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This is something that I think we seriously need to be talking about.
Here's some info about it==

"secret deal"

How is it a secret deal if they are petitioning it? #logic

It's secret to the general public, not to the internet :P

Open secret.

Also, this deal is a very bad one. It's like giving an oil company legislative power to every law and regulation that's oil-related.

It's terrible. If it passes then I might as well throw my degree out the window because there's literally no point (degree is environmental studies).

The forces that hold power in the real world – states and big corporations – are quick to seize any opportunity to expand into territories that are yet unclaimed. In the future, people may very well look back on this era of the internet as a kind of wild west, a relatively unregulated frontier, with all the ups and downs that implies.

I wish there was more than San Francisco.

To update you all, the vote for US congress to fast track happens tomorrow.

Do you guys think it'll pass? I'm severely paranoid that it will ;-;

You can't expect any bad bill or agreement to fail.

Yea but I've had a few discussions with a few people and some of them think that due to the vagueness and the fact that a good portion of the politicians don't know what it is helps the fact that it probably won't pass. Not saying there's a 100% it wont, nor that it will, but really, we just don't know.

And it's that lack of knowledge that terrifies me.

I believe it also allows corporations to sue governments for making legislation that harms their profits, essentially overruling the democratic process. Scary stuff.

But does this mean that any institutions which don't follow constitution should be treated as foreign occupying institutions?

Senate fails to authorize fast tracking of TPP.

Not out of the woods yet.

Obama throwing mad shade over it

{ “The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else.” }

All I gotta say is that I fuckin' told everyone so when ya'll went around like yaaay the internet is a title II utility now the government can regulate it yaaayyy the internet is saved.

What did you think the government was actually going to do when given regulatory power over the internet? Start sneaking in little favors for their big business buds, gee, I wonder which companies donated to and lobbied the White House to ensure enforced copyright protection? Before they had no choice but to sue copyright violators, it wasn't worth going after the average individual. Now they can get legislation that forces ISPs to police the internet. gj

Do these things ever get passed?

Trade agreements? Yes…
This one? Possibly but unlikely atm.
I feel awful for Japan, their PM was just here to pressure him on this and renewing our security agreements. He campaigned on getting the TPP passed (part of a plan called Abenomics ffs) he's done so much in Japan for our troops there and has made a lot of moves we asked for that a lot of the Japanese opposed. All the Obama Administration has done is string him and the other representatives along, and then they try to pull this bs with all the hidden motives. Democrat foreign policy is considerably bad by default, but this is truly shameful.

Has this been updated?

NWO when?

Welp, We're screwed. It was nice knowing you all, I'm going to go curl up in a fetal position and cry for a few days.

(Seriously though, this is really stressing. I know there's still a chance it won't pass… but at this point, it probably will. We are fucked. But feel free to convince me otherwise.)

Edit: No, but seriously. Convince me. Because now I'm going to stress for the night and I probably won't get much sleep. I need closure, or whatever the fuck it's called ;-;

I'll summarize the recent events.

Nothing has actually happened to the TPP. The TPA (a provision which has been enacted and renewed throughout modern US history), or the fast track negotiation authority, has been renewed by the Senate and now moves to the House, where it currently does not have enough votes to pass according to how politicians say they'll vote.

The TPA allows the President to negotiate international trade agreements while assuring foreign leaders that the terms will not be amended, removed, or otherwise by Congress or stuck in debate-hell where it can be killed. It restricts each Body to 20 hours of debate on any trade agreements, and prohibits anything but a yay or nay vote, which means it can't be filibustered and will pass or be rejected by simple majority vote.

It doesn't effect the content of the TPP or the fact that members of Congress are not allowed to view the text of the TPP without express permission that currently is not being granted, and only members of an executive panel made up of corporate interests have free access to it.

Wait.. so… the TPP isn't the thing being Fast Tracked at the moment? The bill that /allows/ the Fast tracking is? Ugh, American politics are confusing. I hope I understood that right o~o

The bill that passed the Senate allows the TPP to be fast tracked. It (the TPA) expired three years ago so Obama can't apply it to the TPP until Congress renews it.

Oh.. okay. But they still have to vote on whether the Fast Tracking actually happens? Or no? I mean, just because they now have the ability to do it, does that automatically mean it will?

Obama can enact it on his own once Congress renews it, it's an executive power. Enacting it from there is a matter of some paperwork.

He still doesn't have the ability though, only the Senate has voted. The House still needs to vote and it currently won't pass there, but they have some time to be bought out just like the Senate was.

Well then my older post still stands. We're fucked, boned, screwed. We cannot fight against bribery. It's impossible. Unless we get violent. That usually solves problems like this. But since violence probably won't happen, we should start digging the internet's grave, since it'll be dead before long. It was nice knowing you all.

I mean it will definitely get interesting for a few years while they actually try but the core is not that different from the stringent copyright laws Japan etc currently has in place and is not like those really make a difference.

Wait, so even with the fast track, it'll still take a few years to 100% pass?.. Well… Make use of these last years, people. Also, do you support the TPP? You're making it sound like you do…

Well yeah, the TPP doesn't just depend on us, other countries are debating out their own issues with each other's requests and demands.

I'm absolutely not for it as it stands, I think the corporate interest takeover of what was supposed to be a globally beneficial agreement is a disgrace. But I don't support alarmist outlooks no matter what the issue is, things are never that black and white in reality. The worst case scenario is that it becomes slightly harder to use the Internet as we do now, but it doesn't become impossible. Copyright enforcement is ultimately an expensive, impractical art with negative public relations consequences, no matter how legally compelling it is.

Why was there less coverage to TPP than PIPA, SOPA or ACTA?

Because the corporations didn't want us to know about it.

What do you mean? From what I've seen, it's been all over the news, and has been the most consistent hot-button issue for the last few months. There has indeed been less informal "coverage" (e.g. on discussion forums), though, and there hasn't been any mass online mobilization against it unlike what happened with SOPA. I suspect the reason is either that online activists are too worn out or preoccupied with other things (a lot of the energy from normally non-activist people that went into opposing SOPA has been eaten up by mostly inconsequential movements like GamerGate, for example) or that it's simply less obviously a bad thing; unlike SOPA, the TPP could potentially--depending on your point of view--have benefits for the little guy.

{ Why was there less coverage to TPP than PIPA, SOPA or ACTA? }

PIPA = blatant internet regulation
SOPA = blatant internet regulation
ACTA = blatant internet regulation
TPP = internet regulation tucked in on the DL in a bill nobody is allowed to read

Internet activists aren't paying any attention to what's being called a trade agreement.
That's kinda the point.

And tomorrow is the senate's time to vote.

You know what's bad? That people focus only those laws and treaties which are going to happen but not the ones that are already in effect.

The House you mean? Where did you hear they're voting tomorrow? I've read they're planning this week at some point.

Still just the fast track vote though.

Also heard WikiLeaks put a 100k reward out for actual TPP leaks, after the Obama Administration again rebuffed DC protesters. He said "anyone can come down today and read the full text" but nobody answered the door when protesters tried, and a few minutes after they knocked Homeland police showed up to tell them to leave.

The house already voted.

The Senate voted first and passed it to the House where it is currently estimated to not have enough votes…

{ China could eventually join the trade pact currently under negotiation with 12 Pacific nations, President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

A central part of Obama’s pitch for the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been that it would prevent China from making the rules in the region. But in an interview set for broadcast Wednesday evening on public radio’s “Marketplace,” Obama said that China is showing interest joining the agreement. }

Let's include China in the deal that already aims to export even more jobs from America, giving even more political power to the aggressor who already has the upper hand anyway

I'd laugh if it weren't so tragic.

We'll see what Japan et al have to say about this.

So… it has been passed, or it hasn't?

Nothing has been passed yet.

Edit for clarity: the Senate voted to renew the TPA which allows Obama to fast-track the TPP. The House needs to renew it as well or nothing happens, and it is estimated to not have enough votes currently.

Also, the world had been working on this for a decade and China was never supposed to be involved so if China hops on board we can expect some objections and/or delays.

There's also TISA agreement which "Might Outlaw Governments From Mandating Open Source Software In Many Situations".

How many unrelated regulations can we hide in the TPP round 2

{ (D) Sen. Ron Wyden ridiculed those who thought climate change regulation would be in the TPP.

"We’ve heard suggested, for example, that it’s a backdoor route to immigration reform or action on climate change…. My sense is that the rate these hypotheticals are going, you’re bound to hear that a future president working on a trade deal might have second thoughts about the Louisiana purchase." }

{ But in an interview on NPR’s Marketplace yesterday (June 3), President Obama said that enforcing climate change regulations will indeed be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said:

"If we want to solve something like climate change, which is one of my highest priorities, then I’ve got to be able to get into places like Malaysia, and say to them, this is in your interest. What leverage do I have to get them to stop deforestation? Well part of the leverage is if I’m in a trade relationship with them that allows me to raise standards."

In December, Obama will negotiate a multi-country climate agreement in Paris. *We already know from Obama’s joint announcement with China that he will commit the United States to a huge reduction in carbon emissions of 26%-28% from 2005 levels, but he will let China, already a much larger carbon emitter, continue to expand its carbon emissions until 2030.* }

More about TISA==

Looking like a very bad agreement.

WikiLeaks:

{ The president’s Trade in Services Act (TiSA) documents, which is one of the three different close-to-completely-negotiated deals that would be fast-tracked making up the president’s trade agreement, show Obamatrade in fact unilaterally alters current U.S. immigration law.

Roughly 10 pages of this TiSA agreement document leak are specifically about immigration.

In 2003, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution that said no immigration provision should be in trade agreements – and in fact, former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) voted for this resolution.

The existence of these 10 pages is in clear violation of that earlier unanimous decision, and also in violation of the statements made by the U.S. Trade Representative.

“He has told members of Congress very specifically the U.S. is not negotiating immigration – or at least is not negotiating any immigration provisions that would require us to change our laws. So, unless major changes are made to the Trade and Services Agreement – that is not true,” said Jenks [Rosemary Jenks, the Director of Government Relations at Numbers USA]. }

TPP kinda went viral==

Important and utter clusterfuck of a day tomorrow:

The House today, in a complete reversal of party lines, was barely able to pass a House rule that allows them to vote on the TAA and TPA tomorrow (Friday), and it was only able to pass because 8 pro-TAA (party line) but anti-TPP (against party line in this situation, but normally would be party line…) Democrats who abstained from the rule vote reverse-reversed the party lines and voted with the pro-TAA Republicans (which is against the GOP party line in the first place)……. this might be less complicated as an illustration.

The TAA is a worker retraining program the Democrats created to offset the native job loss caused by the TPP (you can't make this shit up). The TPA is the fast-track that denies Congress the ability to amend the TPP (which is still not the thing being voted on yet). If the House tomorrow does not pass the TAA, they wont even vote on the TPA because the two are mutually linked.

The party lines are so FUBAR nobody knows what has enough votes from who to actually pass right now.

& just to illustrate how fucked up the party lines are (altho idk if this is going to mean anything to any of you) but conservative Matt Drudge of the news aggregate Drudge Report has got a link up to a summary of today's proceedings titled: BOLD DEMS FIGHT FOR AMERICA!

Partial list of companies

So what do you guys think? Do we have a chance to stop the TPP, if we tell the politicians what we think? Personally, I think the chances are about….0%. There's no fucking way we're going to change the politicians minds, especially when the big corporations are lining their pockets like never before. We're doomed. Fucked. Screwed. It doesn't matter what we say, when has it EVER mattered what we say? We aren't paying the politicians, the corporations are. Who are they going to listen to? Some angry person or someone who's paying them good money to ruin people's lives? Give up. We have no chance against this. It was nice knowing you all, hey maybe I'll meet some of you in prison when we all get jailed for downloading overpriced shit!

And guess what? The employees and law enforcers of these companies are not helping either. If everyone would stand up against those agreements at once, it would be defeated even if the agreements are already in effect.