AUG 9 — The emerging Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) for 12 countries in the Pacific basin including Malaysia may threaten Internet freedom if the controversial intellectual property rights (IPR) and copyright provisions are bulldozed through by the US.

Some critics even suggest this may spell the end of Internet freedom. Even the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) has joined in the growing discontent. According to a post on its website:

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement has sparked much debate over its many chapters, but many discussions have thus far overlooked the serious consequences the TPP’s copyright provisions could have for Internet freedom and emerging technologies.”

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has been less than forthcoming in allaying public fears over the TPP. When it finally decided to address these concerns by hosting a TPP Open Day last week the minister, Mustapa Mohamed, was stunned that over 1,000 people, representing a slew of NGOs and business groups turned out. This is unprecedented given the technical nature of the briefing. But he did not say anything new.

Right now the TPP is being negotiated by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Peru, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States. China has refused to be drawn in while Japan is on the sideline but is likely to join. The most recent negotiation round was held in Kota Kinabalu last week.

Negotiations are done in almost absolute secrecy although big American corporations acting as advisers are privy to what goes on behind closed doors. About the only clue the public has is from leaked information.

In a commentary on Asia Times online, Nile Bowie pointed out that “the proposed legislation on intellectual property will have enormous ramifications for TPP signatories, including Internet termination for households, businesses, and organisations as an accepted penalty for copyright infringement.”

“Signatory nations would essentially submit themselves to oppressive copyright restrictions in line with US law, severely limiting their ability to digitally exchange information on sites such as YouTube, where streaming videos can be considered as infringing on copyright,” he said.

But as pointed out by Dr Jeremy Malcolm, an Internet lawyer and a senior policy officer at Consumers International based in Malaysia, “everything that happens on the Internet involves copying: that’s the way the Internet works. Whether it’s photos on a web page, a YouTube video, or an online encyclopaedia, in order for you to gain access, temporary copies of the content are automatically made.”

But under TPP, copyright owners might have to give permission for each and every one of those temporary copies, he said.

Malaysia, like others, is under pressure to amend its cyber laws to accommodate the TPP provisions. For instance, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) removed Malaysia from its watch list in 2012 only after changes to its copyright law to comply with “international norms.” The US Trade Representative announced that “Malaysia has been removed from the Watch List after making significant strides, including passing copyright amendments in 2012 that strengthen copyright protection…”

Malcolm explains recent changes to Malaysia’s copyright law as a mixed bag. “On the positive side, the existing fair dealing exception to copyright — the more narrowly defined counterpart to ‘fair use’ in US law — was broadened, and a specific exception for temporary electronic copies was added.

“But in exchange, infringers are now liable for much tougher penalties, including six-figure statutory damages. Tougher protections for digital locks are included too, including a crackdown on the sale of circumvention devices, though unlike in the US, you are free to break a digital lock that restricts you from exercising your fair dealing rights,” he said.

He also pointed out that there were some copyright changes that Malaysia was pressured to adopt by the United States, but which didn’t find their way into these latest amendments. It was proposed to make the possession of even a single copy of infringing content a criminal offence, and to make landlords of premises where it was sold liable too. Since most Malaysians possess at least one pirated DVD, this caused uproar and the proposal was dropped. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.