Pacific Grim: How the controversial TPP signed away your digital rights - CNET

Early leaks

Negotiations began more than 5 years ago but we didn't see the draft of the text until 2013, when Wikileaks leaked the Intellectual Property Chapter. For the first time we got a glimpse of how copyright, digital rights management (DRM) and torrenting could be treated under the deal.

Critics waed at the time that the trade pact amounted to little more than "a Christmas wish-list for major corporations, and the copyright parts of the text support such a view.

Getting around geo-blocks

One clause, proposed by the US, Australia, Singapore, Peru and Mexico, sought to prohibit circumvention of technological protection measures (such as DRM) on digital works. Before long, Netflix users outside the US were getting nervous about whether they would still be able to use a virtual private network to access the service -- a practice now officially opposed by the streaming service after years of tuing a blind eye.

Pacific Grim

The leaked IP chapter also demonstrated a clear position on torrenting and piracy, waing of "criminal procedures and penalties" for copyright infringement and "penalties of sufficient severity to provide a deterrent" for further breaches.

This kind of language sounded waing bells for inteet users, particularly with legal action already well under way in Australia and the US over torrenting of the film "Dallas Buyers Club."

While only the most dedicated of trade experts and tariff enthusiasts have braved reading all 30 chapters of the TPP, the IP chapter alone was enough to raise the hackles of digital civil liberties advocates.

Get the full low-down on what the TPP means for digital rights.

The final leg

Talks finish

Negotiations wrapped up in October 2015, but the detail of the deal remained under wraps. The countries involved were claiming a win, with the US saying the TPP promoted "US values" and Australia saying it was good for local agriculture.

But critics such as the US Electronics Frontiers Foundation were not convinced, saying, "We have to do everything we can to stop this agreement from getting signed, ratified, and put into force."

Some light reading

In November, the full 622-page text of the TPP was revealed, and it was bad news for the EFF and its ilk. Among the cheery reading was a 75-page IP chapter (the longest of all 30 chapters) that discussed "sentences of imprisonment" and "monetary fines" for doing the dirty on copyright, as well as longer copyright terms and restrictions on DRM.

What next?