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[Helgoland]

I tried to read it.

Not good enough! *cracks whip*

In other news, ptw.

[Bumber]

Imgur will be deleted. Half of all internet forums will be shut down for copyright infractions. Corporations will gain control of all indie projects. Development of Dwarf Fortress will be halted. Facebook will become a privacy-free dystopia. 4chan will be snuffed out in the night. Newborn children will disappear from hospitals. Ad blockers will become illegal. Video games will start to include product placement and commercial breaks. Computers will spontaneously combust the day after the warranty runs out. The streets will run red as millions riot. They'll shut down my favorite Youtube channel. Meteors will fall from the sky and inexplicably spare all corporate buildings from the ensuing destruction. What is the death and devastation of war compared to the blood that will be shed when this trade agreement is passed?

You almost had me going there if it weren't for the Facebook part. Nice try, but that would never happen in a million years.

[da_nang]

Ready your guns and buttholes, we're going on a ride.

[Gatleos]

The severity of the earlier language on trade secrets protection has not been abated in the final text. It continues to criminalize those who gain “unauthorized, willful access to a trade secret held in a computer system,” without any mandatory exception for cases where the information is accessed or disclosed in the public interest, such as by investigative journalists or whistleblowers.

That's... kind of terrifying.

[SirQuiamus]

Ready your guns and buttholes, we're going on a ride.

How exactly does this wad of mumbo-jumbo affect my butthole, would someone care to explain?

[SirQuiamus]

Read through it- I don't see anything that's particularly restrictive. It's mostly against making bootlegs of products or knowingly selling bootlegs, at least in the provisions that are specifically being dealt with. I don't know where people are reading "worse than SOPA" from. Everything that it does have provisions against are already in place in the US (the author, performer, or producer of a work have full right to control its distribution, etc). This is nothing new.

You... waded through 60 pages of superfluous, gnarly legalese in less than an hour? I salute you, sirrah! ;~;7

[SirQuiamus]

Pharmaceutical patent extensions are actually a valid concern about the agreement, because it could increase the costs of medicine, especially in developing countries. If you ask me, I'd be more concerned about that than any silly DRM buggery.

[Bohandas]

Well if it had to be completed the start of the election cycle is probably the best time for it, as we can put pressure on congress not to ratify it and/or elect a president who will handle the treaty in the tradition of Andrew Jackson

[penguinofhonor]

I've just started reading this. The regional name stuff is close to home - I have to see if anything happens to bourbon.

For pharmecuticals, there's also a relevant bit at the beginning.

The obligations of this Chapter do not and should not prevent a Party from taking measures to protect public health. Accordingly, while reiterating their commitment to this Chapter, the Parties affirm that this Chapter can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of each Party’s right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all. Each Member has the right to determine what constitutes a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency, it being understood that public health crises, including those relating to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics, can represent a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency.

edit: that's in regard to intellectual property rights

[SirQuiamus]

Blehh, I'm too hung-over to parse this bullshit...

1.  Each Party shall make best efforts to process applications for marketing approval
of  pharmaceutical  products  in  an  efficient  and  timely  manner,  with  a  view  to  avoiding
unreasonable or unnecessary delays.

2.  With respect to a pharmaceutical product that is subject to a patent, each Party
shall make available an adjustment of the patent term to compensate the patent owner for
unreasonable curtailment of the effective patent term as a result of the marketing approval
process.

3.  For greater certainty, in  implementing the obligations of this Article, each Party may
provide for conditions and limitations provided that the Party continues to give effect to
this Article.

4.  With the objective of avoiding unreasonable curtailment of the effective patent term, a
Party  may  adopt  or  maintain  procedures  that  expedite  the  examination  of  marketing
approval applications

Again, intentionally obtuse legalese with practically nothing to latch on to. Basically, patent owners may apply for extensions in cases of "unreasonable curtailment," but who determines what is considered "unreasonable?" National courts? Unelected arbitration committees? Aliums? And what the hell does the third clause mean? "You can modify this Article however you like as long as you conform to this Article?" How something as vague as this could be used as a basis for effective legislation is completely beyond me.

[Bohandas]

Here's an Anti-TPP petition

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/tpp_2015_loc/?avXhHcb

[penguinofhonor]

Here's a pro-TPP petition, for fairness:

https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-u-s-senate-u-s-house-of-representatives-pass-the-tpp

[Powder Miner]

There are multiple things here I do NOT like but by golly the naming restriction thing offends me on a petty and personal level.

[Bohandas]

There are multiple things here I do NOT like but by golly the naming restriction thing offends me on a petty and personal level.

The one positive scenario I can think of for that section is if it provokes people to abandon toponymic food terms altogether and just, for example, say "sparkling wine" instead of "champagne" or "prosecco" regardless of where it comes from (ie. even if it comes from one of those regions)

[Aklyon]

Countries should also know the value of a large public domain, and the idea of having a publicly accessible database of IP rights that can be searched to determine public domain policy.

How amusing they actually had a part for that, considering they want to lock copyright at technically-forever as far as people will remember things.