The TPP: a long road to fairer copyright

We've come a long way in the fight against the TPP! Here's a look at some of the stops along the road to defeating this terrible deal. 

It’s been a long journey from where we were, when OpenMedia first started our campaign on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) over two years ago, to where we are now.

And importantly, it’s not a journey we would have embarked upon without our community continuing to push us to oppose Internet censorship at an international level. When we asked you (again and again) to give us your priorities for free expression, you responded that you didn’t want to see the TPP get a free pass under the guise of ‘free trade’.

And we heard you loud and clear. That’s why our campaign against the TPP trashing our Internet freedoms has been one of the longest running in OpenMedia’s history.

We know that sometimes it can feel like we’re spinning our wheels. At an international level, the levers of power are often hidden, and hard to move. But heading into the new year – and our third full year of campaigning on the TPP – we’re going to see it all come down to the wire. Your hard work and dedication, helped along the way by digital tools helping you and me and every member of our community to amplify our message when it matters most, will make the difference in the final push to reject this secretive agreement.

But before we go headlong into the fray, it’s important to take stock of what we’ve already accomplished. Because it’s been no small feat! So join me now for a trip down memory lane, and let’s take a look at some of the stops along the road to defeating the TPP.

1. In our first foray into addressing Internet users’ concerns with the TPP, we launched our Stop the Trap campaign, which saw over 130,000 people sign on and send messages to the leaders of participating nations.

2. We sent our Executive Director, Steve Anderson, to a negotiating round in New Zealand where he confronted negotiators with your comments and concerns, streaming on an iPad.

3. In New Zealand, Steve challenged Canada’s chief negotiator Kirsten Hillman to take a stand and commit to upholding Canadian law in the TPP.

4. We helped build and maintain the Fair Deal Coalition– an international network of organizations and individuals fighting for a fair deal on copyright and Intellectual Property in the TPP. This network of experts and activists has been critical in building opposition to provisions in the agreement that would harm our Digital Future, and to showing broad opposition to policies negotiated in secret.

5. You went Face to Face with Internet Censorship, and when we asked you what your biggest concerns with the TPP were, over 19,000 of you responded with detailed comments using our Internet Voice Tool.

6. Then, when negotiations came to Canada, we organized a luncheon for IP negotiators and presented your concerns directly to them. One thing we have learned over our (long) campaign on the TPP is that sometimes you have to play the inside game, too. This was an opportunity to speak directly to the people who discuss the nitty-gritty of changes to the text, so making our case to them was a key piece of outreach.

7. We also know that the outside game is essential. That’s why when negotiators were in Ottawa, we made sure we were visible.A huge banner outside the hotel where negotiators were meeting did nicely.

8. You helped build the our Our Digital Future report, our crowdsourced vision for free expression online. Over 10,000 people took our survey tool, and using your responses, in consultation with experts from around the world, we crafted a roadmap for a positive digital future that includes us all. This is really key! It’s easy to oppose things (well, not always) but it’s much harder to come up with a positive vision for what can replace the systems we have in place now. We should all be very proud that we were able to work together to make this vision a reality. Now to implement it!

9. One year ago, you helped send me to Washington, D.C. to meet with TPP negotiators and to hand-deliver them our positive roadmap with three key recommendations for crafting copyright rules: respect creators, prioritize free expression, and embrace democratic processes.

10. We joined with our various digital rights organizations in petitioning key U.S. decision-makers like Ron Wyden, and even stood with Bernie Sanders in demanding a release of the TPP text.

11. In the spirit of building huge international opposition to the TPP, we worked with over 100 organizations to stop fast track for the TPP. Our fight against fast track legislation spanned months, and thousands of calls made to representatives, thousands of messages sent, and our partner group Fight for the Future even followed Oregon Senator Ron Wyden around with a blimp, broadcasting opposition from Internet users for all to see.

12. The same group of dedicated Internet freedom advocates in the Fair Deal Coalition worked together to share stories about how the TPP would affect artists and creators, and not for the better. The Copyright Trap campaign saw makers from across TPP countries speaking out about how proposed changes in the TPP would harm their ability to create new works for the 21st Century. Check out documentary filmmaker Brett Gaylor’s op-ed on how copyright terms and DRM are making life harder for artists.

13. We’ve built the largest online campaign against the TPP. Bringing together organizations from across the spectrum of opposition – groups with a diverse set of concerns about the TPP, ranging from effective environmental regulations, to access to medicine, to Internet freedom – we spoke out en masse at StopTheSecrecy.net, sending thousands of messages to TPP Trade Ministers.

14. Most recently, we participated in a series of actions in the U.S. capitol. Over four days, we attended two protests, did and art-build, and delivered voices of over 3.6 million people who have spoken out against making critical public policy behind closed doors. Read more about what we did in Washington here.

So, that’s a lot! And we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s been done by a huge variety of organizations and individuals to unmask the TPP and let global citizens know what’s being signed away on their behalf.

We’re certain that 2016 will shape up to be another huge year for opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership – and we promise to bring you along with us, every step of the way, as we fight for community-led, participatory decision-making processes that are befitting the collaborative nature of the Web.

We hope you’ll stay with us!