Antinuclear

A leaked draft of a controversial chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement reveals the negotiating positions of 12 countries including Australia on copyright, patents and other intellectual property issues, with a heavy focus on enforcement measures against internet piracy.

Intellectual property experts are critical of the draft treaty, which they say would help the multinational movie and music industries, software companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers to maintain and increase prices by reinforcing the rights of copyright and patent owners, clamping down on online piracy, and raising obstacles to the introduction of generic drugs and medicines.

The leaked treaty text also reveals new US and Japanese proposals designed to enhance the ability of pharmaceutical manufacturers to extend and widen their patents on drugs and medicines………

Intellectual property law expert Matthew Rimmer said the draft was ”very prescriptive” and strongly reflected US trade objectives and multinational corporate interests ”with little focus on the rights and interests of consumers, let alone broader community interests”. ”One could see the TPP as a Christmas wish list for major corporations; and the copyright parts of the text support such a view,” Dr Rimmer said……

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently excluded journalists from TPP industry briefings held in anticipation of the next round of negotiations that begins in Salt Lake City, Utah, next week.

Dr Rimmer noted Australia appeared ”generally supportive” of the US or otherwise ”quite passive” in the negotiations……..

neither the former Labor government nor the new Coalition government has publicly challenged the US position. The draft text also shows that Australian negotiators have not sought any specific exemption to protect Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws from the treaty’s strong protection for the rights of trademark owners.

Australian Greens spokesman on communications and the digital economy Scott Ludlam said the treaty was ”hugely dangerous” and people should be ”deeply concerned about what is being negotiated”.

On Wednesday, the Greens moved a Senate motion calling on Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb to table the current draft text of the TPP agreement in the Senate. A spokesman for Mr Robb said that the treaty negotiations would remain confidential, but that there had been ”a lot of consultation across all industry sectors that could be impacted by the agreement”.

WikiLeaks has condemned the TPP negotiations as a ”corporatist trade deal”. Pledges exceeding $US73,000 ($78,500) of donations to WikiLeaks have been crowdsourced to support publication of the TPP negotiating text.

The full transcript of the leaked negotiating text can by found at www.wikileaks.org.  : http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australians-may-pay-the-price-in-transpacific-partnership-free-trade-agreement-20131113-2xh0m.html#ixzz2kgijv3dq