Hundreds of Tech Companies to Congress: TPP and Fast Track Harms Digital Innovation and Users’ Rights
By Maira Sutton, eff.org | 20 May 2015

In a joint letter to Congress released today, more than 250 technology companies and user rights organizations say that the extreme level of secrecy surrounding trade negotiations have led to provisions in agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that threaten digital innovation, free speech, and access to knowledge online . . .

Tech Company and User Groups Letter to Congress on TPP Fast Track (pdf)

Concerns in letter about what might be in the TPP that affects Internet users:

• Threats to Fair Use . . .

• U.S. law incentivizes online content providers to take down content over a mere allegation of infringement . . .

• Criminalizing Journalism and Whistleblowing: TPP’s trade secrets provisions could make it a crime for people to reveal corporate wrongdoing “through a computer system.” . . .

• Investor-State Courts Jeopardize User Protections: The TPP Investment Chapter contains text that would enable corporations to sue nations over democratic rules that allegedly harm expected future profits. Companies can use this process to undermine U.S. rules like fair use, net neutrality, and others designed to protect the free, open Internet and users’ rights to free expression online

Signed by a long list of tech companies.