Dallas Buyers Club Judgment: TPP Agreement Could be Worse News for Online Pirates Michaela Whitbourn - Digital Life
go to original April 13, 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could cost us our internet freedom, labor rights, access to affordable medicine, the safety of our food, and protections that keep our water and air clean. (ExposeTheTPP)

A trade pact being negotiated in secret may create new criminal sanctions for illicit downloading of films and TV shows, ratcheting up the pressure on online pirates following a legal battle over Hollywood blockbuster Dallas Buyers Club. The Federal Court ruled last week that internet service providers including iiNet should hand over to a US film studio the names and addresses of 4726 customers who allegedly shared pirated copies of the Oscar-winning film about blackmarket deals.

But the case, which could result in online pirates paying damages rather than facing criminal prosecution, is just one front in a much bigger global war against online piracy spearheaded by Hollywood studios.



The US and Japan are leading negotiations behind closed doors with Australia and nine other Pacific Rim countries over the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a proposed free trade and investment pact that is likely to require criminal penalties for some forms of copyright infringement.

...The terms of the TPP will not be made public until a deal has been struck between the 12 countries, which account for 40 per cent of the global economy. But a leaked draft of the intellectual property chapter, published by WikiLeaks in October last year, suggests a potential expansion of the range of conduct that could result in criminal sanctions.

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