refused to comment on whether the TPP would overwrite current copyright laws. The silence and secrecy surrounding this devastating trade agreement needs to end. Join us in speaking out at StopTheTrap.net and stay tuned for a full report-back of OpenMedia's presentation to TPP officials. Article by Daniel Tencer for The Huffington Post A prominent consumers’ advocate says he’s worried Canada will sell out its new copyright law in favour of tough new restrictions on consumers as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Steve Anderson, executive director of OpenMedia, says Canada’s chief negotiator at the TPP talks, Kirsten Hillman, would not answer a question on whether Canada would fight to maintain the copyright policies it put into effect earlier this year.

Another round of talks has concluded on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretive trade agreement that could criminalize everyday Internet use, confiscate online data and give more power to corporate lobbyists. With Canada having joined the TPP as a 'second-tier' status member, it's clear that our government has little to gain but Canadians have much to lose. Join us in speaking out against the TPP's Internet trap at StopTheTrap.net. We're working hard to amplify Canadians' voices, but we need your help to continue. Please consider making a contribution to OpenMedia.ca at OpenMedia.ca/Allies and let's move forward together. Article by Michael Geist Despite growing opposition in Canada, Ottawa has begun formal participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, aimed at establishing one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements. As nearly a dozen countries — including the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Mexico and Vietnam — gathered in New Zealand last week for the 14th round of talks, skeptics here have already expressed doubts about the benefits of the proposed deal. Canada has free-trade agreements with the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru, leaving just six countries — currently representing less than 1 per cent of Canadian exports — as the net gain.

The government has mistakenly sent us at OpenMedia a non-disclosure agreement intended for lobbyists involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is confirmation that this secretive and extreme agreement is being put in place on behalf of bureaucrats, not citizens. We're on the ground at the ongoing TPP negotiations, set to read out your comments to officials this Friday. Send in your messages at OpenTheTPP.net and help us speak out against the TPP's Internet trap. Article by Daniel Tencer for The Huffington Post The Harper government is creating a secret “consultation group,” likely comprised of lobbyists, who are getting inside information about Canada’s participation in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, observers allege. Advocacy group OpenMedia has obtained a non-disclosure agreement (see below) it says the federal government mistakenly sent to it, asking the recipient to keep secret the information it receives about negotiations on the controversial economic and trade agreement. “I think it confirms that lobbyists are being permitted to have access to information about the TPP that is otherwise kept secret from public interest groups and citizens in general,” OpenMedia executive director Steve Anderson told The Huffington Post Canada in an email.

The secretive and restrictive Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is nearing its 15th round of negotiations, which will be held from December 3-12 in Auckland, New Zealand. This will be the first round of negotiations that Canadian and Mexican representatives will be attending since they signed onto the negotiations in October. The TPP could allow Big Media conglomerates to filter content, block websites, and fine consumers, and so far the negotiations have largely shut out citizen input. So in order to make sure your voices are heard, we launched a petition, and then a few months ago we developed a tool that would allow you to voice your opinions about this undemocratic attempt to restrict the Internet. You responded in droves, speaking up for Internet freedom and sending in your comments on the negotiations. First we took the petition signatures to a lead TPP negotiator, then we projected citizen comments on the walls inside the TPP’s “stakeholder engagement” session. Now, we’re scaling up even further, by going to the TPP negotiations in person to read out your comments.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is about to get a bit more crowded, with Canada formally joining as 'second-tier' negotiators at next month's talks. These closed-door meetings will include discussions that could censor, criminalize and apply fines to everyday Internet users. Let the lobbyists and bureaucrats behind the TPP know that citizens worldwide rightfully deserve a seat at the table. Send your message through OpenTheTPP.net – we'll be sharing what you have to say at next month's negotiations. Article by Maira Sutton for EFF.org The next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations will take place from December 3-12 in Auckland, New Zealand, and it will be done with the same level of secrecy as the last 14 rounds. And like all of the previous rounds of talks, it will take place in a luxury venue, only this time in a high-end casino, that itself is embroiled in its own controversy over corrupt dealings.

What do you get when you round up an enthusiastic group of digital rights experts, online innovators and advocates of Net Freedom – all with the purpose of taking any and all questions from members of the Internet community? If yesterday’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit is to be any indication, this arrangement of opinions creates an engaging, provoking and open-ended conversation. It was a discussion that worked to unite the Internet Freedom movement and invoke action to be taken against the counter-intuitive Internet restrictions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Along with OpenMedia.ca’s Steve Anderson and Reilly Yeo answering questions from the Reddit community, we were joined by our StopTheTrap.net coalition partners at EFF, Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Public Citizen and InternetNZ.

While Canada has been formally included as a negotiating party in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, more information from secretive texts and clauses is beginning to surface. We've talked about how the TPP will restrict Internet access, criminalize and fine your actions online and collect your private data – but now it's been suggested that Canadian content rules could become overwritten to serve the corporate interests of Hollywood lobbyists. Professor Michael Geist will be joining our ongoing Reddit discussion surrounding the TPP this afternoon until 7PM EST – we invite you to stop by and share your ideas with how to reach more Canadians with the crucial StopTheTrap.net campaign.

We're on Reddit today from 9AM - 7PM EST talking about Internet freedom, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and what comes next for our StopTheTrap.net campaign. Throughout the day, we'll be joined by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Professor Michael Geist and various digital rights experts from Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, InternetNZ, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Public Citizen and more. See here for a full list of participants and a session schedule. Join in the conversation and share your ideas on how we can reach more people with the crucial StopTheTrap.net campaign.

Canada has officially joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and has done so as a second-tier partner, meaning that we have had to accept, sight-unseen, the provisions that have already been negotiated. As Ottawa law professor Michael Geist put it in an interview with the Vancouver Sun, “just by entering into discussions we have effectively agreed to a number of conditions the government hasn’t even told us about”. A while back, when we were raising awareness about the potential impact of the TPP on copyright legislation in Canada, we highlighted a great article from Infojustice.org that breaks down how exactly our long-fought-over copyright bill C-11 would be changed by our agreement to the treaty, according to a leaked TPP document.

Thanks to your support, we've reached 115,000 signatures on our campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and its invasive Internet provisions. That's 115,000 citizens worldwide who won't stand for a restricted Internet, won't allow the collection of our private data and won't put up with harsh criminalized fines for everyday users. We're amplifying our 115,000 voices and we're not done yet. Help us put the TPP's Internet trap to bed by signing and sharing our petition at StopTheTrap.net.

With Canada formally joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations last week, invasive copyright provisions could cost Canadians in having their personal data compromised, online access restricted and Internet actions criminalized. Join over 115,000 people worldwide in speaking out for Internet freedom at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Jesse Brown for Macleans Yesterday, Heritage Minister James Moore announced that Canada has formally joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a group that is discussing a major trade agreement among us and Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S., and Vietnam. The deal is at the negotiation stage now, but all countries at the table are expected to sign in late 2013.

Canada has now been formally admitted into the closed-door negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that could lead to harsh Internet restrictions and severe fines for everyday citizens. Learn more about the TPP and how it could affect your Internet use at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Gillian Shaw for The Vancouver Sun Canada has officially joined Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, a move that Canadian Internet advocates say could result in harsh restrictions on Internet use in Canada and leave ordinary citizens facing heavy fines and banishment from the online world over accusations of copyright infringement.

A lobbyist group is pushing for Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators to force Canada into adopting a 'termination' system that would cut off Internet access for users accused of breaking copyright laws. Join our campaign to stop the TPP's Internet trap at StopTheTrap.net and read more on this story at the Toronto Star website.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement is being negotiated by a number of Pacific Rim countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia. Hidden within the TPP text is a chapter concerning copyright laws that could drastically change your everyday use of the Internet. Speak out at StopTheTrap.net and let your voice be heard alongside +110,000 members of the pro-Internet community.

A group of researchers from around the world have been discussing a plan for 'open access'. Their goal is one that would remove barriers to obtaining educational materials online so that the worldwide community could benefit from shared research and knowledge. Education is one of the many reasons that the pro-Internet community is coming together to campaign for access, transparency and accountability. What Internet possibilities are you fighting for? Article by Michael Geist Ten years ago, sixteen experts from around the world gathered in Budapest, Hungary to discuss the how the Internet was changing the way researchers could disseminate their work. The group hatched a plan to "accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge."

Last week, negotiators and trade representatives behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement met in Virginia for another round of discussions. Once again, citizens of the pro-Internet community were left out of these secretive negotiations and public interest groups had their opportunities to speak out allocated in a series of 10-minute ‘stakeholder presentations’. These presentations came with heavy criticism from our on-the-ground partners, with Public Knowledge even comparing the setup to a ‘science fair’ where stakeholders would have to compete in drawing attention to their booths and EFF noting that TPP officials refused to even comment on provisions in leaked TPP documents. The lack of a clearly defined mandate for the presentations resulted in much confusion and less opportunity to engage with negotiators. A member of Public Knowledge had this to say: Often I saw negotiators and stakeholders watching from just outside the doorway of the rooms. Also, because the rooms were so close together and their doors were all open, the noise from other rooms or the hallway sometimes distracted from the presenters, who did not have microphones.

The many provisions within the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement include a copyright chapter that could severely impact everyday Internet use. Fines would be administered, content and entire websites would be removed and your private data could become compromised. Read on for an interview with Professor Michael Geist that helps to address Canadian concerns on this controversial Internet Trap, and sign and share our petition at StopTheTrap.net. Article by Carolina Rossini of Electronic Frontier Foundation Canada had been lobbying to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and its efforts were seemingly paid off with an exclusive invite to the secretive nine-country trade agreement in June. There is no doubt that the TPP will affect many areas of the Canadian economy from agriculture to manufacturing, but the agreement would also regulate intellectual property rights and that could have big consequences for Internet users’ freedoms.

Get ready to raise some ruckus: the next round of TPP negotiations is only a week away. From Thursday, September 6th to Saturday the 15th, in Leesburg, Virginia, U.S.A, negotiators will reconvene behind closed doors and make decisions about the future of Internet freedom worldwide. We at OpenMedia and the StopTheTrap.net Coalition are planning our next moves—we can’t wait to share them with you—but while we plug away, here’s a quick update on where the fight against the secretive and restrictive TPP agreement is today:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has long been shrouded in secrecy. Although a few key leaks have given insight to strict copyright laws, collection of private data and criminalized Internet use – we still haven't been granted access to the text or negotiating process. Even the upcoming 'Stakeholder Presentations' are beginning to see resistance from trade representatives, making it an extremely limited way of including public interest in the discussions. We have a plan to ensure your voices are heard. Stay tuned for further updates and help spread the word on our http://StopTheTrap.net/ campaign.  

From the beginning the Internet has always been about us; those who use the Internet to connect with one another, to create, to express ourselves, and to make our lives just a little bit easier. We’ve been successful in standing up to lobbyists who act to restrict Internet freedom in their drive to prop up outdated governance and business models- our Stop the Meter (infographic) and Stop Online Spying campaigns are great examples of what Canadians can achieve when we work together.

Last week we shared how the latest leak of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) text had shown differing opinions regarding intellectual property rights. Now, we're looking back to an earlier leak that addresses this particular chapter and how it could affect our Internet access. The intellectual property chapter describes how under the TPP, copyright laws could be extended to cover temporary copies – which are often made during routine computing functions. These strict provisions could lead to situations where your computer is monitored, content is restricted and viewing licenses are required. Help put an end to the copyright wrongs of the TPP and join the over 100,000 pro-Internet supporters who have signed our petition at http://StopTheTrap.net/. Article by Maira Sutton for EFF (The Electronic Frontier Foundation) We've been following the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the huge ramifications it would have for the future of the open Internet, access to knowledge, and innovation. Based on what we know from its leaked intellectual property chapter (IP chapter), it carries many of the restrictive copyright provisions that already exist in U.S. law. From what we have seen, however, this agreement is even more extreme: it does not export the many balances and exceptions that favor the public interest and act as safety valves in limiting rightsholders’ protection.

Citizens around the world clearly don’t like what the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a worrying multinational trade agreement—would do to the Internet and the rules that surround its governance. This distrust and concern has been vocalized clearly by over 100,000 pro-Internet community members who have signed the StopTheTrap.net petition. Beyond the TPP’s clear potential to lock us into an Internet trap, which would criminalize a lot of what we do online, there’s also the secrecy aspect: the TPP negotiation process has been anything but transparent and accountable. Public participation? Recognition of civil society stakeholders? Industry lobbyists don’t want any of it.

What is the TPP hiding? It's long been referred to as a "trade agreement" between the countries that are negotiating, but in reality it addresses more than twenty chapters of provisions that include everything from telecommunications, financial services and government procurement. Of particular interest to the pro-Internet community are the stipulations regarding intellectual property. Public domain could be contested, 'digital locks' would be created to combat piracy and entire webpages could be deleted. We're now less than 300 away from 100,000 people who are against the TPP's Internet trap - help close the door on the secrecy of the TPP by adding your name to our petition and make a contribution to the campaign. Article by David S. Levine Imagine being invited to formally offer input on a huge piece of legislation, a proposed international agreement that could cover everything from intellectual property rights on the Internet to access to medicine to investment rights in the agreement’s signatory countries. For 10 minutes, you’d be able to say whatever you’d like about the proposed law—good, bad, or indifferent—to everyone involved in the negotiations. But there’s a caveat: All of your questions, all of your input, on what may be the most controversial part of the package, would have to be based on a version of the proposed international agreement that was 16 months old. And in that 16-month period, there were eight rounds of negotiations that could have changed any and all of the text to which you had access, but no one could tell you if that version was still accurate.

Help put an end to the TPP secrecy. Make a contribution to the StopTheTrap.net campaign by clicking here.

From its inception the Internet has been about us: the users. Yet time and time again old government and industry bureaucracies have tried to restrict Internet freedom. Their latest effort comes in the form of the TPP’s Internet trap. This extreme and secretive scheme is an attempt by giant entertainment conglomerates to blanket new Internet restrictions on several countries at once, all while avoiding the democratic process. They failed to push similar schemes through SOPA/PIPA and other initiatives in other countries, and now the TPP is their best chance to lock down our Internet use. A little over two weeks ago, we launched a campaign with SumOfUs and a coalition of groups, to push against the TPP. We didn’t know what to expect—OpenMedia is small non-profit organization that tries to punch above its weight, sure, but taking on something this big is new territory for us.

The next round of TPP negotiations will again have a distinct lack of Canadian input. What this means is that decisions that are made during the coming TPP negotiations won't even require Canada's approval. The Canadian government seems to be almost as much in the dark as we are when it comes to the secrecy of the TPP—allowing lobbyists and unelected trade representatives to make decisions about your everyday Internet use. Let's put the best interests of Canadians front and centre. Share your ideas about how to extend our reach with the StopTheTrap.net campaign. Article by Michael Geist When the U.S. invited Canada to join the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations last month, there was an agreed upon delay to allow it to complete a domestic approval process. As part of that delay, Canada was to be excluded from the negotiations during the approval period and bound by any substantive agreements reached during those talks. While most assumed that would only cover the just-completed San Diego round of discussions, it turns out that Canada will be excluded from the next round of negotiations as well.