Digital Rights Groups Shut Out Of Secret TPP Negotiations

Right now, EFF representatives in Auckland, New Zealand are being shut out of the 15th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), a secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe. Hundreds of delegates and private representatives from the 11 participating nations are gathering at an Auckland casino to discuss this contentious trade agreement. EFF joins KEI, the Stop the Trap Coalition, Derechos Digitales and many other organizations representing public interest concerns to sound the alarm over the TPP's intellectual property chapter.

Up until now, civil society representatives have been denied full access to these trade meetings. But this time, the barriers are far higher: civil society has been granted only one day—less than 15 minutes of time—to present to the delegates our concerns about how this secretive agreement could harm free expression on the Internet and have other dire consequences for consumers worldwide.  

EFF and other public interest groups have traveled around the world to defend user interests in these negotiations. Denying our access to these meetings is an affront to democratic ideals...