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IPFS News Link • Foreign Policy

Secret Trade Pact Will Spread U.S. Copyright Rules Abroad

• http://www.wired.com, By David Kravets
 Talks on the pact, which the U.S. is negotiating with 11 Asia-Pacific region nations, commenced in 2008. Negotiators are expected to meet in Salt Lake City next week in a bid to hammer out the accord that includes Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and Brunei.

The leak, which could not be immediately authenticated, is only of the chapter about intellectual property, dealing with copyright, trademarks and patents. It has not been officially released for public consumption. However, lobbyists or so-called “trade advisors” from all sectors of the economy, from Haliburton to Hollywood, have had limited access to the accord’s text.

“The WikiLeaks text also features Hollywood and recording industry-inspired proposals – think about the SOPA debacle – to limit internet freedom and access to educational materials, to force internet providers to act as copyright enforcers and to cut off people’s internet access,” Burcu Kilic, a Public Citizen intellectual property attorney, said in a statement.


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