Act Now : Ensure Openness in International IP Negotiations

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Each proposal on the InternetBlueprint.org lists members of Congress who support the bill. If you don't see your member of Congress, petition them to get behind it.

Dear Representatives, 

I urge you to support the InternetBlueprint.org proposal to ensure openness, transparency, and public interest input in international IP negotiations. 

The intellectual property (IP) chapters in secretive trade agreements are used to pressure other countries to adopt more stringent protections and enforcement. There is no justification for such secrecy. To make matters worse, industry has a seat at the table while the public is excluded.

In recent years, there has been in increasing tendency to include IP chapters in secret trade treaties. This has happened in country-to-country treaties like the ones between the United States and Columbia, Panama, and Korea. It has also happened in multi-country trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). And is now happening in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

The inclusion of IP in trade agreements is a bad idea. While trade rules may have the benefit of opening up markets for IP goods, detailed trade provisions about IP do much more than that.

IP-related provisions of trade agreements are used to pressure countries to create new laws and legal protections for rightsholders, often foreign rights holders, and not merely to streamline trade.

Furthermore, the process by which trade agreements are negotiated suffers from a democracy deficit that undermines the legitimacy of the agreements. Often, these agreements are negotiated in secret; neither members of the public nor public interest organizations have access to information concerning specifics of the agreements.

“Industry trade advisory committees,” however, are granted full access to information and, as their title suggests, greatly influence the outcome of the agreements. 

Signed,

We need your street address to verify your Congressional district. In order to accurately send a message to your elected officials, please provide the information below.

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Each proposal on the InternetBlueprint.org lists members of Congress who support the bill. If you don't see your member of Congress, petition them to get behind it.

Dear Representatives, 

I urge you to support the InternetBlueprint.org proposal to ensure openness, transparency, and public interest input in international IP negotiations. 

The intellectual property (IP) chapters in secretive trade agreements are used to pressure other countries to adopt more stringent protections and enforcement. There is no justification for such secrecy. To make matters worse, industry has a seat at the table while the public is excluded.

In recent years, there has been in increasing tendency to include IP chapters in secret trade treaties. This has happened in country-to-country treaties like the ones between the United States and Columbia, Panama, and Korea. It has also happened in multi-country trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). And is now happening in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

The inclusion of IP in trade agreements is a bad idea. While trade rules may have the benefit of opening up markets for IP goods, detailed trade provisions about IP do much more than that.

IP-related provisions of trade agreements are used to pressure countries to create new laws and legal protections for rightsholders, often foreign rights holders, and not merely to streamline trade.

Furthermore, the process by which trade agreements are negotiated suffers from a democracy deficit that undermines the legitimacy of the agreements. Often, these agreements are negotiated in secret; neither members of the public nor public interest organizations have access to information concerning specifics of the agreements.

“Industry trade advisory committees,” however, are granted full access to information and, as their title suggests, greatly influence the outcome of the agreements. 

Signed,

We need your street address to verify your Congressional district. In order to accurately send a message to your elected officials, please provide the information below.

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Thank you for taking action on this important issue!

Check back on InternetBlueprint.org for updates.

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Each proposal on the InternetBlueprint.org lists members of Congress who support the bill. If you don't see your member of Congress, petition them to get behind it.

Dear Representatives, 

I urge you to support the InternetBlueprint.org proposal to ensure openness, transparency, and public interest input in international IP negotiations. 

The intellectual property (IP) chapters in secretive trade agreements are used to pressure other countries to adopt more stringent protections and enforcement. There is no justification for such secrecy. To make matters worse, industry has a seat at the table while the public is excluded.

In recent years, there has been in increasing tendency to include IP chapters in secret trade treaties. This has happened in country-to-country treaties like the ones between the United States and Columbia, Panama, and Korea. It has also happened in multi-country trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). And is now happening in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

The inclusion of IP in trade agreements is a bad idea. While trade rules may have the benefit of opening up markets for IP goods, detailed trade provisions about IP do much more than that.

IP-related provisions of trade agreements are used to pressure countries to create new laws and legal protections for rightsholders, often foreign rights holders, and not merely to streamline trade.

Furthermore, the process by which trade agreements are negotiated suffers from a democracy deficit that undermines the legitimacy of the agreements. Often, these agreements are negotiated in secret; neither members of the public nor public interest organizations have access to information concerning specifics of the agreements.

“Industry trade advisory committees,” however, are granted full access to information and, as their title suggests, greatly influence the outcome of the agreements. 

Signed,

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We need your street address to verify your Congressional district. In order to accurately send a message to your elected officials, please provide the information below.

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Each proposal on the InternetBlueprint.org lists members of Congress who support the bill. If you don't see your member of Congress, petition them to get behind it.

Dear Representatives, 

I urge you to support the InternetBlueprint.org proposal to ensure openness, transparency, and public interest input in international IP negotiations. 

The intellectual property (IP) chapters in secretive trade agreements are used to pressure other countries to adopt more stringent protections and enforcement. There is no justification for such secrecy. To make matters worse, industry has a seat at the table while the public is excluded.

In recent years, there has been in increasing tendency to include IP chapters in secret trade treaties. This has happened in country-to-country treaties like the ones between the United States and Columbia, Panama, and Korea. It has also happened in multi-country trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). And is now happening in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

The inclusion of IP in trade agreements is a bad idea. While trade rules may have the benefit of opening up markets for IP goods, detailed trade provisions about IP do much more than that.

IP-related provisions of trade agreements are used to pressure countries to create new laws and legal protections for rightsholders, often foreign rights holders, and not merely to streamline trade.

Furthermore, the process by which trade agreements are negotiated suffers from a democracy deficit that undermines the legitimacy of the agreements. Often, these agreements are negotiated in secret; neither members of the public nor public interest organizations have access to information concerning specifics of the agreements.

“Industry trade advisory committees,” however, are granted full access to information and, as their title suggests, greatly influence the outcome of the agreements. 

Signed,

We need your street address to verify your Congressional district. In order to accurately send a message to your elected officials, please provide the information below.

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