A new animated video by digital rights group Electric Frontier Foundation warns [1] that the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership [2] (TPP), a massive trade agreement being negotiated by the United States and ten governments from around the Pacific region, could have alarming consequences for Internet users.
The treaty's negotiations, which include input [3] from corporations, are being kept under wraps, but a leaked draft [PDF] [4] of the treaty from February 2011 and other leaked notes [5] have given many advocates cause for concern over copyright enforcement provisions in the agreement's chapter on intellectual property.
According to the group, the treaty could make the Internet an intimidating place for the people and companies that use it. The agreement could encourage Internet service providers to police the activity of Internet users and block legitimate content with only a private notice from the supposed copyright holder in order to protect themselves from liability.
It could also make it illegal for users to work around technical measures put in place to prevent copyright infringement, such as unlocking a mobile phone in order to connect it to another carrier or modifying the format of an e-book to make it more accessible to those with disabilities.
The video, called “TPP: The Biggest Threat to the Internet You've Probably Never Heard Of”, is available on YouTube and can be found here [6]: