 The biggest threat to the internet you've probably never heard of. The TPP is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. TPP is a trade agreement being negotiated between more than 12 countries around the Pacific region. It has more than 26 chapters and it covers a broad spectrum of issues from trade of dairy, meat, textiles and automobiles to financial regulation to labour regulations and more. But one chapter poses a huge threat to the internet. The chapter concerning intellectual property enforcement. We can't exactly know what's in that chapter because TPP is being negotiated in secret. Through a series of backroom deals that shut out the public, trade officials won't release the text of the agreement or even tell us what their policy positions are on any issue. One thing we know is that while the public is shut out of the negotiating process, private corporate interests aren't. In particular, big content industries are spending ginormous amounts of money in lobbying to convince policy makers that more aggressive and draconian copyright laws will lead to more innovation, more creativity and more jobs. But in reality, that just isn't the case. If adopted, the copyright enforcement measures proposed in the TPP could make the internet intimidating and repressive. Users will be afraid to view, share and interact with digital content. An early version of the text has been leaked and you should be worried about what's inside. Internet service providers could be forced to become private copyright enforcers lest they risk liability for the content posted by their users. While the TPP includes certain protections from liability, experience with similar provisions in the US suggests that ISPs will be encouraged to take down, filter and block legitimate content requiring only a private notice from an alleged copyright holder. The copyright industry is obsessed with restricting users from tinkering with devices and content out of the fear that people will then use them for copyright infringing purposes. So what they do is install digital rights management software, or DRM, on devices to limit what users can do. Despite growing evidence that DRM does much more harm than good, this prevents consumers from unlocking their phones to change telecom carriers. Artists like documentary filmmakers who break encryption on a DVD or sample online streaming videos could face legal threats, even if the videos they create are legal. People with visual or reading disabilities can be prevented from changing the format of books and movies to make them more accessible. Not only that, DRM backed by the full force of the law can be used to stifle competition. For example, a company can block unauthorized software or content from working with their devices just by enabling DRM. Corporations claim that DRM is necessary to fight copyright infringement online and keep consumers safe from viruses. But there's no evidence that DRM does much to combat either of those things. Fans should not be treated like criminals, and companies should not get an automatic veto over user creativity, choice, and innovation. These are only some of the problems with the TPP's copyright enforcement provisions. They would be harmful for everyone, except for companies that use these policies to suppress innovative competitors or to criminalize sharing. Instead of spending their resources to create new products that respect the internet and new technologies, they're lobbying for policies that would hinder and break them. Severe copyright policies restrict our right to share, modify, and experiment with content and technology. Innovation cannot thrive without these freedoms. Internet users need to know what is going on in these secret trade negotiations. Internet users have a right to participate in this powerful international deal that will impact millions of lives for decades to come. Let's show our policy makers that we won't let back room trade deals determine what we can do with our technology. Let's show them that we, the users, are unified against corporate efforts to restrict our rights. The internet is ours. It's up to us to defend it.