15 Nov 2013
WikiLeaks has published the secret text to part of the biggest U.S. trade deal in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). For the past several years, the United States and 12 Pacific Rim nations have been negotiating behind closed doors on the sweeping agreement. A 95-page draft of a TPP chapter released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday details agreements relating to patents, copyright, trademarks and industrial design, showing their wide-reaching implications for Internet services, civil liberties, publishing rights and medicine accessibility.
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says, “It’s all about how to extend the monopoly rights of companies like Monsanto, which has genetic patents over wheat and corn; and extending the ability of Disney to criminally prosecute people for downloading films.”
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