Stephen Harper is a little weasel!

Good Day Readers:

The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation is one of a couple non-profit organizations on the leading edge of internet law the other being Harvard University's Berkman Centre for the Internet & Society. The difference between the two is the former is stacked with lawyers who have already successfully challenged the United States government in court numerous times on privacy issues and won while the latter is more academic in its approach.

As you read the EFF article you'll see why the Harper government is being a sneaky little creep yet again in not coming clean with the Canadian electorate about its involvement in negotiations for a Trans-Pacific trade agreement.

During last week's leadership debate only Elizabeth May of the Green Party raised the TPP issue albeit briefly. Because of the Harper government's lack of disclosure many Canadian voters are simply unaware of the potential far reaching repercussions of this agreement. The little voters do know comes out of the province of Quebec thanks to the efforts lobbying groups representing dairy producers concerned the country's long established system of supply management may be negotiated away in the Conservative government's attempt to reach an agreement prior to the October 19 election date.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk

Dear Clare,

Trade officials failed to finalize the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) last week. Due to the launch of the Canadian federal elections, that should mean that the government would have to put the TPP on hold until voting day is over.

Desperate to finalize TPP as soon as possible, the Harper administration has taken an extreme measure. It released new guidelines granting itself power to keep negotiating the deal, rather than respecting regulations that would otherwise prevent anything beyond administrative activities during the election season.

And TPP is far from a routine bureaucratic exercise. It's a sprawling trade pact being negotiated in secret between Canada and 11 other countries. It contains a wide range of problematic provisions that could strip users of their rights over their devices, content, and online activities.

Worse, this deal could keep 20 years of cultural works locked up under copyright's heavy restrictions.

Hollywood and other major publishers are demanding that all TPP nations extend their copyright terms to match that of the United States—which is currently the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. That means that countless pieces of literature, film, music, and all kinds of creativity that were scheduled to enter the public domain in Canada would remain restricted and less accessible for decades. Canadian officials have long resisted extending copyright terms, but the TPP threatens to override this democratically affirmed stance.

It's never been more urgent to tell party leaders to come out against the TPP and denounce these excessive copyright terms.

If you're a Canadian voter, please use our site to send an email to party leaders.

We want to send thousands of messages to Canadian officials asking them to come out against this harmful proposal.

Once you've taken action, please remember to ask your friends to join you by sharing this on Twitter, Facebook, and your other social networking sites. It’s as easy as posting this message:

Canada's copyright term should be decided by Canadians, not the U.S. and Hollywood. Stop the TPP Copyright Trap: https://eff.org/r.grd5

Thank you for your helping defend creativity and access to culture works in Canada and beyond.
Defending your rights in the digital world,

Maira Sutton

International Team

Electronic Frontier Foundation