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The 18th round of negotiations for a 12-country trade agreement in the Pacific Rim has just begun in Malaysia, but potential provisions relating to copyright laws have caused concern among Internet groups.

In 2005, the P4 trade agreement was signed and ratified by New Zealand, Brunei, Chile and Singapore. Since 2008, efforts have been made by other countries, notably the USA, to join an expanded version of the agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Secret negotiations currently underway now include a total of 12 countries, with Japan, Mexico and Canada the latest countries to join the talks. Parties to the negotiations aim to reach an agreement by October.

Earlier criticisms of the deal focused on how the agreement might prevent or deter signatory governments from passing regulations that adversely affect multinational companies operating in their country. Auckland University Law Professor and trade agreement critic Jane Kelsey says she fears the TPP will be “a new rulebook for the 21st century that locks in and extends the failed neoliberal model.” Kelsey has previously expressed concern that New Zealand’s state-owned enterprises, drug-buying policy and accident compensation scheme could be compromised by the deal because despite their altruistic aims, they are detrimental to businesses in those sectors.

The Council of Trade Unions fears that because such an agreement could lead to future government regulations being challenged and overturned in international tribunals, thus “impos[ing] policies that New Zealand voters have repeatedly voted down and would oppose if they had a choice.”

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser admits that any agreement would involve concession of sovereign rights, but says that removing “excess sovereignty” which allowed the construction of trade barriers by governments was “the point of international law.” The government’s decision would be determined by whether these concessions were consideed worthwhile.

New Zealand’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) is enthusiastic about the deal, and suggests that the benefits of trade agreement with the current parties could be worth $2.9 billion annually to New Zealand by 2025. However, MFAT says that “TPP’s greatest potential … is as a pathfinder for wider regional economic integration.” It hopes that “a greater degree of coherence in the regulations that govern global supply chains would streamline international trade.” It is this aspect of the deal which has some worried, particularly with regard to copyright law.

Critics of the TPP in a number of countries are also wary of the secrecy in which negotiations have been conducted. In June, US Senator Elizabeth Warren argued that documents relating to the negotiations should be made public, arguing that “… if members of the public do not have reasonable access to the terms of the agreement under negotiation, then they are unable to offer real input into the process.” In New Zealand, the Green Party has criticised the negotiations, and the Mana movement has pledged to withdraw from any negotiations.

In 2010 and 2011, draft chapters of the agreement dealing with intellectual property were leaked to the public. Technology commentator Peter Griffin believes that the documents show U.S. negotiators trying to prevent Technological Prevention Mechanisms (TPMs) from being circumvented. Common TPMs include region codes on DVDs and restrictions on which networks a cellphone may use.

“At the moment,” Griffin says, “it’s not illegal to circumvent these so long as we’re not trying to infringe on someone’s copyright. There is some scope in the document that we’ve seen … that the copyright holder will have the power to really enforce these TPMs and that if you do try and circumvent then you could be up for legal action.” The Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind has also voiced its disquiet over such possible provisions, which it fears could prevent it from reproducing books in Braille. TradeMe, which enjoys revenue from parallel importers of copyrighted material, also fears the consequences for itself and its consumers if such transactions were made illegal.

Perhaps the most contentious aspect of the leaked US draft is a provision allowing copyright holders to “prohibit all reproductions of their works … in any manner or form, permanent or temporary (including temporary storage in electronic form).” Lobby group InternetNZ has denounced this provision, arguing that “the Internet works by making temporary copies or ‘transient reproductions’ of data in order to transmit it from point A to point B.”

Griffin has suggested that such provisions raise the spectre of “tollbooths across the internet,” as copyright holders charge for every copy of their work. A coalition of groups opposed to changes to copyright law has formed the group A Fair Deal to try and influence the government to resist joining any trade deal which includes them.

It is precisely these provisions that caused a wave of protests in the US and Europe when their legislatures tired to enact the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Anti-Counterfeit Treaty Act (ACTA) in 2011 and 2012. Offline and online protests were staged by Internet users and companies, with Google and Wikipedia both staging “blackout” protests on their sites to denounce the secret negotiations.

Opposition in New Zealand took the form a of a declaration in 2010 by Internet groups and concerns raised by Labour’s Clare Curran and then-United Future leader Peter Dunne. The Library and Information Association of New Zealand also attacked ACTA, arguing that its copyright provisions undermined the dissemination and sharing of information, which it believes is one of the fundamental purposes of copyright law.

Whether similar provisions will form part of any TPP agreement remains unknowable for the time-being. Without any further leaks, the public is unlikely to know the content of the TPP until it is agreed, although American TPP activist group Public Knowledge believes that entertainment industry lobby groups the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America have strongly influenced the U.S. government’s proposals. Given that the U.S. government represents the largest economy in any potential agreement, its position is likely to be influential.

Leaked doucments outlining the New Zealand government’s proposed copyright chapter suggest a looser, less prescriptive approach towards copyright enforcement on its part, along with an emphasis on the protection of cultural and genetic resources of indigenous peoples. Prime Minister John Key has previously ruled out signing New Zealand up to any agreement that deny New Zealand dairy products access to heavily protected North American markets or that compromise New Zealand’s single-buyer drug agency Pharmac. Whether copyright issues become another bottom line remains to be seen.