Global governments negotiating 'mega trade deal' to threaten internet freedoms and international privacy, alleges 'leaked' report

Cross-border information exchange and ISP management are focus

Fifty World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries are said to be involved in a secret ‘behind closed doors' discussion surrounding ways to benefit corporate interests while severely affecting internet freedoms, according to a paper apparently leaked by the Associated Whisteblower Press (AWP).

While the so-called Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) was already released in draft text form by WikiLeaks back in June 2014, the newly discovered text sheds more light on how the TISA could influence accepted conduct on storage and flow of data internationally.

"No Party may prevent a service supplier of another Party from transferring, accessing, processing or storing information, including personal information, within or outside the Party's territory, where such activity is carried out in connection with the conduct of the service supplier's business," reads a passage marked "Article X.4: Movement of Information".

This could, theoretically, lead to situations such as the US government being able to overturn Microsoft's refusal to share data it had stored in Ireland recently.

"The US wants to ensure that any firm can move its data in and out of other countries, process and store it within or outside that country's territory. That means a government cannot require that data is held or processed within its territory," said Professor Jane Kelsey, in an analysis accompanying the leak.

Article X.2, dubbed "Local Content" also states that it is aiming to reduce the ability of local suppliers being given preference for local services.

"Subject to any conditions, limitations and qualifications set out in its Schedule, no Party may require a service supplier of another Party, as a condition for the cross-border supply of a service in its territory, to establish or maintain a commercial presence, or to be resident in the Party's territory," the paper states.

Again, the suggestion here is that established firms, such as many large US technology companies, could use the TISA as a way to maintain dominance on a global level.

"Local content requirements are another form of ‘localisation' that the
US industry objects to," commented Kelsey.

"The US wants to ensure that governments do not require firms that supply a service (from media to retail to IT) to buy or use a proportion of locally produced goods and services."

Meanwhile, Article X.5 states that customers of ISPs "should" be free to "access and use services and applications of their choice, subject to reasonable network management".

Kelsey cites the word "should" as a "soft obligation", which could be seen as a way for organisations to start building legal precedents to allow internet service providers to begin managing their services in ways much closer to how they individually prefer them, as opposed to running them for consumer advantage as they're supposed to under existing rules.