[Infowarrior] - TPP Also Locks In Broken Anti-Circumvention Rules That Destroy Your Freedoms

[Richard Forno]

TPP Also Locks In Broken Anti-Circumvention Rules That Destroy Your Freedoms

from the sad-to-see dept

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151006/17213732458/tpp-also-locks-broken-anti-circumvention-rules-that-destroy-your-freedoms.shtml

We already wrote about how New Zealand has released some of the details about the finalized TPP agreement before the official text is released. The one we discussed is forcing participants into a "life plus 70 years" copyright term, even as the US had been exploring going back towards a life plus 50 regime like much of the rest of the world. That won't be possible any more. 

Another issue revealed in the New Zealand announcement is that the TPP will similarly lock in an anti-circumvention clause. In the US, we have a really problematic anti-circumvention law in Section 1201 of the DMCA, which says it's against the law to circumvent "technological protection measures" even if for reasons that are perfectly legal and non-infringing. This has created a huge mess that threatens innovation in all sorts of problematic ways. It takes away our freedom to tinker with devices that we own. It also makes it illegal to do things that pretty much everyone agrees should be perfectly legal. 

Earlier this year, some in Congress introduced a bill to fix Section 1201. However, that may not be possible after the TPP is agreed to. Again, the details matter, but here's what New Zealand has to say about this issue:

New Zealand has, however, agreed to extend its existing laws on technological protection measures (TPMs), which control access to digital content like music, TV programmes, films and software. Circumventing TPMs will be prohibited but exceptions will apply to ensure that people can still circumvent them where there is no copyright issue (for example, playing region-coded DVDs purchased from overseas) or where there is an existing copyright exception (for example, converting a book to braille).

So, yes, it appears there will be certain exceptions allowed, but again that gets the equation entirely backwards. At best, circumvention should be considered legal as the default, and the problem should only come in if the circumvention was done for the purpose of actual infringement. Starting from the position of "no circumvention" and then backdooring in "exceptions" massively hinders innovation by requiring permission before certain innovations are allowed. 

Given how important this kind of innovation has been for the tech sector, it's disappointing in the extreme that the USTR has decided to lock this in and block all kinds of important innovations from moving forward. Once again, the USTR seems focused on protecting legacy industries while hamstringing innovative industries.


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