"Another clause proposed by Australia, the US, Singapore, Peru and Mexico would also seek to prohibit circumvention of "technological measures" put in place by copyright holders over their works. The definition is broad and there are a number of exceptions still up for debate, but it could be seen to include the use of virtual private networks to access geoblocked content such as Netflix from outside the US. This comes despite the Australian negotiators seeking to raise the issue of geoblocking as a concern for Australian consumers as part of the negotiations."
US/AU: For purposes of greater certainty, no Party is required to impose liability under Articles 9 and 10 for actions taken by that Party or a third party acting with the authorization or consent of that Party. Negotiator's Note: CA seeks clarification of this footnote.
Technological protection measures are not measures to protect technology. They are measures made of technology to protect intellectual property.
Yes, implementing TPP would require that anyone who circumvents a TPM be liable to civil and criminal penalties. Yes, getting access to Netflix content that you are not authorized to get access to, by using a proxy or VPN or any other tool, would be circumventing and would expose you to those civil and criminal penalties.
Nothing in this Agreement prevents a Party from determining whether and under what conditions the exhaustion of intellectual property rights applies under its legal system [13].
Article QQ.G.10 has the following for Australians:
US/AU: For purposes of greater certainty, no Party is required to impose liability under Articles 9 and 10 for actions taken by that Party or a third party acting with the authorization or consent of that Party. Negotiator's Note: CA seeks clarification of this footnote.
---
Basically, most Australians have watched whilst they were considered second class citizens and price gouged by U.S. corporations who don't pay any tax in Australia, and in a rare moment of insight our government forced this through.
I'm not sure what sort of victory you are talking about. Yes, each country can determine the precise expiration dates of, say, copyrights... but the TPP obliges it to be at least 70 years. And yes, Australia can choose not to criminalize Australia itself deciding to violate TPMs, but they are obliged to criminalize Australian citizens violating TPMs.
So Australia can break TPMs itself, and Australia can wiggle a few days here or there in determining just how long copyright protection lasts. So what?
PayPal dropped support for a Canadian VPN provider. Will PayPal continue to support Australian VPN providers, since AU gov permits geoblocking, even against Netflix ToS and the wishes of content rightsholders?
