Reality Check
Here it's worth studying the evidence of the leaks, and comparing them against the claims, to get a sense of the influence of the competing lobbies.
Copyright section:
http://keionline.org/sites/default/files/Section-G-Copyright-Related-Rights-TPP-11May2015.pdf
"But if you had any doubt about the power of the IP lobby in the US..."
In the late 1990s the copyright lobby was indeed more powerful than the internet lobby. But it isn't 1998 any more. The power of the IP lobby is far outweighed by the power of Google, Facebook and the rest of Silicon Valley, which is now indistinguishable from the Obama Administration. The results of TPP demonstrate this.
Google backs TPP because it leaves the balance of power over liabilities for infringement unchanged (the individual continues to be powerless), while it can use the process to try and undermine regional data protection, claiming it is a trade restraint. TPP works out nicely for Google, but not necessarily for you. The long term plan to replace property-based markets (in which the law takes your side) with a kind of plantation is going quite nicely.
Silicon Valley's greatest trick has been to convince people to act against their own economic interests. And even better, to campaign against laws which protect their rights as individuals, which allow you to own and control your own property. I'm all for "rebalancing" IP in favour of the individual, amateur or professional. Ideas such as non-assignment (the German model) for example should be more widely discussed. But sometimes changing things to benefit the individual means stronger IP, not weaker IP. Why do you think Google and Facebook fight this so hard?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
