Next week, the 15th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) negotiations will begin in Auckland, New Zealand. Hundreds of delegates and private representatives from the now 11 participating nations will gather at a luxury casino to discuss this multi-faceted trade agreement. EFF, KEI, and the Stop the Trap coalition will also join dozens of other public interest groups to sound the alarm over the TPP's intellectual property (IP) chapter that could likely prompt countries to enact restrictive copyright enforcement laws that would have huge ramifications for users' access to digital content and information. As we mentioned previously, countries continue to join the negotiations with no end in sight.

Local and international groups have organized several events and meetings for civil society and country delegates during the negotiation round in order to call attention to the most pressing issues in the TPP. It's Our Future NZ has been putting on a series of events around New Zealand in November, with rallies and talks leading up to the national day of protest against the TPP on December 8th. EFF will be in Auckland covering these events and any new developments, and will participate in the stakeholder activities on December 7th, presenting on digital freedoms, freedom of information and other issues. During the week, we will participate in meetings with local communities of librarians, artits and students.

Digital Rights Camp

EFF, along with Internet NZ, KEI, and the Auckland University Faculty of Law are hosting a Digital Rights Camp for Asian-Pacific civil society organizations. The objective of this camp is to identify and cooperate with key local activists from the Pacific, to empower one another with strategies, resources, and tools, and to set an action plan for moving forward based on knowledge exchange, cooperation, and community building. The workshop will also be an opportunity for us to consider tactics specific to the concurrent TPP negotiation round, and strategic planning for ongoing work on the core issues regarding copyright, freedom of expression, and activism within the TPP and similar international initiatives.

We have written these infosheets on topics that often reappear in the international intellectual property policy arena. Our aim with the infosheets is to describe the issue concisely and accurately, so that activists, negotiators, and the public can learn and understand the core problems such issues pose.

International Intellectual Property Infosheets

Copyright Term Extensions and the Public Domain (EFF)

Digital Content Locks (EFF)

Internet Service Providers’ Safe Harbors and Liability (EFF)

Temporary Copies (EFF)

The Three-Step Test (EFF)

Copyright Limitations and Exceptions and the TPP (EFF and Public Knowledge)

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What You Can Do:

Are you in the United States?

Join EFF and more than 26,000 people in sending a message to Congress members to demand an end to these secret backdoor negotiations:

Tell the White House to uphold openness and transparency in TPP negotiations.

For more information on other aspects of the TPP, visit Public Citizen ’s resource page.

No matter where you are in the world, you can sign on the Stop The Trap petition, which has already signed by more than 100,000 people and organizations.





Local actions around the world

If you’re in New Zealand, InternetNZ has created a platform for Kiwis to digitally write personalized messages on post cards. They will deliver them straight to the Minister of Trade once they reach 5,000 cards.

Si estas en Chile, unete a la campaña promovida por la ONG Derechos Digitales y di NO al TPP!

Si estas en Peru, contacta lo más pronto posible a los bloggeros que se oponen al TPP y a las organizaciones que reclaman transparencia!

P.S. If you have other campaigns you would like to see listed here, please contact us!