Intellectual Property Watch

> The United States today released a list of products imported from China to the US on which additional tariffs will be placed as a measure aimed at pressuring China to change its practices the US says force US companies to give up intellectual property and transfer technology. Some industries have been dropped form the list such as pharmaceuticals, while a new list has now been announced, officials told reporters this morning. This story is developing and will be further updated shortly.

> A US official speaking on background as a “senior administration official” told reporters on a short-notice phone call today that China is using state-funded companies to outbid US companies, and is intruding and stealing IP from companies.

> USTR last year launched a “Section 301” investigation into China’s practices on technology transfer and intellectual property and concluded that it has long been engaging in unfair practices. The Section 301 report found China guilty of pressuring US companies to partner with Chinese companies, licence under less favourable terms than Chinese companies, using state-funding to buy US companies in order to get ahold of their IP, and engaging in intrusion and theft to get commercial advantage.

> The United States has raised these concerns for years, and gave China the chance to take steps to resolve the concerns, the official said, but “that’s not what they…

No worries dude. No offence taken, here are some links to various articles about why DRM is bad, including one about how DRM is crushing Indie booksellers.

I'm sure there are more links and studies out there, but this should be enough to make a decent argument.

DRM is crushing indie booksellers online
http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/06/drm-is-crushing-indie-booksellers-online/

It's time for a unified ebook format and the end of DRM by Joe Wikert
http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/02/unified-ebook-format-end-drm.html

Cutting their own throats by Charlie Stross
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/11/cutting-their-own-throats.html

Why DRM-Free eBooks Are a Very Good Thing by Laurie K
http://www.stellarfour.com/2012/04/why-drm-free-ebooks-are-very-good-thing.html

Study: Freedom Of Expression Vs. DRM: The First Empirical Assessment by Patricia Akester
http://www.ip-watch.org/2009/05/25/freedom-of-expression-versus-drm-the-first-empirical-assessment/

Study: Are Digital Rights Valuable? Theory and Evidence from the eBook Industry http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2004/42/

The NSA is very much global and according to the Snowden leaks tapped into a large number of major internet exchanges and sea cables, including the largest internet exchange of the world (Germany, DECIX[1]) as well as the largest exchange in Asia (Hong Kong, HKIX[3]) and South America (Brazil, BRIX[4]) respectively.

From what we know the NSA has global coverage with google-style indexing[1] since at least 2012, possibly earlier.

[1] https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/08/25/icreach-nsa-cia-secret-google-crisscross-proton/

[2] http://www.ip-watch.org/2015/04/24/largest-internet-exchange-point-announces-complaint-against-snooping/

[3] http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1269773/hong-kongs-internet-exchange-offers-snoopers-rich-pickings

[4] http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-the-n-s-a-wants-in-brazil

[5] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa

[6] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x6aYnGmbQKzZGLUkWC4mX5eSRlDWpVKls_DjI_gV69A/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CMeo8ZkG#gid=0

I don't. No one does (besides people who have negotiated it). AND EXACTLY THAT IS THE PROBLEM! Those who are elected are kept in the dark, too:
http://www.ip-watch.org/2015/09/09/german-bundestag-not-happy-about-being-kept-out-of-ttip-reading-room-in-berlin/

Maybe we the citizens are just plain stupid to understand so we need to be persuaded:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140620/14292827638/us-embassy-berlin-offering-cold-hard-cash-people-to-create-pro-taftattip-propaganda.shtml

(Just like we were for Iraq war)

One of the examples of the "brave new world":
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/22/eu-dropped-pesticide-laws-due-to-us-pressure-over-ttip-documents-reveal

You want you and your children and grandchildren to live in it?

If TTIP is SOOOO great why secrecy, why so many people who don't have financial interest in it are against it?

I could write a lot about it...

Three isn't "many", and you're wrong about Spain and Slovenia anyway, Spain requires you to copy the work from a personally owned legitimately obtained copy or for the original to be made legally available online and is subject to the terms not prohibiting it.

The answer in Slovenia's FAQ is badly written, and hasn't been updated since 2016 when there is a European Court of Justice ruling that contradicts it from 2017 - https://www.ip-watch.org/2017/04/28/european-court-justice-tightens-screws-streaming/

The Czech Republic is the only country where what you said could be considered in any way accurate, and their copyright law on this isn't especially compatible with their European treaty commitments and will unquestionably go away at some point.

Perhaps you should consider checking your sources instead.

> Also, why the hell are we even bothering with representative democracy, if we can't trust the officials to make good choices in our name?

How many voters know that their elected representatives have limited access to read TPP drafts, cannot take notes, cannot discuss with staffers? At the same time, TPP negotiations are lead by ex-Citibank staff while industry lobbyists are contributing to the agreements, according to leaked emails, http://www.ip-watch.org/2015/06/05/confidential-ustr-emails-show-close-industry-involvement-in-tpp-negotiations/

"At another point, Jim DeLisi of Fanwood Chemical said he had just seen the text on rules of origin, and remarked, “Someone owes USTR a royalty payment. These are our rules. … This is a very pleasant surprise.”